Dell Precision M3800 Mobile Workstation Packs Thunderbolt 2, Quadro, IGZO2 Panel

MojoKid writes: Dell recently revamped their M3800 model to better entice graphic designers, engineers, and other high-end users who often work in the field, with a true mobile workstation that's both sufficiently equipped to handle professional grade workloads and is thin and light to boot. Dell claims the M3800 is the "world's thinnest and lightest 15-inch mobile workstation" and at 4.15 pounds, it could very well be. In addition, ISV tools certifications matter for workstation types, so the M3800 gets its pixel pushing muscle from an NVIDIA Quadro K1100M GPU with 2GB of GDDR5 memory. Other notable specs include an Intel Core i7-4712HQ quad-core processor, 16GB of DDR3L memory, and a 256GB mSATA SSD. One of the new additions to the M3800 is a Thunderbolt 2 port with transfer speeds of up to 20Gbps that allows for the simultaneous viewing/editing and backing up of raw 4K video. Finally, the M3800 is equipped with a 3840x2160 native resolution IGZO2 display, which equates to a 60 percent increase in pixel density over a current gen MacBook Pro with Retina display. Performance-wise, the M3800 holds up pretty strong with standard productivity workloads, though as you can image it excels more-so in graphics rendering throughput.

Comments

Original M3800 Model Linux User Here

[Anonymous Coward]

My work laptop for the last year or so is the original model of this new unit - it has the 3200x1880 screen instead of the new 4k model. Mine has 16Gb RAM, a 256Gb msata drive and a 500Gb spinning disk. It arrived with Win8.1 installed which I immediately wiped and replaced with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

It's a seriously nice laptop - after a year or so of constant use I still really like it but it's not without certain issues, especially for Linux users. The original version was only sort of Linux friendly (see: https://sputnik.github.io/) in an unofficially supported kind of way and it shows at times. First and foremost, under Linux you can sometimes hear a faint coil whine from inside it. Getting bumblebee to reliably switch between the Intel and Nvidia graphics on demand is an exercise in pure pain and I have actually given up at this point - battery consumption is also dramatically worse than on Windows so I just ignore the K1100 and run the open source Intel drivers instead, which works absolutely fine. With a *lot* of fiddling, you can get CUDA working on the Quadro but I ended up having to build my own kernels and do a lot of tweaking before this machine would really behave itself. A clean reinstall of 15.04 may well solve a lot of the glitches to be fair. It also doesn't have the usual Dell docking port and requires a USB3 based docking station and therefore displaylink drivers - as of kernel 4.0 that sort of works, but not in a genuinely usable fashion. It also gets quite hot when running at full tilt (make -j8). The touchscreen - which I have absolutely no use for - works perfectly but the fancy multitouch trackpad doesn't, which also suits me fine. The screen itself, even though it's not the full-on 4k version in the new model, is quite frankly the best screen I have ever used - it's beautifully sharp, bright and crisp. And annoyingly reflective - it's unusable in bright sunlight outdoors.

My verdict is that my version is definitely good enough to function as a complete desktop replacement for a sysadmin like me - it's super-fast, really easy to pick up and carry around the premises on battery for a couple of hours, has good wifi, a really nice backlit keyboard (warning: no dedicated number pad and also slightly non-standard arrow keys which is bound to annoy some people) and the screen is just jaw-dropping. Better than a Macbook Retina? Yes, yes it is. Would I spend £2500 or so for a top end configuration model out of my own pocket? Honestly, I don't think I could. The new 4k version with better Linux certification, at a top end spec with a 512Gb msata and the spinning rust replaced with a 1Tb SSD could quite possibly be the best Linux laptop ever but the cost is just too eye-watering for me. Basically, if you can swing your boss buying you one for work then go for it, but the price is just too prohibitive otherwise.

Anyway, this article naturally interested me as a M3800 user but it does feel like a bit of a blatant advert - hopefully a boring dose of reality from a person who actually uses one of these laptops daily might be interesting. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll try and answer. Someone in a thread above asked about the power brick so if anyone really cares I could weigh/measure mine up (it's actually quite small and has an annoyingly non-standard Latitude Dell type jack).

15 years of reading Slashdot, I think this is my second ever post!

m6x00 upgrade wanted....

[kimvette]

I'd like to see a real upgrade to the m6x00 line (their 17" mobile workstations). I am still running an M6400 Precision Mobile Workstation. Why? Because I like a full keyboard, dual pointer options, and the 17" screen. I check the Precision lineup every few weeks hoping an upgrade comes out. The problem with the current models is that they are downgrades; the laptop I have has a WUXGA (1920x1200) RGB-LED backlit display while the current models top out at 1080p, with white LED edgelights. I want to see them go back to the RGB-LED backlight, and more importantly, offer a 1440p or higher resolution display.

They manage to offer WQXGA+ (3200x1800) and UHD (4K) displays in the 15" models - why are those of us who want the flagship 17" worksation left out in the cold when it comes to decent screens now? I also checked the Alienware line (since they're pretty much Precisions/Latitudes with a gamer case and gaming video card rather than the Quadro line) but even they top out at 1080p in the 17" model.. :-(

Until Dell gets their act together with screen offerings on the m6x00 I'll keep my M6400 going. It paid for itself hundreds of times over and it is still going strong. I did have to replace the motherboard after a lightning strike but other than that it has been absolutely flawless. It's dropped from a 4' high ledge onto a tiled concrete floor while running and never skipped a beat; you cannot tell it was ever dropped and the hard drives scanned clean and STILL scan clean (SMART long test and surface scans with CHKDSK and fsck respectively) to this day. It's been an absolute tank for me, and aside from video resolution and video performance (I can't really use it for current games, plus it'd be nice to drive an external 3D display when at home) I am still very happy with it. I am still even on the original battery and still get decent life (almost two hours - when new it would get almost three hours) with the thing. :-)

Dell please throw m6x00 customers a bone - offer a 1440p or higher resolution display, then shut up and take my money.

15" laptops? Not interested. I like larger screen models (since it allows for close to full-size keyboards) with as high of a resolution as possible.