Dell Announces Precision M4500 - 15.6", Core i7 Discussion

Dell today announced its 15.6" mobile workstation, the M4500 featuring quad-core Intel Core i7 processors and Nvidia graphics.

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I had the m4400 (with qx9300 CPU) for a day and it melted a hole through the plastic near the touchpad. Dell sent a replacement immediately, no questions asked. Hopefully this one has none of those issues.

 

Just wondering - "no questions asked" as in "well we kind of expected this issue, here's one from a newer batch"?

 

Hmm, wow, Dell seems to be quite late to the game this time. The design seems more or less the same as the M4400, so it will likely prove to be a solid machine. Would be great to see a review some time in the coming weeks

 

Finally, it has been announced!

 

Hopefully a numpad will be involved and an IR port for my express card remote.

 

A separate numeric keypad would be awesome IF it they can manage to do it without compromising the rest of the keyboard...

 

I suppose this is also a glimpse of what the Latitude E6510 will look like, but with a different lid design?

I'm anxious to see the Precision M2500 (14")! I'm guessing that it will be the next to show up, then the Latitude E6510 and E6410 will follow shortly. The big question I have is whether they (the M2500/E6410) will stick with a 16:10 14.1" display (like Lenovo did with the T410) OR will they also have a 16:9 14.0" display (like the HP EliteBook 8440p/w)???

I'm not a fan of the shift to 16:9 displays in business laptops, but 14" models are the exception IF they offer a 1600x900 display! Compared to 14.1" WXGA+ (1440x900) there's no loss of vertical and an increase in horizontal pixels. HP has one on their 14" EliteBooks and Dell has offered them on various consumer models (Studio 14/14z and, intermittently, on the Inspiron 14).

If I know Dell, they'll wait for a few weeks to introduce the M2500 and then another month or so for the Latitude updates....they like to draw things out for dramatic effect, IMO! Meanwhile, I'm surprised they announced the Dell Vostro 3000 line (three models) and the Precision M4500 at the same time. Then again, the marketing folks at Dell consistently make decisions that have no logical or rational basis.

 

I don't mean to burst your bubble or anything, but I work for Dell and they are discontinuing the 14" model in the Precision line and the 6410s and 6510s you will have the choice of either brushed metal black, or brush metal silver.

 

Well the resolution of this is 1080 for the srgbled right? Also will they be offering core i5 or just right now core i7 and what do you think guys the price will be? 1,700 starting?

 

They will probably offer i5 CPUs too and hopefully for less than $1700 USD.

 

HP offers a pre-config 8540w with i5 for about $1450. I think they are going to have to either start around that price point or use imaginary pricing like Lenovo.

 

I believe it is 1600x900:

It would say Full HD or 1080p if otherwise. HD+ = 1600x900

 

Thanks for the inside info! The new brush(ed) silver color option for the updated Latitude models sounds very cool...especially compared to the Regal Red and Regatta Blue options currently offered!

I'm not all that surprised that Dell isn't replacing the Precision M2400. Unlike the Latitude E6500 and Precision M4400, the M2400 doesn't offer much that isn't available on the Latitude E6400 already! Usually the Precision models have more powerful GPUs than same-size Latitude models. But the M2400's 256mb NVIDIA Quadro FX 370M and the E6400's 256mb NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M have the same specs and very similar performance (which is to say, less than impressive performance thanks to the use of slow GDDR2 memory)...

Any word on whether the E6410 will remain 16:10 or will it have a 16:9 display like the M4500/E6510? And/or an idea of when the E6410/E6510 will be released?

 

The industry really needs to standardize the nomenclature for 16:9 displays because it gets really confusing for a lot of people (and the rest of us are very annoyed by the inconsistency)!

The 16:10 had WXGA (1280x800), WXGA+ (1440x900), WSXGA+ (1680x1050) and WUXGA (1920x1200). I've seen the 16:9 with 1366x768 resolution described as WXGA, 720p, HD and sometimes with a few snazzy adjectives thrown in to add to the confusion! The 1600x900 was originally described by Dell as 900p, but most who offer it are calling it HD+ now. The oddball 18.4" displays from Toshiba and Acer with 1680x945 is also called HD+! Then there's 1920x1080 called 1080p and/or Full HD....I suppose HD, HD+ and Full HD are the names that are sticking?

 

HP can do it in their 15.6 models.

That is sad for that size.

Agreed 100%.

 

I was told the last week of march the 6410/6510 will be launched. Yeah the brushed silver does look cool, still not sure if Id take it over the black but its close. I believe all of the new models will have a 16:9 ratio.

 

Thanks mr. Bounty Hunter, anyway its really really confusing between the 16:9 stupidity. Plus sad resolution, 1600x900, stupid 15.6 really screws things up anyway i am really confused with what to get this or the precision m4400, been thinking about just having an up to date machine and that's that for a few years.

 

What's even sadder is that 1600x900 is actually a good resolution for a 15.6" screen compared to what is out there. The overwhelming majority of 15.6" notebooks come with measly 1366x768 screens, so 1600x900 looks downright attractive by comparison.

1920x1080 is where it's at for productivity (I would say 1920x1200, but that is unfortunately not being sold anymore).

 

Charley i totally agree with you, i just hope this new rgbled isn't bad as i have read from the precision m64500 lounge, 1600x900 is a good res for a 15.6 cause most do come with a horrible 1366x768, the thing is i want my1200P, but at times i do miss having the core i7, very powerful, awesome 1800m 1 gig graphics, but i wish that this machine had switchable graphics, the chasis is way larger than the M11x, and the Latitude E6400.

 

What do you mean about the RGBLED panel on the M6400/M6500? It's the same as the HP Elitebook 8730w/8740w and is the best TN panel available...

 

There's been some discussion of some calibration issues with the RGB screen in the M6500 in the M6500 discussion thread in the Dell subforum. There seems to be some problem getting a proper calibration profile. The problem doesn't actually seem to be with the screen itself, mind, it seems to lie more in the software and settings.

 

Interesting. Has anyone tried using a screen calibrator like the Colorvision Spyder3Express?

 

That is what i was talking about, i will try colorvision spyder3express, not the best at screen calibrating though. That is just about my only worry and i hope no throttle issues either.

 

They've been using things like the ColorMunki and Spyder 3 Elite. Bokeh and keithsnell seem to have been doing most of the testing so far, and have uploaded profiles. The first post I can find in the subforum detailing things starts about #663, and there are several more scattered throughout the (very long) thread.

In general, changing gamma to 1.8 seems to help, as well as disabling Dell's Control Point software and (for NVidia cards) adjusting NVidia's digital vibrance if you have a calibrator. If you don't, Bokeh suggests to 5-7 up from the lowest, and using the NTSC mode in the Control Point software for something that should be "good enough".

Please note that for "average" users, the Control Point NTSC mode solution should be more than good enough. The calibration "issues" are largely for photo developers, and others that rely on exact color matching for printing and work.

 

While I agree that 1600x900 is MUCH better the the 1366x768 I still find that 900 pixels of vertical resolution is too little for me. 1050/1080 is as small as I'm willing to go from now on. As much as I love my t400 the space on the screen limits things greatly and alot of scrolling is necessary.

What makes it sad for me is that it is a precision model meaning it is the top dog for that size of dell business laptops. For the price and use that a precision is designed for makes it a disappointment for me.

 

Well i am not really a average user, i am getting into some photography with my Panasonic Lumix fz-35 and other videos i edit, So this machine will come out in a few weeks right?

 

With the 2 monster laptops in your sig what would this one serve as? Just curiosity.

 

Finally they fixed that hideous lid the M4400...in a kinda way...still, not pleasing the design IMHO.

 

Haha, yep, seems quite a few people didn't like it, the new one is ok by me as well, it bothers me more whats inside the lid [16:9]...and that it doesn't collide with the palmrest....is rigid etc, it looks as if they have addressed the rubber bumper issue with this one.

Some details would be good, dimensions, RAID support, GDDR5 on the FX1800m etc

 

Gddr5 on the fx1800M?? Damn i am getting more interested been going back and forth between this one and the M4400, price will be the final one though. Also, i had the Precision m6400 as my main gaming machine until i got the alienware finally saw the difference between quadro fx graphics and the geforce in terms of gaming performance, so i am in decision to get something smaller like this and have an amazing processor like the core i7 i just don't feel like breaking the bank though. Just like to have one quadcore. I love my precision a lot, a 15.6 isn't that bad, i use the small one for normal day to day use, the precision as animation and school and research and the alienware of course for gaming but i prefer the precision more due to the RGBLED screen.