Precision M4400 Owner's Lounge

I am eagerly awaiting reviews on the RGBLED

 

I researched my laptop purchase for about four months before making my purchase. At the end, it was down to a MacBook Pro running Windows (I use Cakewalk Sonar, a Windows only ProAudio app) or the Dell Precision M4400.

I waited for Mac's "big announcement," (which turned out to be a fugly, non-function-improving MBP revamp) and then went with the M4400.

I have been pleased with my purchase, and thought I would address some of the topics addressed in this thread, as the thread was very helpful to me during my research.

Reasons the M4400 beat out the MBP: I wanted to run 64bit (not gonna happen until Snow Leopard?), I'm not a fan of the MBP track pad, the M4400 has waaaay more ports, including an eSata/USB port (yes, it functions as both by the way; there seemed to be some confusion about that earlier in this thread), price (though it was close in the end) and I'm not a fan of MBP speakers (more on that later).

My setup ($2k delivered with tax):

• T9400, 2.53GHz, 1066MHz
• 4GB, DDR2-800 SDRAM (purchased from NewEgg for about 1/3 the price of Dell's upgrade option)
• 512MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 770M
• 250GB Hard Drive 9.5MM 7200RPM FFS
• Backlit keyboard
• Fingerprint Reader (the cheap one)
• Black Wide Screen WXGA+ LCD (LED) (note: black does NOT refer to the case color)
• 9 cell battery

First off, the ambient light sensor is crap. I love the LED screen though, and I just adjust the brightness manually when necessary.

The backlit keyboard is GREAT in low light situations.

People seemed to be having trouble with the fingerprint reader. I purchased the cheaper option, and have had no issues whatsoever. Set up was easy and it works on the first try every time. Sometimes upon "wake from sleep" I have to use the Ctrl-Alt-Del option, but still the fingerprint reader works on first swipe from this screen. I haven't entered in my password once since buying this computer.

I was a little miffed that I was not able to buy the Internal Bluetooth with the 64bit configuration; I assume this is because the device doesn't have a 64bit driver available.

Purchasing the DVI adapter for a second monitor would have delayed my order, so I made my purchase later and am now awaiting the arrival of the display adapter. The desktop display option shows that the second monitor will support up to 2048x1536, so I'm looking forward to plugging this thing into my 24" monitor.

The back of the screen is in fact metal, but it feels like plastic. Mine is silver. I would have loved black, but no matter how much I begged, I was told it was not an option. The wavy design is kind of goofy, but I assume it lends some integrity to the strength of the case.

The fact that the screen folds back almost to flat is really nice.

Yes the power brick is annoyingly large. Why won't PC manufacturers take a hint from Mac's wonderful tiny wall-wart with magnetic attachment (I realize the attachment is patented, but why not something similar)?

I can't believe how long the battery lasts! I did upgrade to the 9 cell. I charged the machine after I opened the box, and then ran on battery to see how long it would last (keep in mind, this was first cycle). The battery lasted 3 days!! Granted, I wasn't on it all the time (still using my main machine), but that's pretty freakin' good for moderate use (checking e-mail, setting up networking, installing software including the entire Adobe CS3 suite, etc...). I was thinking about upgrading with "the slice," but I'm not sure that it will be necessary at this point.

The M4400 is not as light as the MBP, but it's lighter than I expected (not at all troublesome for flying with or taking down to the local coffee shop). that said, I carried around an Acer Aspire 1710 desktop replacement for years, and at 12 pounds, I'm pretty sure that's the heaviest "laptop" ever made (in the LCD screen era). So anything would be light in comparison. But seriously, it's pretty good on weight.

This thing is wicked fast, and mostly quiet. A couple of times the fan has kicked in kind of loud, but nothing to change my mind about the purchase. Most times the clicking of the hard drive is the biggest aural annoyance (so that should attest to how quiet it is).


Here's my biggest complaint... the on-board sound is abysmal. Of course the speakers in a notebook aren't going to be great (thin, tinny). However, the issue isn't just with the speakers. The actual IDT sound card puts out crap sound. I hooked this up to my studio monitors, my fancy schmancy headphones and my high-end stereo. The sound is thin and tinny through any device.

There are no options but volume for the IDT sound card. Actually, there is a drop down list for speakers (laptop stereo, laptop mono, desktop stereo, etc...) but it doesn't seem to do a whole lot. I was hoping for EQ, loudness, something (anything) to help out with the **** poor sound, but there is nothing to adjust or help out the awful audio quality of this computer.

Not only is the sound thin, but it also distorts quite a bit at high levels.

The only reason I didn't send the machine back due to this issue is that I will most often be using my MOTU 828 mkII via Firewire when the audio actually counts.

I'll probably also start looking for a decent set of external laptop speakers to throw in the bag for when I travel (for watching video, etc...).

Hope all of this helps someone out there make a more informed decision. Thanks to all who posted here and helped me with mine.

 

There's many solutions to poor sound quality in this forum, so you can look around a bit. Usually a quick checkbox or driver problem.

The M4400 came out before the aluminum MBP and already had it's specs potential beat by miles. And now they added Quad-core *drools*.

 

I've been carrying around the Dell M2010 for more than a year now, and it weighs 18 pounds...without the enormous AC adapter! With the adapter, it tips the scales at an insane twenty pounds, which I believe actually makes it the heaviest "laptop" of the modern era. So, I'm very happy to hear you report that the M4400 seems light compared to your 12-pound Acer. That means it should feel virtually weightless to me!

 

It's only 5.5lbs for all that hardware , if you take an SSD it would be a bit lighter?

 

Kidjedi:
Thanks for a really detailed and informative review of your new M4400:
I too did quite some research before choosing a Dell (first the E6500 - but it had to be return because of hardware problems). When looking for a replacement for my E6500 i saw Dell was about to offer RGBLED for the M4400 - and then there was not so much to discuss - as a graphic designer student, a great display and pure horsepower counts a lot! Apple doesn't even option an RGBLED for their NEW MBP - and even if they did - it would probably be over-priced.. - also the 64-bit aspect lend to my choice of the M4400 (Photoshop Cs4 64 bit is only for windows..).

Still looking forward to get mine... hehe

 

That is very disappointing to hear.. its one thing for the speakers themseleves to be crappy, but having the chipset actually output crap? At least you were able to find a solution.

Though frankly this is the first time I heard two issues being brought up; thanks for the thorough review.

 

@kidjedi

Hey pal, did you use a coupon to order your machine? As i was configuring the beast with the specs you provided it was 2k w/o tax and shipping.

Can you pm me the code, as i would like to order one too...

thanks
madengineer

 

The displayport to HDMI cable, does it also output audio? or only video?

Because as i recall the HP 8530p models, HDMI outputs audio and video.

thanks
madengineer

 

I don't think it can be called HDMI if it doesn't output audio. By definition HDMI (High Definition Media Interface) is a video AND audio connection. Both of which are in digital format.
I would be stupefied if they didn't include the audio.