Precision m90 review - Page 4

i have the 1920x1200 one

hi varun, i have the the size that will fit your monitor cause i got the same screen.

please give me your email addy so i can email it. i dont know how to attach it caus the file it too big to attach on this post. u can email me at fk1982@hotmail.com

How's the metal on the back? Does it look as good in persion as it does on the dell website?

I'm considering the M90 after a very lengthy research of which laptop to buy. The price is a bit steep but the performance seems to be very good.

My only real question is which screen resolution to go with, the 1920x1200 or 1440x900? Any thoughts?

I write a lot of reports in Word, but I also do CAD work and occasional gaming (like Battle Field 2).

I would recommend the 1920x1200 - its a better resolution, and applications like wordprocessing,cad, graphics design will have more space for palettes, menus, and content. I have been running that resolution on a laptop for 3 years now (and before that on a desktop with a CRT) - its great.

See if you can find a display of the same size and look at the resolution. 1920x1200 can be too much (or rather, too little) for some. I have the 1440x900, for work to keep my squinting down, but run a much higher res for my play/gaming box, on a smaller display. If you can look at them first that is the best way to decide. (and imagine staring at it for eight to ten hours)

Do you print on a lower resolution printer, too, to keep the squinting down?

If the fonts are too small then make them bigger.

Why yes, yes I do. :P


That would be fantastic if all the apps I use would scale the way they are "supposed" to. But point taken.

Now If I could just get a 19" display that runs at 640x480.

get the 1920x1200 screen and the brushed metal on the back looks very professional. great laptop - i love it

Hey guys. I got mine the other day. I'll post a review when I get the time. In the mean time, some pics:

And yes, the metal is damn sexy. Very subtle and sleek.

Photos don't begin to do it justice. The color combo and metal top are stunning.

thanks for the replies, ill get the 1920x1200

the brushed metal back only comes on the 1920x1200 and not on the other screen?

Dell M90

I found my M90 on Dell Outlet for $1,429.00 refurbished model. The price new according to specs right now is 3,590.00, so refurb over 60 percent off. See specs:

DELL Precision M90
Core Duo T2500 2.00
2 gig 667 ram
100 7,200 hard drive
DVD/R 8X
Bluetooth/wirless 3945 card
NVIDIA Q FX 2500M 512
SAMSUNG 17INCH WUXGA screen
Carrying case dell
XP PRO

Here is the Dell Precision Notebook Outlet link

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineS...=22&l=en&s=dfh

SCROLL DOWN TO Workstations and select model M90

If you view this today, I did notice a DELL M65 smaller version of the M90 at the outlet for only $1,099 over 50 percent off of original current price.
Check a few times a day, you will eventually find one in the outlet.

gr8 review there dude.One more thing i'd loke to know is abt the RJ45 jack....does the m90 have it?? Also is there any lap in the HP range comparable to the m90???

one more Q. does dell have coupons for the m90??

I'm about to purchase a fully spec'd M90, however, I would like to know how it will perform relative to other desktop workstations. Here are the specs:

T7600
2GB 667MHZ (However, I'm seriously considering the 4GB)
100GB SATA 7200
Quadro 3500 512MB

Now, I've read the reviews, however, I can be kind of a stickler when it comes to computing power. And....I'm pracitically obsessed/addicted to the latest and greatest. (It doesn't help with my indecision that Intel just released a QUAD-core Duo 2!) So, basically, I will wait...indefinately...for the next big thing....and, 6 months later stil not have a computer. (And, six months later, I'm about to buy the same technology...aside from an upgraded graphics card...3500 vs. 2500. Which, I've read, is significantly faster than the 2500.)

Anyway, I need that final push - my boss is going to kill me if I don't get a new computer soon and finish my "projects."

Here's what I need it for:

Video Editing (Avid/Premiere HD projects with at least 3 tracks of video. I'd like real-time, too. Also, I'm seriously considering loading OSx86 and running Final Cut Pro 5. I've heard good things about running OSx86. Apparently, it can be just as fast G5 Quads; and in some cases, faster.)

Motion Graphics (After Effects in 1920x1080 [minimum] HD.)

Video Encoding/Compression (Cleaner/Flash Video/DVC Pro HD to Windows)

Video Monitoring (DV Rack HD)

Image Manipulation (Photoshop for print and video design - with print design being my most demanding task.)

That's pretty much it....lol. Sorry.

Oh, one more thing - since the clock speeds on these processors isn't near what P4's have, will the Duo 2's be faster for the more processor intensive tasks (ie. encoding/compression).

Anyway, thanks for the help...and consideration... Please, I just need that one last push. Otherwise, I'll just keep telling my boss, "we need a new computer....then, I'll finish those projects. I'm waiting for new technology. Then, the computer will last longer." LOL!

Sounds like a nice system, if money is no object.

Well known problem. If you want it for bragging rights, realise they will last 3 months at best. if you want it to do workk on, get one now.

Got a pointer to where you read that?
I'm reading that its a 10% improvement at best for a significant price hike. On the other hand, its supposed to replace the 2500 anyway.

OK - good that you list in detail what you want to do with it:


I don't see any 3D or CAD in there. (Or gaming). So you might look at a 2500M or even a 1500M for the graphics. Put the money towards an expresscard eSATA II card and some external eSATA II disks (or an eSATA II raid). First it gives you a lot more fast disk, secondly it lets your swap drive and your data be in separate physical disks which speeds it up.

Either way, do definitely get the 7200 rpm disk for your intended usage. And keep it well defragged and never more than 2/3 full.

For what you are doing it will help more.

2G of RAM is likely sufficient - unless you are running a 64 bit OS you won't be able to access all of 4G anyway, so a 4G computer ends up with 3 or 3.25 or whatever actually usable.

Investigate whether the programs you plan to use will run on XP 64 bit and if so, whether they run faster than on stock 32 bit XP. if so, get XP 64 and 4Mb RAM otherwise, don't. IMHO.


The Pentium IV line had high clock speeds, long pipelines, and needed programs to be specially compiled to ensure those pipes were filled. In practice, the pipes were not full and the benefit of the higher clock speed was not realized.

The Core architecture has slower clocks, shallower pipes, and does more on one clock cycle.

As a comparison, one core of a Core 2 Due at 2GHz is around twice as fast at compute intensive tasks as a 2.5 GHz Pentium IVM. Except, you have two cores. And eight time the amount of L2 cache.

I suggest googling for some 'content creation benchmark' results which includes photoshop and video editing.

I find my M90 (t7200, 2M RAM) very good for Photoshop work.

Well, hope that helped some.

Oh, and you will love the 17 inch screenat 1920x1200. There is also a DVI-out (not dual channel unfortunately) for an external monitor.

Correct, money is no object....as long as I can justify the depreciation over the 2 years that I'm leasing it. Bragging rights aren't much of an issue for me anymore. I'm older now (I guess that doesn't make a difference...lol)...and, I'm definitely the only smart guy in my company (eg. who would I brag to - lol.). I guess I could brag to you guys - lol. BTW. Thank you so much for your insightful reply. Dell's Website Although the review is for 3D applications (View Perf 9 Benchmark), After Effects IS optimized for realtime renders with OpenGL hardware. My buddy has a Quad G5 with a 4500 and he says he gets a huge boost when using realtime previews in After Effects. However, in programs not optimized for OpenGL rendering (all video editing applications), he doesn't see any boost at all. Now, I've never owned an OpenGL card. I had a FireGL once, but my AMD 2400's motherboard would not accept it - so, it was useless to me. Anyway, the fastest card I've ever owned is a 9700 AIW. I remember when I slapped that baby in my AMD 2400's AGP port (I think it was upgrading a 32 MB stock card) - I got a huge boost... I remember thinking, "can rendering get any faster." It wasn't even a hardware-optimized, OpenGL card and I was previewing After Effects projects in near-real time. So, I'm not too set on getting a Quadro card. I understand they're supposed to be faster in OpenGL-optimized applications, but I have a lot of editing to do before I can bust out the AE. Maybe a 7950GTX will be faster/sufficient for my endless hours of video editing? The specs on the "gaming" cards do look 'better'..... Sorry for all the questions, I'm used to working with Mac's....you get what you get. And, I didn't need to look at 5 billion websites to get 1 straight answer. For the most part, Mac's are just good (which means you don't have to sift through 5 billion pseudo-expert, 13 year olds' worst guesses....) Anyway, since I got my first PC, I was somewhat addicted...to the power. Mac's are the shit, but generally, they can't encode as fast as PC's (thanks to their lower clock speeds). On the other hand, the lack of [PC's] standardization (in [researchable] information and hardware), has given me quite a bit of heartache. (I bet the time I've spent fixing and maintaining these computers is probably more than the productivity I've gained due to the higher clock speeds.) I guess it doesn't matter anymore, since both systems are using the same processors... I'd go back to Mac but, Apple's laptop offerings aren't really designed for what I'm going to be doing (desktop replacement). So, I'm going PC...again.... Although, it is a Dell (Dell's are still made in the Mac plant...RIGHT!?!?!?.) My affinity with Mac's is [also] part of the reason money isn't an object. Since the first Mac (my first computer), I've grown used to spending $5000 on a computer. I remember when I sold my last Mac. It was a beaten up old Powerbook - a Titanium model, with scratches up the wazzoo. Anyway, it was [at least] 3 years old and I think I got $1200 for it...on eBay (which means that was fair market value for a P.O.S. Mac). So, despite their steep entry cost, they do tend to hold they're value. (That thing was slow when I bought it...When I sold it, the semi-old AMD2400 I replaced it with felt like driving a space shuttle to Mars....on crack.) (My Mac was SLLOOOOOOOW and OOOOLLLLD - yet, it sold for more than twice what I bought the AMD for!!!) So, here I am....buying another PC. And, trying to justify the depreciation (by throwing more money at it). Maybe I'll get the 2500 and up the memory to 4 GB....after I research the 64-bit, bit. Although, I've heard that Windows x64 is shite. And, Windows x86 CAN access all 4 GB (more on that later). If you hadnt've mentioned it, I would have totally forgot.......STORAGE! eSATA. I recently read a case study in DV magazine on eSATA-equipped desktop replacements for mobile HD production....and TOTAL desktop worstation replacement. Apparently, eSATA is the shit (it doesn't share bus speeds like USB2...and, it's faster than 1394a and 1394b COMBINED!). KUDOS! So, what should I pay for a good eSata II ExpressCard/54? Around $100 is what I'm seeing... Any particular brand you'd recommend? (SIIG?) And yes, 7200 is the minimum for video work. I'm working [mostly] with DV-sized material (even HD in it's HDV codec is smaller than DV) so, I think I should be fine with 7200 RPM's. However, a RAID 5 setup via ExpressCard eSATAII will definately make me happy. I will have the redudunacy of an extra disc and the speed of RAID 0. I'm excited. And, I'll have the option of working with the higher data rates when I upgrade to DVCProHD later this year. (I can't wait until the RED camera comes out. If you're a video/film junkie, check out the RED camera.) Anyway, thanks for reminding me. I already own a slew of external Firewire's. Half of which are formated for my Mac at work.... However, I will definately use your advice and start the migration to eSATA. Please stop me if I'm wrong............ According to Microsoft, it should support the 4GB. (I'm set on the 4 gigs now that you've shot down my 3500 idea.) In fact, Dell recommends it... However, as you said, XP will only use 3GB for applications....and reserve the rest for the system. Which, I'm totally fine with, considering Windows is a resource hog. Already done. Not too many "professionals" post their content creation benchmarks. Basically, the best info I find is from trade mags (I get ALL of them) and from [straight up] asking people like you. Oh, I DO have a REALLY, REALLY good question for you.... What about DirectX10? And Vista NOT supporting OpenGL? Um.....After Effects needs OpenGL! And, DirectX 10 isn't supported by the 2500....or, the 3500 for that matter...according to Nvidia's site... Compared to your previous machine estimate how much you've gained in terms of productivity (ie. you've saved half the time doing....). Are you using CS2? BTW. Have you tried the new CS3 beta?... Apparently it's free, via Adobe's website. I have yet to read anything about it in the vast array of trade mags I get (DV, Post, Computer Arts, Computer Arts: Projects, Videographer, Government Video, Imaging, 3D Graphics, etc.) Also, what kind of PS work are you doing? Pro-sumer? How many layers? How big are your PSD's (250 Megs is what I average - and I don't use any "filters"). I don't do much photo work. Mostly posters and flyers for our promotions team. Yes, thank you so much.... I'll be ordering 4 GB's and the 2500. And, an eSATAII ExpressCard/RAID 5 setup. As soon as they open tomorrow, that computer will be MINE!!!!! I'll post a review as soon as I get it. (Although, I may be a bit biased, as I'm running a really slow computer right now....lol. I'll search around for some benchmarking materiels and post some quantitative reviews on my After Effects efforts....how's that?) Anyway, thanks so much... You've helped me get over most of my buyers remorse. (Although, I'm a little concerned with not being able to use Dual-DVI. I guess I'll need to keep my external PCI-X "video card/breakout," so that when I step up to the infamous 2k/4k resolutions I can use and view the footage. If only they made a PCI-X adapter for ExpressCard/D-Dock...then, I can finally chuck this POS.) And, yes.... I NEED the WUXGA screen. I am currently shooting in 1920x1080 and this computer is going to serve as an ultra-cheap monitor for my cameras...amongst other things.... (So, how does it look at 640x480? I've been trying to get Epson to make a high resolution 720x480 printer so I can print my video screens, but they just wont do it.....lol. Anyway, thanks again. I really appreciate talking to smart people like you.

For all of you who need PCI-E on your laptop.....

PCI-E to ExpressCard 34

Apparently, you can find these on eBay for reasonable prices......

They even make a PCI-ExpressCard option.

Also, is the ExpressCard on the M90 using a seperate bus than the the 1394a input?