Precision 7510 Owner's Thread

I imagine that they did some internal usability/testing/feedback and the Home/End issue just did not come up with the audience involved.

The people upset about the Home/End keys are part of the "vocal minority" of people who will end up using this keyboard. Most people won't notice, especially if you take into account Latitude customers using the same keyboard, a much larger audience. That said, Precision is supposed to be the "no compromise" computing machine, and for keyboard-centric users who use these keys a lot, it is an unacceptable compromise --- and it's a silly compromise, because there is no technical reason for it, the old keyboard took up the same amount of space and had these keys available.

Dell-Mano_G said early on when this came up that he's seen the feedback and is discussing with his team. I'm sure he's also seen that this continues to be a sticking point over two months after we originally found out about it. I'm not hopeful that we'll see any change soon (though an alternate keyboard option would be welcome), but I am hopeful that this will be addressed in the next refresh.

 

It's entirely possible the older keyboard didn't fit in the slimmer chassis. I'm not justifying it either, but that's what it is. And if I knew, my name would be Michael Dell!

 

users were brainwashed by companies way long. Still looking at dell.com configurator and thinking: where are hundreds of custom configs for each and every custom needs? Thats hilarious. They just CANT roll out thunderbolt\USB-C on time. Sad.

 

They can roll out Thunderbolt... on the thousands of 5510s and XPS 15s on backorder...

But agree... custom configuration is what put Dell on the map.

 

You're probably right, but that's what we call "penny-wise and pound-foolish": Yep, they're going to save a couple of cents per machine, but on the flipside they're losing customers, which will end up being far more costly in the long run.

This is similar to that 16:9 screen disease. No, I'm not even talking about laptops here, even though it's a valid point there, too, but those battles are over, unfortunately, and the war lost, I fear.

No, I am looking at the fact that Dell is seriously stupid enough to still try and foist tablets with 16:9 screens on consumers, when by now really every last idiot should understand that just about nobody wants that format in a tablet. Apple, of course (which, say what you will, at least demonstrate that they in fact put some amount of thought in their designs, rather than none at all...) has understood this from the start, and even Microsoft, after a false start with the first iteration of their Surface tablet, quickly switched to a useful aspect ratio. Then you look at Dell, and see them release brand-new tablets with 16:9 screens, which of course just about no-one will use or buy. I'm just shaking my head about the massive idiocy behind all of this. Yep, sure, they saved a few bucks on those screens, but then they have warehouses full of crap that nobody wants. Congratulations.

 

On the other hand, if you are the DIY type replacing a 16:9 screen is not too difficult. You can buy them. Try finding a 3:2 screen for a Surface Book, which is put together with gobs of glue. Or any Crappie stuff.

Every touch screen cell phone has a 16:9 screen that I know of. A tablet is redundant for me but maybe not for some. But if j wanted to be productive I'd take an ultrabook over a tablet. As to their aspect ratios I honestly don't mind either way, as both common tablet aspect ratios have their pros and cons. Which is great that we can choose what we want for our needs.

 

I'm a M4600 user who uses a HDD caddy in my optical drive slot for a second hard drive. Are you guys saying that having a second hard drive in this device is going to be impossible? That, along with the missing volume keys and the whole Home/End keys thing breaks my heart.

 

No, but I guess Dell is intent on selling their SSDs with a 100% markup over retail. So the best thing to do is order one with the cheap 500GB 5400 SATA HDD. This way you get the cable; otherwise you may have a hard time ordering one as some have.

As to the Home/End key thing I don't think it's a huge issue. Especially that they are on the Left Arrow/Right Arrow keys, where you'd have them when editing a large file or spreadsheet. I tested this in Excel versus my M6500, and I ALWAYS have to look for Home and End, because they are on the top right, and have to avoid the Volume keys well as * and - on the keypad. And, Page Up and Page Down are right above Left Arrow/Right Arrow, so they're all together instead of different parts of the keyboard. On the 7510 I can use Home and End without looking. Takes a little getting used to but it's really not the end of the world as some may argue. And if it is, there are key-remapping apps that will let you turn multiple keystrokes into one.

 

You can have one 2.5" drive plus one M.2 SSD. The optical drive bay is gone, so multiple 2.5" drives is indeed no longer an option.

 

I have just ordered a Precision 7510 (Xeon, 16GB, 500GB SSD) from Dell Japan, which is expected to arrive by year end. Will post my impressions in January.

However, the reason for this post is not a technical one. In fact, I would like to ask users in other countries whether they think it's normal that when you place your order by phone you are requested to give the Dell sales representative your credit card number in clear. She said it's perfectly normal and that this procedure is safe because they don't keep credit card numbers (...). Actually, Lenovo Japan uses the same method, and when I called them for inquiring on the P50 the sales guy seemed surprised that I was worried about this procedure. Is the same happening outside Japan too when you place your order directly to a sales representative? Or do you rather receive a link from which to access a secure server?