Precision 7510 Owner's Thread

Aye aye... though my main reason for using it is to run some software I have for XP that won't run under Win10 or Win7 for that matter.

 

Well no-compromise laptop is a misnomer of sorts, as there will always be tradeoffs... even in the highest end systems.

That said, I looked at the new Latitudes and can't believe how much they cost given their configuration, and can see why people are more inclined to Precision or XPS laptops. The MSI gaming laptops are pretty demure by gaming laptop standars, and the Razers look pretty good too.

 

I don’t have this from personal experience, it’s just something I read about when researching virtualisation options…
What I meant is that the mere enabling of Hyper-V in Windows’ features will wedge an extra layer between your primary OS and the hardware, and Microsoft themselves warn that this may cause latency in DAW applications. Simply enabling Hyper-V on the same machine you use for digital audio is warned against by Microsoft.

 

You can use something like VMware or VirtualBox to run Windows XP without enabling Hyper-V in Windows. I found VMware to be a more pleasant experience and easier to use than Hyper-V (but it's more money you've gotta spend).

 

I was using MS Virtual XP on my M6500,which was nice. Hyper-V on Win10 required me to enable virtualization settings on BIOS. I should note I am NOT running a DAW on this machine as I have my M6500 set up for that. Also don't feel like loading 4GB or so of sound files from Kontact. Would be cool as a benchmark to see how much faster I could mix down and export a job with the new machine, but I don't feel like installing then removing Sonar.

I do have a need to run a 2D CAD program that I have on my M6300 running XP; actually the program was made for Win3.11, but there are some features I still use in it. I'm also in the process of learning some Linux based CNC control software, and building a 3D printer, where many of the software are Linux based. Also it would be nice to design a job and create toolpaths with my Windows based CAD/CAM, the do a simulation on the Linux side before I send it out to the machine.

 

Kinda off topic, but how many CNCs are you running, and what kinds/types?


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I create programs for and run Bridgeport clone with Centroid CNC servo control for a local company. I personally built and run a CNC router table about 32" x 24" x 6" capacity, making everything from intake manifold risers to custom guitar bodies and necks shadow built for a local builder, as well as rough cut parts for my own electric and acoustic guitars. I also built a few small tabletop routers around 14" x 8" which I sold. I'm currently building the controls and installing steppers on a bench top mini mill which I had built in China to my specs (ground ball screws, profile linear rails, heavy cast iron parts, 4hp 24krpm spindle...) for prototyping small parts mainly for electric guitar...

This is currently my side gig as I manage a bar and do maintenance work and inside advertising for my day job...

 

Plenty of compromises; workstations typically weigh as much as a tank, and have a power brick pulling too much juice to use off airplane power (and in extreme cases, like the 17" ones, are approaching the weight of an ultrabook just for a power brick.) The exceptions like the M3800/5510 where they jam a lower-tier workstation GPU into a Macbook Pro-clone body, have a lot of tradeoffs on heat and durabililty.

There are ALWAYS trade-offs.

I'm just glad to see that Dell has seen the light on higher-end processors in the Latitude line. Still not sure what my next generation machine will be.

 

Acknowledged. I could possibly have specified the kind of compromises I meant. (As I’m well aware there are always trade-offs.)
I wanted to express that only workstation-class laptops (and gaming laptops) tend not to be limited—in their potential performance, expandability, upgradability—beyond inherent limitations of the platform (meaning Intel mobile platform of the generation), give or take a few practical details.
It’s the only class designed and built to go for (more or less) the full performance potential of the respective Intel mobile platform as such; whereas other classes trade some of that for lower cost, lower weight, smaller size, longer battery life etc. Which is fine; people have different needs.
I just wanted to point out that anyone who desires a portable computer that does not trade in performance and expandability may ultimately end up wanting a workstation (or a gaming laptop), regardless of one’s profession (!).
(And yes, we do see further stratification into tiers, such as 5510 vs. 7510 vs. 7710; I don’t really believe 3510 makes much sense; neither did I believe the previous M2800 made sense.)
I remember there used to be “desktop-replacement” laptops. I believe mobile workstations serve that niche today, mostly, besides their intended target market. (On a side note, Clevo does have some genuine DTRs in their line-up; and they look tank-ugly.)

 

That really depends on what your performance needs are; in my experience, the quad-core business laptops of the past few years (Dell E6420, E6430, Lenovo T440p) offer essentially identical CPU performance to the workstation models of the same generation. None of those three throttled for me (although I've significantly less experience with the Lenovo), and other than the 16GB memory limit being an increasing problem as time goes on, all were excellent development machines. I'm told there are some similar HPs, although I've avoided HP as a manufacturer since they had some terrible quality issues in the mid-2000s.

GPU performance is another matter, of course -- the "business" GPUs in the Latitude and Thinkpad T lineup reached their sell by date when Intel started catching up on their graphics (Haswell, if not Sandy Bridge -- the E6430 was a great machine, but casual gaming only, and I'd have forgone the Nvidia chip if given the option.)

Expandability depends on the model (and frankly, seems to be going down across the board: and Dell lost the ability to use expansion bay drives or 2nd batteries) in the Precisions before it did in the Latitudes, and a 2nd m.2 slot doesn't make up for the loss of a 2nd place to put a 2.5" drive.) The E6540 wasn't a bad choice in either of those respects, despite not being a workstation, although it was definitely an outlier in terms of weight and the move to a 130W power brick for a business machine... probably a big part of why it got semi-deprecated in favor of the M2800.

I think that may have been an undesirable artifact of Dell lineups of the Haswell generation (and Broadwell for gaming laptops, as that got skipped by everyone's higher power machines except for by the gaming companies) ... the T440p and T540p (and to a lesser extent, the E6540) get 95% of the way there.

The 3510 and M2800 both make sense to me (relative to the 5570 and E6540), as much as the M3800 did and 5510 do (relative to the two XPS 15 models); they're for people who don't need the overall GPU power of the 7510 (or M4800) or the second pair of memory slots, but who need ISV certified drivers. Because they're 95% the same machines, it costs Dell very little to offer both models in each of those cases. The CPUs (minus the Xeon options on the newest machines, which really only make sense if you need ECC support) are essentially the same all through each generation,