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Laptops · Dell Precision

Dell Precision M4800

6owners with an opinion
60%of verdicts positive
0/0positive/negative since 2024
0happy after 3+ years

Praised for performance; criticized for durability and support.

What people wrote

Likes it
My laptop is a Dell Precision M4800 -- not the newest but is perfectly fast enough for what I need to do. I run KDE under X usually. Tried wayland for the first time recently and there was huge input lag with moving the mouse. I found it unusable. Other people have similar problems [1] [2]. For me at least wayland is a no go until the performance matches X. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/1335gj5/mouse_feels_la... [2] https://www.reddit.com/r/wayland/comments/wj7jji/mouse_lag_o...
Doesn’t like it
I had a Dell M4800 with external 9cell slice battery. They claimed that a broken docking connector (pins folding on themselves) isn't covered by warranty because everyone knows that batteries are consumables only the cells still held >90% of the original capacity and weren't what needed replacement. Docking connectors sure shouldn't be consumables on a 4k€ laptop.
Likes it
I disagree. They used to be heavy duty and well designed, now they just look heavy duty (and well designed if you squint). The best example of the slide downhill is their heavy-duty metal hinge... covers. Inside it's the same hinge everything else has. At my last job we had a recent thinkpad of some sort in the shop, and the media keys rattled around under their wavy bezel, and the bottom of the LCD bezel could be flexed considerably with a light press from your finger. It looked like a thinkpad. But it was not a thinkpad. And post-superfish, I haven't bothered to see if they've improved. They do not deserve my money. I don't have a macbook either, fwiw. My work laptop is a Dell Precision M4800 (provided by IT), and it seems decent. My home laptop is an old toughbook, which is ugly and the trackpad sucks, but I could use it to bludgeon someone while looking them up on linkedin, so I think it's pretty neat.
Neutral
Seconded - I have a Precision M4800 for setting up and doing actual work (real keyboard, big screen, etc.) and an XPS 13 for portability....in theory. In reality, the M4800 has been off for months, and the XPS 13 is the best device I've ever owned (though the first was DOA and I had to get it replaced).
Doesn’t like it
I recommend strongly against buying a Dell, specifically the M4800. I ordered two for my business recently. I chose the Intel AC 7260 network adapter, which turns out to have all kinds of problems connecting reliably to 802.11n networks (the vast majority). On my laptop specifically, the motherboard and/or video card had major problems resulting in failure to shut down, an endless cycle of video adapter driver crashes and re-initializations resulting in system lockup, problems waking up from sleep, etc. I returned mine for a replacement, only to find the keyboard was absolutely horrendous--keys would double-press (bounce) almost every other key when typing fast and with moderate to heavy pressure. Upgrading the BIOS did not help as it apparently did with other Dell models. Also, Dell refuses to refund my money on the now two defective laptops because I'm outside of the 30 day refund window. They wouldn't make an exception. I told them I was never purchasing a Dell again. I can (and did) buy a 2014 MacBook Pro with better specs for the same price and now I'm running Windows in Boot Camp (for .NET development) with flawless performance. Combined with a 3-year Apple Care agreement, I never have to worry about being nickeled-and-dimed over way-too-short refund periods. In short, avoid Dell. They are shipping substandard hardware and are even getting things that should be commoditized to perfection (the keyboard) wrong.