M6900 - What specs are you hoping for?

* 16x10 aspect ratio
* 10 bit matte IPS RGB
* swathable graphics for all video cards
* 64GB RAM support
* keep ports on back side
* no light bleed around the keys, ambient sensor for auto adjustment
* less weight, more battery life
* make it thinner (remove obsolete DVD/CD bay)

 

Battery life indicator LED light right built on the battery!

Better bezel....

Option for battery instead of CD drive!

 

-Better cooling management. These workhorses can get hot already, and yet I want more power
-Whatever's new in CPU/GPU technology
-Hang on to the big, industrial brick chassis. Same screen aspect ratio.
-Slot load blu-ray burner. I still use my optical drive...but would be willing to give it up for a spare battery that charged after the main battery was 100% and kicked in automatically once the main battery was drained.
-64GB memory support (let's go Intel!)
-DITCH THE VGA PORT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND ALL OF HIS CREATION. Extra USB 3.0?

¡¡¡Extreme Wish List!!!

-Physical on/off switch for camera, and separate physical on/off switch for microphone. I want to be able to physically open-circuit the ground to each device when I don't want it on. Closing the case would automatically toggle the switches off. I want this badly enough to risk modding a $6k laptop...and I'm mad this feature isn't already being offered somewhere, considering the resurgence of audacious e-Snooping.
-Ability to have Red Covet without the stupid glossy touchscreen. I'm from the old school, where you never. Touch. The screen. Keep the same exclusive price-point for Red Covet, but offer a much better IPS screen. 4k? QHD? ...matte or aggressive anti-glare so I don't have to stare at myself while I work?
-Fix the light leakage under the keys on the backlit keyboard. Keep everything else about the keyboard the exact same.

 

Tomato can, I've used an M6600 for over 2 years now (today's the 2 year anniversary I got it!) so I can rebuke some of your statements.

They'll only get hot if there's a lot of dust buildup in the fans and the vents, otherwise they are very cool. I cleaned my processor fan and vents out recently, grabbed this big solid piece of dust clumped together that was blocking the vents, and voila the laptop is super cool now.

The slot-load and optical drive hardware are the same size, it doesn't matter if it's slot load or not, they'll take up the same amount of space. Also m6700 and newer models can have an extra battery, only the m6600 and older cannot.

You can disable camera and microphone easily in the bios with each start-up, I have my camera and microphone disabled most of the time since I don't use it them that often.

I have a touch screen glossy computer as well. You can easily disable the touch screen through the device manager, to fix the glossy screen you buy an anti-glare screen protector like I did and put it over the glossy screen then it becomes a matte screen.

Yeah a lot of your wishlist 'problems' you want fixed in the next iteration, are already easily fixed in the current generation! You just have to get a little creative sometimes.

 

I think you're missing the point on some of these. He's looking for upgrades, not fixes. At least that's what I get from his post. And I agree. Especially with the camera/mic. A mechanical on/off switch. Or in the case of the camera, a simple door or slot.

In my case, I would never had even ordered it if I had the choice. Its a useless addition nowadays. The least would be to not have it hardwired, so that I could remove it when not in use. Just having a camera locked in like that screens of Big Brother. Just call me paranoid if you like.

Did I mention dual m-SATAs, and countersunk USBs? The newer short USB drives are great, but flush mount would be the cat's pajamas, don't you think?

 

Hey! Thanks for the reply. Krane is correct. Dell's mobile workstations are the best laptops I've used in a while, so none of what I listed is dealbreakers. Just potential upgrades. I'm way into mine, but will probably sell it and get a new one once the M6900 is out.

My list is more tweaks/upgrades to make something that's already everything I need even better.

- My M6700 does heat up (maybe I need to repaste or something?). To me, it's understandable that it does, because of what I use it for, and it still does a great job. But it sure would be nice if there was something they could do to dissipate even more heat

- The 2nd battery option is news to me, and I'm pretty stoked about it so I'll have to read up. I do know about the external battery slice, which is a great option. I'm just saying I'd be willing to give up my optical drive for an internal version of the slice...which Dell may already have! Reading time!

- Slot load vs tray load. A debate as old and fruitless as tabs vs spaces in source code! I just like slot load better, but Dell doesn't offer a slot load blu-ray burner, only slot-load dvd burner. I could get an aftermarket one and install it, but I'd rather it come from the factory.

- Same thing with the glossy screen. I could get an aftermarket sticker to slap over my display, but man would it be cool if it already came that way from the factory.

- I don't want to have to restart the machine and dig into BIOS to turn the camera on and off. If I want to Skype with someone, I'd like to be able to just flip a switch and go. On another point, it's been a few years since POCs for malware that can affect the BIOS started rolling out. Who knows if there's anything in the wild yet, but it's been demonstrated (Rakshasa, etc). I just don't want to trust 0s and 1s any more. Sometimes oldschool is better. Gimmeaswitch!

@Krane: Dual mSATA & recessed USBs would be fantastic (as long as they could get some sort of durable spring eject mechanism working for the USB. could be a huge point of failure if they didn't do it right)

Dell's mobile workstations rock. There's really not much wrong with them as is, so my post was more daydreaming about what, if anything, could make them better. It's sort of like saying "Kobe's an amazing basketball player...he could stand to work on his footwork a bit..." Cheers guys.

 

Hi guys,

for M6900 I'd expect

- internal msata port udpate from SATA2 to SATA3
- M.2 or sata express support
- come back to IPS RGBled panel abandoned in M6800 (welcome 4k but 2k is enough if the IPS come back)
- 64gb RAM
- better cooling management

 

Funny nobody mentioned any chassis updates? Actually I don't really feel an overwhelming need for it to change although I'm still looking for the ability to swap out the display. Especially since this is one of the most rapidly changing parts of any computer and the one that is outdated first.

In any event my two most pressing issues:

1) the latching system

2) internal battery with foot

Other than those the chassis fixes are minor. Some have express a preference for a larger touch pad, and the pointer mouse still gets in the way of typing.

 

Well, a slimmer chassis (think Razr Blade) would be nice to have if it doesn't cost us performance. Heck, I'd be willing to lose the optical drive entirely if that's what it takes to get something like a more powerful, 17"-version of the M3800.
Make sure we still can use a real docking station. Yes, RGBLed screen should come back, absolutely. In 16x10, of course, but I know that's not going to happen... Oh, and I still love the glossy, "edge-to-edge" screen that came with my M6400 in the Covet version. So, bringing a real Covet version back would be nice, too.

 

Hmm, 16x10? I wouldn't hold my breath. But hey, its a wish list. As for the slimness, that doesn't really bother me. Especially since they offer the 3800 to appeal to those that prefer it. I'd much rather keep the current configuration and just option the OD space as a multi-bay port.

That way I get the best of both worlds, i.e. more battery life, extra storage, OD, all of the above. And is a remote control too much to ask? Laptops need to move forward if they're going to stay competitive. Am I out of bound here or what?