Dell Precision M4800 Pro Reviews

The Dell Precision M4800 is hardly going to appeal to students looking for a laptop to take to college, but design professionals who need a portable machine with real 3D grunt will be pleasantly surprised by how capable it is. It's not a complete behemoth like other 17-inch mobile workstations. Choose the display carefully though. The QHD+ IGZO screen is just better in every way, but the well-publicised DPI issue with some software packages might make it more trouble than it's worth.

Stupendous power for a laptop and an excellent display, but the price is very high

The spectacular screen on the Dell Precision M4800 will make maximum impact in the high-end video and CAD space. That screen comes at a price however – this less than portable workstation represents a substantial investment. And Windows and many programs will be difficult to use with this resolution of screen. Power concerns may also dictate adding a secondary battery, but this is a fast, professional workhorse that could deliver real productivity results.

Dell has splendidly updated its 15-inch mobile Precision M4800 workstation. Many things that could be improved were improved. While the components inside have almost completely been modernized, the casing has remained virtually untouched. All in all, the review configuration convinces with high performance that could only be better in demanding 3D graphics tasks. The fans that work very well during full load keep the casing's surfaces cool above the average and ensure unrestricted use of this workstation. However, the loud operating noise that can be very distracting after a longer time has to be accepted in this state. The disabled Intel HD Graphics 4600 also has several adverse consequences. The power consumption during low load is high and thus the battery runtimes clearly remain behind the possibilities despite the high-capacity battery and Intel's QuickSync Video cannot be used. Those are the drawbacks that have to be accepted in favor of the excellent QHD+ screen. Besides the extremely high resolution, the screen in the review sample also convinces in all other sub-scores with well above-average rates. Finally, the keyboard that is suitable for prolific typists, the build quality, the interfaces and their positioning, the upgrade options, and the warranty period of 36 months with on-site service for the next business day are all still of the same high standard. Just as unchanged is the ambitious price of approx. 2850 Euros (~$3931) for the pre-configured review sample. Dell simply knows that it has created a great workstation.