3200x1800 in Windows 7 (should I buy a Dell M4800)

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Knavish

Knavish

Senior member
May 17, 2002
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I'm trying to pick a new work laptop, here are a few of my considerations:
  • I've been using a Macbook Pro for a few years as my work laptop and have recently decided that too many apps that I use just work better in Windows.
  • Sometimes I do get datasets to process use more than 16GB of ram, though I do have a decent desktop for this work. (It would be nice if my laptop could do it, too.)
  • For work, I pretty much have to buy a Dell or an Apple. For the Dell, I will have to run Windows 7.
  • Given this list, I am thinking of a Dell Precision M4800.

M4800's are available with a 3200x1800 screen. How much pain will I endure trying to run Windows 7 at 3200x1800?

I'm also a bit worried that the M4800 and it's power supply will weigh almost 10 lbs. Perhaps this laptop is a bit of overkill, but I do not know of any small laptops that support 32 GB of ram. Any suggestions?

---edit---

I'm beginning to think that the 3200x1800 screen is a bad idea: fonts are drawn too small by some software, and it looks like I would need to reset the the DPI scaling any time I plug into an external monitor or projector.
 
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shortylickens

shortylickens

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Jul 15, 2003
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Windows 7 can handle it. In fact the theoretical maximum display size is ridiculously huge. In practice of course you'll be limited by VGA or dual DVI.
 
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saratoga172

Golden Member
Nov 10, 2009
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What type of gpu requirements do you have? If you need primarily CPU and memory look into the M3800. It's 4.5 pounds but macpro like in size and thickness. Got to handle and use one yesterday and I was very impressed.
 
postmortemIA

postmortemIA

Diamond Member
Jul 11, 2006
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Windows can handle it, but dpi scaling in windows 7 isn't the greatest. you can forget about running on 1/2 resolution that osx handles great (retina displays). Graphics drivers for Windows scale all resolutions except of native. If anything is better in Windows 8, this is it: better support for high dpi displays.
 
F

Fox5

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
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Knavish said:
I'm trying to pick a new work laptop, here are a few of my considerations:
  • I've been using a Macbook Pro for a few years as my work laptop and have recently decided that too many apps that I use just work better in Windows.
  • Sometimes I do get datasets to process use more than 16GB of ram, though I do have a decent desktop for this work. (It would be nice if my laptop could do it, too.)
  • For work, I pretty much have to buy a Dell or an Apple. For the Dell, I will have to run Windows 7.
  • Given this list, I am thinking of a Dell Precision M4800.

M4800's are available with a 3200x1800 screen. How much pain will I endure trying to run Windows 7 at 3200x1800?

I'm also a bit worried that the M4800 and it's power supply will weigh almost 10 lbs. Perhaps this laptop is a bit of overkill, but I do not know of any small laptops that support 32 GB of ram. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

You could get the Dell XPS 15 or the Dell Precision variant of it. It's a slim and light at about 4 pounds and has the same screen and comes with 16GB of ram.

For 32GB, you're looking at a desktop replacement laptop, or you wait a few months and get a laptop with DDR4. There are some cheapie mid range laptops that take 4 ram slots, from Acer, MSI, and similar brands.

That said, Windows, even Windows 8, works horrible at high res. You're better off just lowering the screen res to 1920x1080.
 
Knavish

Knavish

Senior member
May 17, 2002
910
3
81
saratoga172 said:
What type of gpu requirements do you have? If you need primarily CPU and memory look into the M3800. It's 4.5 pounds but macpro like in size and thickness. Got to handle and use one yesterday and I was very impressed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. It does look like a nice form factor and it even has an Nvidia K1100M, which is good enough for me. I think this is bascially the "pro" edition of the XPS15.

Unfortunately the M3800 only supports 16GB (one commenter got this wrong above) and does not have a docking station connector. The *only* hardware advantage I think Dell has over Apple is the ability to dock and drive two (existing) monitors. (Assuming I do not want to buy a couple new Apple Thunderbolt monitors)
 
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Knavish

Knavish

Senior member
May 17, 2002
910
3
81
saratoga172 said:
You could always boot camp a new macpro with win 8/8.1 if your company has a license.
Click to expand...

Last time I checked, Bootcamp was not compatible with our mandatory full-disk-encryption software. Otherwise I would be very tempted...
 
A

Accord99

Platinum Member
Jul 2, 2001
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Knavish said:
I'm beginning to think that the 3200x1800 screen is a bad idea: fonts are drawn too small by some software, and it looks like
Click to expand...
It depends on the software you use, for stuff I use Visual Studio, Office, Notepad++, Paint.net and Lightroom, 3200x1800 is spectacular. Most old applications work ok, just pixelated if you look closely.

I would need to reset the the DPI scaling any time I plug into an external monitor or projector.
Click to expand...
With Windows 8.1, if you want the OS to optimize for the external display (as primary) then you need to log out and log back in.
 
Knavish

Knavish

Senior member
May 17, 2002
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Update: I am going to forgo the 32GB of ram and get an M3800 (the "professional" version of the XPS15).
 
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Fox5

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
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What was the reason for your decision? And why the M3800 over the XPS15?
 
Knavish

Knavish

Senior member
May 17, 2002
910
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81
Fox5 said:
What was the reason for your decision? And why the M3800 over the XPS15?
Click to expand...

Just noticed this reply...

I got the M3800 because is it is thinner and lighter than the M4800. I will carry this around quite a bit, so I decided the added portability be a bigger advantage than the extra 16GB of memory.

The M3800 is maybe $200 more than the XPS 15 with a 3 year warranty. I do use a cad program occasionally, which may benefit from the "Quadro" graphics (even though they are both "GK107" hardware). The real benefit I see is that I can order the M3800 with a 9 cell battery vs. the 6 cell option for the XPS15. The 9 cell does require the HD to be an mSATA drive, however.

Realistically, since this is a purchase for work, I do not care if it costs an extra few $100s. I will likely even pull out the Dell mSATA disk in favor of a larger, self encrypting mSATA disk like a Samsung 840EVO.
 
F

Fox5

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
5,957
7
81
Knavish said:
Just noticed this reply...

I got the M3800 because is it is thinner and lighter than the M4800. I will carry this around quite a bit, so I decided the added portability be a bigger advantage than the extra 16GB of memory.

The M3800 is maybe $200 more than the XPS 15 with a 3 year warranty. I do use a cad program occasionally, which may benefit from the "Quadro" graphics (even though they are both "GK107" hardware). The real benefit I see is that I can order the M3800 with a 9 cell battery vs. the 6 cell option for the XPS15. The 9 cell does require the HD to be an mSATA drive, however.

Realistically, since this is a purchase for work, I do not care if it costs an extra few $100s. I will likely even pull out the Dell mSATA disk in favor of a larger, self encrypting mSATA disk like a Samsung 840EVO.
Click to expand...

The XPS15 also has that 9 cell option if you choose the SSD. I'm also not sure you can pull the hard drive given how thin and integrated the laptop is.

If you really need a lot of memory, can you remote desktop into...well... a desktop and make use of it that way?
 
S

saratoga172

Golden Member
Nov 10, 2009
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Knavish said:
FWIW, it is possible to pull and replace the mSATA drive. If you google search "M3800 User Manual", they have step-by-step directions with graphics. I'd paste an image, but I am too lazy :)

http://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/precision-m3800-workstation_Owner's Manual_en-us.pdf
Click to expand...

I just noticed you ended up going with the M3800. What are your thoughts or feelings of the system?

I just upgraded to one at work myself. (Being System Admin has perks :whiste:) I've got the i7, 16gb Ram, 256gb memory, 6 cell battery and the SSD that shipped with the system is a LiteOn mSata drive. I opted for the 3200x1800 screen. My initial testing was with Windows 7 and now I've moved on to Windows 8.1.

My initial impressions from having it for a little over a week are very positive. This thing is fast and very responsive. I do a lot of database work, lots of queries and reports, Excel, BI and other stuff that use about 10-12gb of ram any given day. The system performs extremely well and I've noticed no slowdowns. I also love the weight for what you get. Performance system in a travel capable laptop. Essentially a Window built version of the MacBook w/Ret.

Using Windows 7 and connecting to an external monitor is a chore. I found the best option was to simply reduce the screen res to 1920x1080 and set the text size to small so everything scaled correctly. I just upgraded to 8.1 today so I'm hoping this resolves the DPI scaling issues I've seen. Otherwise this is the best laptop I've used. I do wish it had an actual dock or WiGig dock. The USB dock is lackluster to say the least.

Hopefully it is working well for you and meeting your needs.
 
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