Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/426326
www.postmagazine.com 47 POST NOVEMBER 2014 ing any sort of multimedia creation and have the money, upgrade to the mSATA drive — it is a full, solid-state drive that shows off its speed the first time you boot up the computer, which blew my mind. It literally took four seconds for me to be inside Windows 8.1 and working. Once you use a true SSD as your boot and applications drive, you will never want to go back, and if you do, you will be very, very sad. Dell has outfitted the M3800 with an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC for your wireless Internet needs, but don't forget that just because your laptop has a wireless AC connection, your Internet will not just be faster — you will also need an AC-based router as well. The speakers are surprisingly resilient, but they will not replace a pair of high-quality head- phones or monitor speakers. It comes with three USB 3.0 ports and one USB 2.0 port with power share (the ability to power your device with the lid closed), one HDMI output port, one mini display- port, battery life indicator, headset/mi- crophone port, and a handy three-in-one card reader, which actually works great! (Sometimes these don't, so it's worth pointing out). Absent are optical disc drives and Eth- ernet ports making this mobile worksta- tion super slim at around .71 of an inch in the back and .31 of an inch in the front. It weighs in at around 4.15 pounds, with the lower life 6-cell battery and mSATA drive option. Speaking of batteries, you can either purchase a 6-cell or a 9-cell bat- tery. I noticed that when running Adobe CC 2014, the battery life sustained itself at around four hours (using the 9-cell, non-removable battery). However, when in stand-by mode with the lid closed, it was good for a week or more. So keep in mind when rendering and exporting using the Adobe CC 2014 suite to keep your power cable near by. I really love Apple's power adapter with the mag- netic connector, but unfortunately Dell's power adapter requires it to be inside the actual workstation and has the potential to be broken off if stepped on. In the end, the aluminum and carbon fiber Dell Precision M3800 is the lightest and best-feeling workstation I've expe- rienced — I barely noticed it was in my backpack for two months. I did however notice the lack of Thunderbolt ports and I think that with such a powerful machine, my expectation of Thunderbolt ports is reasonable. I also noticed the substantial lack of heat when I used it as a traditional "laptop" in my car, which was a very pleasant surprise when the San Fernando Valley decided to heat up to 115 degrees! The M3800 is one of the highest-per- forming mobile workstations I've worked on, period. During my testing, I was conforming a 4K short film using After Effects and Premiere Pro CC 2014, and was able to play the 4K files at half resolution without a hiccup. Because of the included Nvidia Quadro K1100M and Adobe's use of Nvidia's CUDA technolo- gy, I was exporting four versions of a 4K short film at once, all in realtime. It was a sight to behold. At around $2,500 you have a few mobile workstation options from HP and Lenovo, but none of them reach the power and feel that I got from the Dell Precision M3800 for such a low price point. REVIEW The Dell Precision M3800 mobile work- station comes with a blazing 2.2GHz (3.2GHz in Turbo mode) Intel i7 – 4702HQ mobile processor.