Dell's Precision M4800 is all about serious power. Built to
handle demanding computing and graphic-intensive tasks, this workstation
combines an Intel Core i7 processor with Nvidia Quadro graphics in an elegant
and durable chassis. A QHD+ display and rich audio system sweeten the
content-creation pot. The 15.6-inch notebook (starting at $1,249, and $2,513 as
configured) also offers security features that will make IT managers happy.
Whether you're having a manic Monday or working for the weekend, read on to see
why the M4800 can handle your workload and then some.
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| Dell Precision M4800 Review |
Design
Dell designed the M4800 for function, not fashion. However, there is an
understated elegance to its fingerprint-resistant, gunmetal gray, anodized
aluminum lid. The chrome Dell emblem embedded in the center of the lid adds a
nice bit of sparkle. The front of the lid has a soft curve that draws the eye to
the lock button located on the front lip.
We love the speaker grille positioned above the keyboard; its dash and dot
design reminded us of Morse code. A set of dark-gray, chrome volume-buttons sits
to the left of the grille with the power located on the right. Directly below
the keyboard is a smallish touchpad surrounded by a luxurious black,
soft-touch-finish palm rest.
The 6.4-pound M4800 measures 14.8 x 10.1 x 1.29~1.37-inches, slightly thicker
than the HP ZBook 15 (6.2 pounds, 15 x 10.1 x 1.2 inches). However the
15-inch Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display is the sveltest in the land, at
4.5 pounds, 14.1 x 9.7 x 0.71-inches.
Durability
Beneath the unassuming chassis of the Precision M4800 lies the frame of a
more rough-and-tumble laptop. A rigid magnesium alloy frame reinforces the
anodized aluminum exterior. The laptop has also gone through MIL-STD-810G
testing for resistance to extreme temperatures, dust, vibration, shock and
altitude. The keyboard is spill-resistant to protect against that inevitable
coffee or soda mishap.
Security
Our configuration of the Precision M4800 comes preloaded with Dell's
Protected Workspace software. When active, Protected Workspace opens potentially
vulnerable applications (Web browsers, zip files and PDF readers) in a virtual
container separate from the operating system, keeping it safe from malware
attacks.
The laptop also features Dell ControlVault, an application that stores
sensitive information like encryption keys within a protected boundary that can
only be accessed via an authentication scheme set up by the owner or the IT
manager.
Display
The M4800 is one of the first Windows workstations outfitted with a
Retina-like display. The notebook's 15.6-inch, 3200 x 1800 matte panel is sharp
and offers wide enough viewing angles to accommodate three people. However,
similar to other Window 8 machines with ultra high-res displays, text is hard to
read unless you're zoomed in past 150 percent.
The screen impressed when viewing high-resolution images. In our favorite
pastoral scene, the M4800 delivered gorgeous shades of emerald and peridot, and
the blue in the sky was deep and vibrant, adding some extra pop to the fluffy
white clouds.
When it comes to color and sharpness, though, Apple's Retina Display still
reigns supreme. In an image of a German shepherd puppy in a flower basket, the
MacBook Pro 15 delivered richer color, especially the blacks in the dog's fur
and the vibrant fuchsia of the flowers. The same image on the M4800's matte
display looked muted. In terms of sharpness, we saw the waxiness of the flowers
and the puppy's individual hairs better on the MacBook. The dog's right-side
whiskers were barely discernable on the M4800.
The MacBook continued to outshine the M4800 during the 1080p "The Wolf of
Wall Street" trailer. We could clearly see the age lines in Leonardo DiCaprio's
forehead on both panels. However, Leo's eyes were a much deeper shade of blue on
the MacBook Pro.
The Precision M4800 has a seriously bright screen, registering 323 lux on our
light meter. That's well above the 211-lux mainstream average. The MacBook Pro
was a full 100 points behind at 223 lux. The ZBook 15 did somewhat better at 295
lux.
Audio
Those speakers aren't just for decoration. They bathed our small testing
space in loud, rich audio with balanced mids, highs and lows. As we listened to
Lorde's "Royals," the singer's funky alto ruled the track and blended
beautifully with the soprano background vocals. The bass was deep, but not
overwhelming. Our only quibble was that the finger snaps in the song didn't
sound as crisp as they should have.
The notebook reached 88 decibels on the Laptop Audio Test (measuring decibel
output at 23 inches from the laptop), matching the ZBook 15 and scoring a hair
above the 87 dB average.
Keyboard, Pointing Stick and Touchpad
Comfortable typing awaits on the M4800's traditional keyboard. The keys have
a slight curvature that cradles your fingers and offers firm feedback. And with
the soft-touch palm rest, we typed for hours with nary a cramp. We scored 60
words per minute on the Ten Thumbs Typing Test, higher than our 55 wpm average.
The backlighting was pretty bright, too.
At 3.1 x 1.75-inches, the touchpad is a little on the small side. Just a
half-inch wider would have made a world of difference. Despite the cramped
working conditions, gestures such as pinch-zoom, two-finger rotate and
three-finger press were responsive. Three-finger flick was more finicky,
requiring that the gesture be performed in the exact center of the touchpad.
The discrete buttons surrounding the touchpad are mushy, with the exception
of the top right button. However, each of the buttons competently performs its
function. We particularly like the seamless scrolling experience provided by the
pair of buttons in the center of the configuration.
As with other business notebooks, the M4800 has a pointing stick set amidst
the G, H and B keys. However, the black nub is slightly recessed, and, despite
its small raised dots, was slick to the touch. As a result, our finger kept
slipping off, making it hard to navigate. We much prefer Lenovo's pointing
stick, which is more prominent and offers a better grip.
Heat
After streaming a Hulu video for 15 minutes, the notebook's touchpad measured
79 degrees Fahrenheit, while the space between the G and H keys hit 86 degrees.
The bottom of the notebook blew a warmer 92 degrees, but that's still below our
95-degree comfort threshold.
Webcam
Using the pre-installed Dell Webcam Central software, the M4800 captures
stills and video in 720p. While there was a slight white haze, the camera did a
good job of capturing the hue of our blue-green sweater. Overall sharpness could
also be better, as images were somewhat fuzzy.
Ports
It just wouldn't be a workstation without a plethora of ports. On the right,
you have two USB 3.0 ports, a DisplayPort and a Wi-Fi switch. There's another
pair of USB 3.0 ports on the left, with a DVD burner, 9-in-1 card reader, a
SmartCard reader, a 54mm ExpressCard slot, a lock slot and jacks for headphones
and a microphone. The M4800's rear has an eSATA/USB 2.0 port, a VGA port,
Ethernet and HDMI. And just in case you need even more ports, there's a
connector dock on the bottom of the notebook.
Performance
Thanks to its 2.8-GHz Intel Core i7-4900MQ CPU with 16GB of RAM, the Dell
Precision M4800 can crunch numbers with the best of them. The laptop ably
streamed an episode of "House of Cards" while running a virus scan with 13 open
tabs in Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.
On the PCMark7 benchmark, the notebook hit 5,701, surpassing the 3,356
mainstream average. It also just beat the HP ZBook 15's 2.7-GHz Intel Core
i7-4800MQ processor's score of 5,406. On Geekbench 3, the M4800 scored 13,559,
well above the 9,047 category average. The ZBook 15 came in second with 12,797,
while the Apple MacBook Pro and its 2.3-GHz Intel Core i7 CPU came in third with
11,928.
The M4800's 256GB SSD took 30 seconds to load Windows 7 Professional, just
missing the 29-second average. The ZBook 15 was a little faster, booting Windows
7 Pro in 25 seconds. The MacBook Pro started OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) in just 15
seconds.
The Precision's SSD is very fast in everyday use, duplicating 4.97GB of
multimedia files in 24 seconds. That equals a transfer rate of 212 MBps. The 52
MBps average didn't stand a chance. Neither did the ZBook 15, which scraped
together 48 MBps. The MacBook Pro was close, but fell short at 196 MBps.
During the OpenOffice Spreadsheet Macro Test, the Precision M4800 matched
20,000 names and addresses in 3 minutes and 39 seconds. That's faster than the
5:32 average, the MacBook Pro's 4:14 and the ZBook 15's time of 3:44.
Graphics
The Dell Precision M4800 packs an Nvidia Quadro K2100M GPU with 2GB of VRAM,
meaning it has more kick than your average mainstream notebook. We saw strong
results during real world and synthetic benchmark tests.
The workstation hit 2,661 on the 3DMark11, topping the 1,430 mainstream
average. This was enough to overcome the HP ZBook 15's Nvidia Quadro K610M GPU
with 1GB of RAM, which scored 1,277. The 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro's Nvidia
GeForce GT 750M GPU and Intel Iris Pro graphics each delivered 2,275.
On the "World of Warcraft" benchmark, the M4800 achieved 98 fps on autodetect
at 1080p, matching the category average. The ZBook 15 hit a frame rate of 42
fps. The MacBook Pro delivered 94 fps at 1280 x 800. When we switched the M4800
to its native resolution (3200 x 1800), the frame rate dropped to 50 fps, while
the MacBook Pro achieved 84 fps at 2880 x 1800.
With the settings on Ultra, the M4800 managed 27 fps, which failed to match
the 51 fps average, the MacBook Pro (41 fps) or our 30 fps playability
threshold. Still, the Dell beat the ZBook 15's score of 23 fps.
Battery Life
We don't expect marathon-like endurance from workstations, but the Dell
Precision M4800's endurance was still disappointing. The machine lasted 4 hours
and 16 minutes on the LAPTOP Battery Test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi).
That runtime is an hour less than the 5:35 mainstream average. The HP ZBook 15
lasted 7:46, while the Apple MacBook Pro clocked in at 8:02.
According to Dell, Nvidia's graphics-switching Optimus technology is not
available on the M4800 with QHD displays; if you opt for an FHD (1920 x 1080)
display, you can expect up to 16.8 hours of rated endurance.
MORE: 10 Laptops with the Longest Battery Life
Software and Warranty
The Dell Precision M4800 is a lean, mean business machine, which means
there's no room for bloatware. There are a few Dell add-ons, such as the Dell
Power Manager, which lets you change the power usage settings on the battery.
The Precision Performance Optimizer automatically tunes the notebook's system
settings according to which programs are currently running.
The Dell Precision M4800 comes with a 3-Year Basic Hardware Service with
3-Year Next Business Day Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis. See how Dell
fared in our Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Brands Report.
Configurations
Our configuration of the Dell Precision M4800 costs $2,513 and features a
2.8-GHz Intel Core i7-4900MQ CPU with 16GB of memory, a 256GB SSD, an Nvidia
Quadro K2100M GPU with 2GB of VRAM, and a 15.6-inch 3200 x 1800 display.
The $1,249 base model is quite friendly to your bottom line, offering a
2.5-GHz Intel Core i5-4200M CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 500GB 7,200-rpm hard drive, AMD
FirePro M5100 GPU with 2GB of VRAM, and a 1366 x 768 display.
Dell also offers a $1,689 middle-of-the-road option, with a 2.7-GHz Intel
Core i7-4800MQ processor that has 8GB of RAM, a 500GB 7,200-rpm hard drive,
Nvidia Quadro K1100M GPU with 2GB of VRAM, and a 1080p display.
Verdict
In addition to its durable yet handsome chassis, the Dell Precision M4800 is
a productivity beast. This workstation offers a powerful Intel Core i7 processor
and Nvidia Quadro GPU, which can easily handle graphics-intensive tasks like
video editing. We also like the comfy keyboard, sharp QHD+ display and robust
audio. However, the M4800 is a little lacking when it comes to battery life.
For $89 more, users can get the $2,599 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro, which
offers nearly 9 hours of juice and more-lush Retina display in a lighter,
sleeker chassis. However, you'll get far fewer ports and not nearly as many
customization and security options. Ultimately, the M4800 is a strong choice for
users searching for a notebook with power, durability and security.
SEE more: HP ZBook 14 Review
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