News on Haswell based mobile Precision M6800 ?

Can anyone please correct me in case I am doing anything wrong...If all goes well, this is the system I want to keep for the next 10 years at least ....

Your comments are precious to me. Thanks to all

My Precision m6800 Covet Specs are below:


Dell Precision M6800 CTO Base (210-AAYI) - 1
32GB (4x8GB) 1600MHz DDR3L (370-AAUV) -1
Internal English Backlit Dual Pointing Keyboard (580-AAFH) -1
NVIDIA Quadro K3100M w/2GB GDDR5 (490-BBKU) - 1
Dell Wireless 1601 Driver (555-BBLC) -1
512GB 2.5inch SATA Solid State Drive (400-AAYC) -1
Windows 7 Professional English 64bit (Includes Windows 8 Pro license and media) (619-
ADLN) - 1
Non-Canada Orders only (332-1286) -1
9-cell (97Wh) Lithium Ion battery with ExpressCharge (451-BBDJ) -1
No additional battery (451-BBFM) -1
No Mobile Broadband (556-BBDZ) -1
Smartcard Reader Base for Covet (329-BBOY) -1
No Mouse (570-AADK) -1
Dell Energy Star 5.2 (387-BBDP) -1
2X Blu-Ray Writer Tray Load (429-AAHV) -1
Dell Wireless 1601 2x2 802.11n+BT+60GHz (WiGig) (555-BBJV) -1
6-Foot, 3-Pin Power Cord,Mobile Precision, US (330-1838) -1
Windows 8 Home/PRO (64Bit) DVD (620-AACT) -1
Dell Backup and Recovery Professional (637-AAAC) -1
Standard Shipment (EL) (800-BBGH) -1
English Shipping Docs (340-AAMJ) -1
Camera Software Application for Win7 (632-BBBO) -1
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus Service Initial Year (937-1195) -1
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus Service Extended Year(s) (937-1197) -1
ProSupport: Next Business Day Limited Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis Initial
Year (937-1495) -1
ProSupport: Next Business Day Limited Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis 2 Year
Extended (937-1507) -1
ProSupport: 7x24 Technical Support, Initial (937-1785) -1
ProSupport: 7x24 Technical Support, 2 Year Extended (937-1789) -1
Thank you choosing Dell ProSupport. For tech support, visit
http://support.dell.com/ProSupport or call 1-866-5 (989-3449) -1
Accidental Damage Service, 3 Year (983-8362) -1
Accidental Damage Service (988-7689) -1
No Out-of-Band Systems Management (631-AADX) -1
Dell Precision M6800 Resource DVD (430-XYGW) -1
No Additional Hard Drive (401-AADF) -1
Smart Card Reader (Contact Only, No Contactless Smart Card Reader) and No
Fingerprint Reader Palmrest (346-BBEO) -1
No Quick-Reference Guideline (340-AASE) -1
No RFID Label (346-BBHS) -1
4th Gen Intel Core i7-4900MQ Processor (2.80GHz, 8M cache, Upgradable to Intel vPro
technology) (338-BCPR) -1
No DDPE Encryption Software (954-3465) -1
Dell Precision Ship Material (340-ADSN) -1
Shipping Material,BWN,Dell Precision M6800 (340-AFCW) -1
No Additional Hard Drive (401-AADF) -1
No Back Cover (320-BBFK) -1
Integrated Camera,Microphone bezel,Covet (319-BBCM) -1
No Accessories (461-AABV) -1
PowerDVD Software not included (429-AABU) -1
2nd 2.5 inch 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive (401-AAEV) -1
Dell Precision M6800 Regulatory label for Touch Screen (389-BCVS) -1
Intel Core i7 Processor Label (338-BCMH) -1
44cm(17.3") UltraSharp FHD(1920x1080) LED-backlit Multi-Touch with Premium Panel
Guarantee for Covet (391-BBIO) -1
No Productivity Software,Dell OptiPlex,Precision and Latitude (421-3872) -1
Dell Power Manager (340-ADFZ) -1
Thank you for buying Dell (421-9982) -1
Dell Data Protection System Tools Digital Delivery/NB (422-0007) -1
Adobe Reader 11 (640-BBDG) -1
Dell Precision Performance Optimizer (640-BBES) -1
Dell Data Protection | Protected Workspace (640-BBEU) -1
Not Selected in this Configuration (640-BBHQ) -1
Visit Dell Data Protection solutions | Dell (640-BBHR) -1
Client System Update,Dell Precision M6800 (640-BBJE) -1
Dell Applications for Windows 7 (658-BBLB) -1
Waves Maxx Audio (658-BBRB) -1
No RAID (780-BBFE) -1
No Security Software (650-AAHI) -1
240W AC Adapter (450-AATG) -1

 

The M4800 & M6800 owners manuals list three different batteries in the BIOS configuration options:
- Primary Battery
- Battery Slice
- Module Bay Battery

What is the Module Bay Battery?

There are references to a Fixed Bay, ODD Modules and an Air Bay (HDD in place of the ODD), but no other mention of the Module Bay.

Is this a battery installed where the ODD normally sits?
Something else?
Or just an error in the manual?

 

Could anyone comment on the quality of the keyboard?

I am used to my old Thinkpad but not liking the new chicklet style keyboards on the newer models. So, I am looking if the M4800 can be a good replacement as the specs really perfectly fit my needs.

 

I'm also very interested in the quality of the keyboard. I've seen some worrying statements about the keyboard of earlier models like the M4600 and M4700 having keyboard flex. Notebookcheck says that there is some on the left side of the keyboard on these models. It's one of the things I'm most worried about on this particular model.

 

I had that on an older Dell as well and it was easily fixable by putting some foam from the shipping box underneath.
So I would not take that too much a deal breaker.

I'll report back when my m6800 arrives. Should be on 30th Sept - hmm - the day I start a one week holiday. So might take to the second week of October to get it in my hands.

 

Interesting, where exactly did you place foam?

Mine (M4800) arrives this Friday, so I should be able to report.

Cheers

Brian

 

I don't have it anymore (I think it was an m65), just from memory: I glued it to the bottom of the keyboard at a place where it sat on top of same internal chassis part where I expected it to do no harm.

I looked at the manual of the m6800 and there (page 37) you see that the palm rest is a contiguous piece underneath the keyboard. So there would be enough places to put something if the keyboard flexes. If the parts of the m4800 look similar that should be easy as well.

 

Foam might have worked on the M65, but that system was from 2006. The newer models have retention pins under the keyboard that snap into place and hold it tight against the chassis. You *might* fit a business card between the keyboard and chassis in the M4800, but there is no way you will fit the thin foam that encases the notebook when it ships.

 

So those pins should result in a keyboard which has no (noticeable) flex, right?

Which would of course be better than having to fiddle something in between.

 

I recall this being the same discussion back with the 6700. In fact, despite all the hullabaloo, flex turned out not be an issue I needed to worry about.

Although the current keyboard will flex if you put enough pressure on it (this could be said of ANY keyboard) it is not likely to be distracting. That is, unless something else has changed.