M70 Build Quality Better ... The M70 came in today. Just wanted to let everyone know that the build quality is much better than previous generation M60/D800. Th ...

bluemonkey · 02-23-2005, 08:56 PM

The M70 came in today. Just wanted to let everyone know that the build quality is much better than previous generation M60/D800. Though the outer case looks similar compared to the prev gen M60, they are not the same (and you probably won't be able to swap motherboards from prev M60/D800s, either).

I'm very familiar with Dell notebooks and how they're assembled.

The old 8600/D800/M60 had an LCD magnesium lid as well as an "internal" magnesium chassis/structure that was screwed on with the motherboard... but the bottom base was always painted plastic.

The new M70 (and my guess also the D810) has a full magnesium base and LCD top lid, and no "internal" magnesium chassis. It's why the M70 is a lil lighter than the M60.

Not sure if this is also the case with the D610 series (could still be plastic base).

The palmrest remains plastic on the M70.

Oh yeah... it's also very fast. Runs MAYA great. But I'm sure you guys already knew that.

iamrandyray · 02-23-2005, 09:11 PM

can you tell me more about the video card
and when did you order your m70
thanks

bluemonkey · 02-23-2005, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamrandyray

can you tell me more about the video card
and when did you order your m70
thanks

ordered on Feb 16th, arrived today Feb 23rd (one week ahead of schedule)

do a search on these forums, and you should be able to find some info on the 1400... it's basically a 6800 go (rev2, gddr3, 12 pipes) with specific support for DCC apps like Maya... it's prob not the best card to get if u strictly play games (get a 9300 or XPS gen2... but as of now, not sure if there are any Dell 15.4" lappies with a 6800 card)

atomman · 02-23-2005, 09:55 PM

pics? pretty please??

iamrandyray · 02-23-2005, 10:00 PM

i order my m70 on the 16th also
did u use overnight shipping?

bluemonkey · 02-23-2005, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamrandyray

i order my m70 on the 16th also
did u use overnight shipping?

2 day shipping... shipped on monday and arrived on wed

bluemonkey · 02-23-2005, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atomman

pics? pretty please??

don't feel like searching these forums (i'm lazy, sue me)... but... what's a good site to host pics?

i do have a digicam, but i don't wanna use my own personal site.

xjarhed · 02-24-2005, 04:12 PM

mine will be here tomorrow...whew

Heinze · 02-24-2005, 04:31 PM

bluemonkey, thanks for posting this, all good to hear... I am just about to order mine in the next hour or so. I think mine is going to have an identical spec to yours, apart from the DVD writer

bluemonkey · 02-25-2005, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heinze

bluemonkey, thanks for posting this, all good to hear... I am just about to order mine in the next hour or so. I think mine is going to have an identical spec to yours, apart from the DVD writer

cool... if u've experienced prev dell workstations or 800/8600 notebooks before, you will definitely see an improvement on this one.

the LCD lid is pretty cool, IMO. first thought it was a huge cheapo sticker, but upon closer inspection it's actually some sort of molded polished alloy (aluminum?) with the word "precision" stamp/molded on it.

Noids · 02-25-2005, 12:10 AM

Any chance of running 3dmark03 or 05 just so we have a gaming comparison between the 1400 and 6800? It seems that Dell may not actually be upgrading the 8600 now other than the 6000 with X300, so in the 15" category for gamers, its either the m70, or the D810 which with x600 will only offer 9700 equiv. performance.

Cheers

Deutch420 · 02-25-2005, 12:40 AM

wow the m70 is expencive! close to 3K for my build, which is pretty much idetical to yours monkey. damn!

bluemonkey · 02-25-2005, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deutch420

wow the m70 is expencive! close to 3K for my build, which is pretty much idetical to yours monkey. damn!

got the 25% off coupon, and a free 512mb (2 x 256) upgrade from 256MB... then purchased 512 x 2 from crucial (1GB)...

don't purchase RAM upgrades from DELL... they wanted $400 for 1GB

$2247 total from DELL after 25% off (also with 3 yr onsite warranty)... add $270 for 1GB ram...

TOTAL about $2600... look for those 25% off deals... they come around usually once a month

bluemonkey · 02-25-2005, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noids

Any chance of running 3dmark03 or 05 just so we have a gaming comparison between the 1400 and 6800? It seems that Dell may not actually be upgrading the 8600 now other than the 6000 with X300, so in the 15" category for gamers, its either the m70, or the D810 which with x600 will only offer 9700 equiv. performance.

Cheers

default clock with AC plugged in was 125/332 (!!!)... so installed coolbits and ran the "detect optimal frequencies" and it hit a whopping 350/740... been very stable.

default 3dmark05 score is 3128 with 350/740 overclock

Chirality · 02-25-2005, 11:01 AM

What about the speculations that the M70 uses an upgradable MXM video module? Is it true?

02-23-2005, 08:56 PM	#1
bluemonkey Registered User Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 105 Credits: -310	M70 Build Quality Better The M70 came in today. Just wanted to let everyone know that the build quality is much better than previous generation M60/D800. Though the outer case looks similar compared to the prev gen M60, they are not the same (and you probably won't be able to swap motherboards from prev M60/D800s, either). I'm very familiar with Dell notebooks and how they're assembled. The old 8600/D800/M60 had an LCD magnesium lid as well as an "internal" magnesium chassis/structure that was screwed on with the motherboard... but the bottom base was always painted plastic. The new M70 (and my guess also the D810) has a full magnesium base and LCD top lid, and no "internal" magnesium chassis. It's why the M70 is a lil lighter than the M60. Not sure if this is also the case with the D610 series (could still be plastic base). The palmrest remains plastic on the M70. Oh yeah... it's also very fast. Runs MAYA great. But I'm sure you guys already knew that. __________________ Dell M70 WSXGA+ \| 2.13 GHZ \| Quadro Go1400 256MB \| 2GB RAM \| DVD RW \| 60GB 7200RPM \|2200BG Last edited by bluemonkey; 02-23-2005 at 09:07 PM.

02-24-2005, 04:12 PM	#8
xjarhed Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 59 Credits: -335	arriving mine will be here tomorrow...whew __________________ Precision M70/15.4 WUXGA/2.13 P-M/2GB@533/60GB@7.2k/256MB Quadro FXGo1400 DDR3/8xDVD+/-RW/GigaBit/Dock/Stand/BT/SmartCard/WiFi b/g/Flylight/SecurCable

02-25-2005, 12:10 AM	#11
Noids Registered User Join Date: May 2004 Location: Port Hedland, Western Australia Posts: 403 Credits: -110	Any chance of running 3dmark03 or 05 just so we have a gaming comparison between the 1400 and 6800? It seems that Dell may not actually be upgrading the 8600 now other than the 6000 with X300, so in the 15" category for gamers, its either the m70, or the D810 which with x600 will only offer 9700 equiv. performance. Cheers __________________ i9300 Pentium 770 1GB DDR2 533 60GB 7200RPM HD 8xDual Layer DVD+ Burner 256MB NVidia 6800Go Carbon Fibre 3dmark05 max 4657

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02-23-2005, 09:11 PM	#2
iamrandyray Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 26 Credits: -340	can you tell me more about the video card and when did you order your m70 thanks

02-23-2005, 09:55 PM	#4
atomman Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 49 Credits: -336	pics? pretty please??

02-23-2005, 10:00 PM	#5
iamrandyray Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 26 Credits: -340	i order my m70 on the 16th also did u use overnight shipping?

02-24-2005, 04:31 PM	#9
Heinze Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6 Credits: -348	bluemonkey, thanks for posting this, all good to hear... I am just about to order mine in the next hour or so. I think mine is going to have an identical spec to yours, apart from the DVD writer

02-25-2005, 12:40 AM	#12
Deutch420 Wanna race? It's stock... Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 1,053 Credits: 61	wow the m70 is expencive! close to 3K for my build, which is pretty much idetical to yours monkey. damn!

02-25-2005, 11:01 AM	#15
Chirality Replay Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 7,211 Credits: 21	What about the speculations that the M70 uses an upgradable MXM video module? Is it true?