I actually bought this exact laptop. I watched the videos and got two really useful pieces of information from it, 1 was there is an excellent dell manual on how to dismantle everything (it tells you the screwdriver that's needed, a Philips No1) and the other info that i hadn't realised was that Dell sell refurbished/customer returned machines. There is a massive cost saving if you buy your own harddrives & Ram, dell seem to charge a premium so getting a basic machine and upgrading can save you hundreds of pounds. I wouldn't be put off buying this Laptop, the concern over the screws i don't think is completely justified, you do need to consider that many of this screws are fitted with thread locking compound so they will be tight, M2 screws are smaller than what you would see on a desktop pc but nowhere near as small as what you get used on mobile phones, There was some doubt over the quality of the screws, i don't find them to be of a low quality, I think the problems was caused by not using the exact required screwdriver and applying enough downwards force to the screwdriver. My advice to anyone attempting the upgrades is make sure you have a reasonable quality screwdriver, the little bit sets as used in the video can be of varying quality and introduce lots of wobble, i personally used a Bahco brand of screwdriver, im sure a Stanley or Wera would work just as well. Crosshead screws come in a Philips or Pozi configuration if you use the pozi can work sometimes but you stand a high chance of stripping the head out, you just need a Philips No 1 regular screwdriver sometimes referred to as PH1 and the key to undoing tight screws is that you do need to apply quite a high downward force. I would recommend Kevin Muldoon purchase Wera Kraftform Plus Lasertip screwdrivers, these look the business and are not that expensive, you only need the one. The problem with the Heatsink or retaining plate for the hardrive not fitting right was caused by Kevin, you can see it sitting correctly before removal at the beginning of his unboxing video, a tab is later bent out of position that should slot into a groove not sit on top. So with the money i saved on purchasing from the refurbished site I added 128GB of crucial Memory and changed the original 250gb drive for a 500Gb and added a second 1TB drive both Samsung 970 evo Plus NVMe M.2 I have put the original drive and stick of ram in a box, if you have any problems you need to return the unit back to its original specification, something to be aware of if changing drives and RAM I also downloaded the windows installation software from Dells site and windows 10 install was painless. One thing to note is you would think Dell might have replaced to chewed up screws caused by Kevin in his attempt to upgrade the system, i can tell you they haven't, other than that it is pretty much a brand new system. To change the Drives and remove the keyboard and install the ram took around 25 mins and that's with bending back the tab on the Harddrive cover, the keyboard can be a little fiddly where its held by its ribbon cables but little bit of jiggling and she’s free. I'm using this PC for Solidworks and plan to use for video editing hence the amount of ram, if you want the best performance from solidworks the xeon processor is an excellent choice with its 5ghz turbo is excellent. I'm very pleased with the build quality and performance so much so I am probably going to purchase more of these for other members of my team.
I’m trying to use this laptop for solidworks too. I’ve got two 32gb ram cards to install. I fitted the ram cards to the slots on the back of the pc but it didn’t work. Do you know why this doesn’t work? Opening up the top seems like a nightmare.
M Doc It really isn’t that bad, download the dell manual shows you step by step, so long as you have the correct screwdriver it’s no problem, if your not confident drop it into a computer repair place can’t see them charging much. Really is a good pc for solidworks.
M Doc if I remember the only thing I was unsure of was disconnecting the ribbon cables for the keyboard, there funny connections that you just prise apart.
I have the 7510, It was a gift from an engineer I know who wanted me to be able to work on the go. It’s very quick in inventor, and I don’t see myself needing the amount of power that the 7540 has
Hi Kevin, After watching your video, I can take a guess as to why you had the bad experience with the M2 screws. 1. Dell uses Blue Loctite on their fasteners in the Precision laptops. This may be seem like overkill to some, but with these Precision units, quality is paramount, and with the major thermal fluctuations these laptops go through, fasteners loosen up over time, hence the reason for the Loctite. Just know that with the appropriate *fastening* torque applied, any fastener will come apart even with Blue Loctite applied - the idea is that they don't come loose due to normal machine usage or vibrations. 2. You mentioned that this was a refurbished unit. With respect to 'appropriate fastening torque', I can tell you with quite a bit of confidence that your experience will most likely be common for anyone who bought a refurb unit. Why? they were repaired by a tech on a bench, who has to re-assemble everything by hand, and every tech is different, meaning every tech has a different sense of what 'tight enough' is on a fastener ... to make matters worse, I am going to bet the tech re-used the screws that were already in place ... which will still have traces of Loctite on them ... which will have most likely been 'torque-stretched' as they were tightened ... and I think you get the picture .... When it comes to fastening, the torque guns that drive the screws in place are crazy accurate (especially when operated by robots) in the factory environment that builds things like this from scratch. Are torque guns used in every factory? No, but the operators, over time, have a sense of what is 'tight enough' if they are doing this work manually. Also, regarding refurb services, they are almost always 3rd party services that were hired by the product manufacturer. I have an 8 year old M6700 Precision unit. Just like you said: over time, owners will want to upgrade these units, and I have (hard drives, memory, 3rd battery), but over the long run, the unit I have has been, hands down, the best PC I have every used (to be fair, I did load it up with some serious hardware when I ordered it back then). It still performs the same as it did when I first bought it. Most users of the Precision line of laptops are long term happy campers! Just my $0.02...
Hi Tomislav Yes the screws that did came out had traces of blue paint on the bottom, which I assume is Loctite. I genuinely wanted to keep the laptop, but just couldn't stick with 8GB of RAM as I was going to be using it for video editing. I'm surprised they used such tiny screws though. It's a big laptop, so larger screws could have easily been used. Appreciate your insight into this :) Kevin
@Tomislav Jelecanin I too have a M6700, and as you say "hands down, the best PC I have every used" I also upgraded ram & SSD drive.. Never issues with screws. I am in the market now to get a 15" either the 7540 or 5540, cant decide
That seems reasonable. I was also looking into dell but it will be new. I will put the questions to Dell. I had an M6800 which has been brilliant over the 6 years. Appriciate the review though.
@@Treefrogging i just recieved a Precision 7540 last week. I orderedit brand new at the end of Nov 2019, and it took Dell some time to build it. I haven't had the opportunity to *really* play with it as work obligations took precedence, but the little bit if time I've had with it has been positive. What I love about the Precision line is how 'fluid' its operation is ... no pausing, no glitching - just responsive as one would expect it should be. It is a heavy beast, but a significant amount lighter than my M6700. I won't be using it, it's for the wife ... I made the mistake of buying an entry level inspiron 2 years ago, thinking 'it couldn't be that bad' .... WRONG .... WRONG!!!! What a POS. So I made sure I didn't do that ever again.
My main issues with this laptop. I'm on the go often, can't use a mouse as I travel. I use the trackpoint for 3D stuff. It's horrible. Nothing like Thinkpads which are almost laser precise. I get constant BSOD's when I'm on the battery. If I plug it back in, then the BSOD's disappear. The internal battery, for a workstation it's useless. I wish companies would stop trying to make thin workstation laptops for esthetics or to save weight. I want to swap batteries! These machines have always been heavy. You make them lighter and you sacrifice other things. Only thing I like about it, is the strong build. It's very solid. But runs too hot with that egg boiling CPU of Intel. I'm going back to my trusty old W530 that has served me well for years.
I have the 7530 and I removed those screws -- and then lost them -- I don't know how. Had to order new M2x2mm screws and wait five days for them to arrive. One trick that can sometime be useful to remove a stuck screw is to grab it with a diagonal pliers.
I just purchased a new 7540 with a 4k 17" screen. The 1st one I received looked exactly like yours but I noticed the scroll mouse button between keys G and H, left a permanent mark on the screen. A purple colored dot only visible in dark video or during boot up. Took 3 months for them to send me a replacement and the new one is totally different. No mouse scroll button (which is fine with me) and the power button is located in the number's keypad where it resembles a regular key on the keyboard now. Took me a while to even find it. The color is slightly different, the one rear USB port is now located on the left side next to the two C ports, and it is overall a little slimmer as well. I like the new one but I'm pretty confused why they changed out the frame without informing me.
@@KevinMuldoon Let me 1st state that my workstation was built specifically for 3D modeling and rendering. This is why elected to go with the following CPU. When I placed my original order I selected the Intel Xeon E-2286M, 8 Core. The specifications for this cpu limits the ram speed to DDR4 2666MHz and no faster which was fine with me. I'm more interested in GPU and single core processing, I didn't think 2933-3200MHz ram would be that significant where needed. I had the Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 w/16GB GDDR6 installed as well. It was just a few days after I received my workstation when I noticed the damaged screen. So after a bit of back-and-forth will Dell they agreed to replace it. 3 months later and several email it shows up. The GPU is still the same but they upgraded my cpu to the Intel Xeon W-10885M which runs @ 2.40GHz up to 5.30GHz which is .03GHz faster than the original. What's more they upgraded my ram to DDR4 2933MHz. Basically it's roughly $600. more valuable than the one I ordered. Furthermore, all benchmarks has this thing at the top of its class without any overclocking. Just can't believe they upgraded me to this. {sorry for the long reply}
That's amazing. Congratulations. That's great they upgraded you. I'd like to upgrade my main PC next year. I normally build PCs, but I'm tempted to get something from Dell outlet to save me time and money. I'll see what's available next year.
@@KevinMuldoon building is always a great option especially if you have the ability and understanding on how to really tweak your systems performance. I understand hardware, however, software and behind the scenes windows language is not my strongest attribute. Something to consider if leaning towards Dell. their motherboard and its software is proprietary. This limits what you can do in the systems bios. You cannot overclock your CPU or the GPU and accessing the XMP settings for increased ram performance isn't available either. It all depends on what you know and what you're primarily going to use your computer for. If I had the time but more importantly the deep down knowledge, I would build one. If you do decide to build, post a video of the process!
I love this laptop - it's so powerful....HOWEVER. ... It runs super loud and fast on the fan, like a jet taking off...unless you fiddle with power settings. The screen brightness goes up and down...unless you disable and re-enable the onboard vid driver The audio jack just stops working sometimes...unless you restart The camera glitches on video calls and recordings and I haven't fixed it yet. ... Essentially, such an expensive computer ought to be great out of the box and not require so much fiddling. But it's really, really fast.
That's the problem with powerful laptops. They can get noisy. My gaming laptop is really bad in that respect. I never experienced any issues with brightness, audio or video though.
Hi Kevin, too bad it's literally screwed :) Instead of XPS 15, get Precision 5540, it's the same frame, but you have better parts to get, like T2000 :)
Hey Kris. Great to hear from you again. I appreciate the help you gave me on the live stream. I did really like the 7540, but I didn't want to go through that every time I made an upgrade. I'm not set on any laptop yet. XPS 15 was on my list because it has a 4K touch screen. I wasn't aware that the precision 15 had the same chassis. I'm looking at the sales page now. I don't know how I didn't notice it before. In the UK website it currently says "Ships in 42-44 business days" for it (new, not from the outlet).
Just noticed there is a 4K version of the 5540 in the outlet at the moment. i7-9850H with a T1000, but it has a 4K screen. You've peaked my interest in this. Going to check some reviews :)
Head to head, the 1650 actually looks slightly better than T1000. There's a good comparison of them at www.notebookcheck.net/Quadro-T1000-Laptop-vs-GeForce-GTX-1650-Laptop_9860_9828.247598.0.html Thing is, least if you compare the outlet prices, I'd be better getting the XPS 15 as I'd get an 8 Core CPU and a GPU that is slightly better. Obviously, it's a different story if any other 5540s pop up in the outlet that are specced differently.
I honestly thought, as soon as you remove something, they'll void the warranty (then you'll be stuck with the non returnable machine).... glad you've pointed out that its made to be upgraded... and if you can't upgrade it due to s**t screws, then quite frankly its reasonable to send back.
Without a doubt. It comes packaged with two spare NVME drive slots. For them to tighten those screws so tightly means that those drives can't even be accessed. To their credit, they did say that if I returned it, they would fix it. My concern was that down the line, what happens if I need to change memory or the SSD again?
@@KevinMuldoon I always explain this to my clients - Dell isn't mean to be upgradable by You. Dell is semi-closed ecosystem with no warranty seals - yes, but it doesnt mean Dell want You to upgrade their systems. If You want modable mobile workstaion - buy Clevo or something like that. If You want professional, branded workstation deal with upgrade restrictions.
@@Vasudanin I've yet to go down the Clevo route as I'm not confident that the UK companies that sell Clevo chassis laptops will actively add driver support etc (I know that you can get it from other companies too). I can see the argument for thin and light laptops such as the Surface Pro not being upgradable, but apart from those laptops, I rarely see the benefit of soldering RAM and SSDs onto the laptop. And when a company does make it possible to upgrade, they should make it easy to do so. I've seen a few gaming laptops that put the motherboard upside down, so changing a memory module requires a complete teardown of the laptop. It's crazy.
Buy proper SCREWDRIVERS I have this 7540 and I had to do a repaste this is what I have to complain about - but the screws are fine if you use a proper screwdriver - Use Wera, Wiha or PB Swiss and you will not experience this issues. And btw they have a bluew glue on the threads thats called Loctite to secure them from lossing by vibrations..If you have bad screwdrivers it feels like the screw is to thight. I remember this from my early tinkering days before having good tools. some inspiration www.pbswisstools.com/en/tools/quality-hand-tools/vde-and-elektronics-screwdrivers/product/pb-8641/
@@KevinMuldoon Hi Kevin thx for your reply - the screws have a very thight fit. If the screwdriver is to big it still snaps in but not with the full edge. I had to take PH00 to get the full grab. But at the first look the screwdriver seems to be too small but it works great. PH 00 is already quite small I recommend to have a well manufactured driver head its easier to handle and the wearout on both scre and tool is way less. One example ruclips.net/video/2-3Iljo8W3k/видео.html around @8:00 ok no precision drivers but the principle is the same.
@@siclucealucks I can look into getting additional screwdrivers, but I do have three or four M2 2.0 and 2.5 screwdrivers. The technical adviser did say that sometimes the machines can make them too tight. I've bought a pack of M2 screws. I got the Alienware M15 and I replaced the M2 screws. The Dell ones have a tiny head, but the ones I added from the pack I bought as much better. It does seem to be a common problem. If you look on discussion threads on notebook forum you will see a lot of people complaining about it.
I'd still recommend this. I was just unlucky with the screws. I'd also recommend the Lenovo P53 and HP ZBook G6 etc. I've not tested those models myself, but read many positive reviews of them.
@@KevinMuldoon this dell is an abamonation of expensive parts in relation to performance my laptop can be upgraded to 64 gb ram has an 8 core 16 thread cpu and rtx 2060 www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E-2286M+%40+2.40GHz&id=3491 i.imgur.com/RGFAGK7.png 20560 points i an clear lead over intel 2 nvme slots and faster ram speeds 3200 Mhz ruclips.net/video/HYHpov08POc/видео.html
Wow. That's pretty bad. I've never faced that issue myself. By burned, do you mean there is an image burned into the screen? What did Dell say about the issue.
Hi, is the only way to install 64gb of ram by opening the top cover and keyboard? I installed them on the underside and it didn’t work. Couldn’t catch the reason in the video why it didn’t work for you? Trying to use this laptop for solidworks.
If I am not mistaken, there are 2 sets of slots for RAM, one set right behind the back cover and another set is behind the keyboard. So if you install 32 G RAM in the easy acceptable first set behind the back cover, you are fine? Please explain to me. I just got 7540 with lesser components, still Xeon but for video card, T2000. Bought the same RAM as is currently there 8G non ECC. Thanks
Yeah the primary slots are under the keyboard and the other ones are next to the battery. The problem I had was that they already had one module under the keyboard, which I was unable to remove because the screws had been threaded.
Hello kevin. I would like to ask you about the i9 rtx3000 version of this laptop. I found a pretty good deal for refurbished one, and I don't know if the i9 is worth it
I didn't have the laptop long, but my first impressions were positive. Only thing to watch out for when going from i7 to i9 is overheating. There's a lot of laptops that handles the i7 well, but didn't handle the extra heat the i9 variant generated. What was the deal?
@KevinMuldoon well here we have a slight problem it's 5.3k PLN (Polish ZŁOTY) wich is roughly $1325, with a one year warranty so it is hard to gauge the value
@@kfaseusz-I oh ok. I'm not familiar with the Pokish laptop market and prices, so not sure if that's a good deal or not. I'd look at how it's price compares to brand new laptops.
could you wick a tiny amount of penetrating oil at the screw head to reduce friction? I'm also wondering if a tiny amount of crazy glue on the screwdriver might give you a better purchase on the screw heads.
I tried a few different things with the M2 screws on the NVME drives. For one, I was able to get it off by applying sticky tape and then unscrewing. That method didn't work on the other one though. I didn't try glue. That might have worked, but I'm not sure. The two screws that were super tight could not move at all. They had simply been put on too tight.
Poor. Very poor. These laptops aren't designed for battery life, they're designed for power. I'd be surprised if you get any more than three hours. With these types of laptops, I expect to them to be plugged in all the time and the battery is just there for when the cable gets knocked off or when you need to do some work remotely for a short period of time.
What does exactly happened with the 32 gb memories? Were they not compatible? Which ones did you bought? Seems to be the HyperX 2666 mhz CL15. Thanks in advance.
Yeah it was the hyper x 2666 CL15. I suspect it was because the latencies were different. I'm not 100% sure though. I tried various options in the bios to fix it but couldn't get it to work.
Kevin Muldoon thanks for your replay. I already ordered this Dell Precision 7540 with the core i9 9880h and 32 gb of ram. I’ll post here a feedback about the RAM memories, cuz I want to update it until 64gb. I hope to don’t have problems with the screws.
@@chinaso1 yeah let me know how you get on. I do really like the laptop. I wish I had got it with a 4K screen and with at least 64GB so I wouldn't have had to have made changes. I'd never rule out buying it again if a good model pops up that is maxed out.
@@KevinMuldoon My Dell precision already arrived and just updated the RAM up to 64 GB. In my case is an i9 9880H, so the memories which came were "non ECC". Therefore I bought 32 GB more with the same frequency and it works well. In your case I think the memories you should had to buy were the ECC because your processor was Xenon.
Hello Kevin, iam a solidworks user and i need a powerfull mobile workstation for my startup project (design and simulation). What would be your recommendations?
It's not that bad. You need to realise how powerful this is. This is more powerful than my main PC and it's not going to throttle like an i9 CPU in something like an XPS 15. Not that throttling means that I wouldn't buy the XPS 15. There's always a tradeoff with laptops.
Simple solution to your problem, don't use cheap Chinese 'Alibaba' screwdriver. I have worked on a bunch of those laptops and as long as you use quality tools there is no issue 🤷♂️😅😢
I use two different iFixit precision kits and the other backup kit I have is quality too. The issue definitely wasn't the screwdriver kit with that laptop. The screws were completely stripped. Doesn't matter how good the screwdriver kit is. If the screw is worn down, no screwdriver will get it out.
Unfortunately, it's the opposite 😂 I've bought a lot of stuff that I don't send back because it's a hassle. I do it all the time with camera accessories. This is the first laptop I've ever sent back, but I had no choice. On the bright side, I get to pick something else 😊
I actually bought this exact laptop. I watched the videos and got two really useful pieces of information from it, 1 was there is an excellent dell manual on how to dismantle everything (it tells you the screwdriver that's needed, a Philips No1) and the other info that i hadn't realised was that Dell sell refurbished/customer returned machines.
There is a massive cost saving if you buy your own harddrives & Ram, dell seem to charge a premium so getting a basic machine and upgrading can save you hundreds of pounds.
I wouldn't be put off buying this Laptop, the concern over the screws i don't think is completely justified, you do need to consider that many of this screws are fitted with thread locking compound so they will be tight, M2 screws are smaller than what you would see on a desktop pc but nowhere near as small as what you get used on mobile phones, There was some doubt over the quality of the screws, i don't find them to be of a low quality, I think the problems was caused by not using the exact required screwdriver and applying enough downwards force to the screwdriver.
My advice to anyone attempting the upgrades is make sure you have a reasonable quality screwdriver, the little bit sets as used in the video can be of varying quality and introduce lots of wobble, i personally used a Bahco brand of screwdriver, im sure a Stanley or Wera would work just as well. Crosshead screws come in a Philips or Pozi configuration if you use the pozi can work sometimes but you stand a high chance of stripping the head out, you just need a Philips No 1 regular screwdriver sometimes referred to as PH1 and the key to undoing tight screws is that you do need to apply quite a high downward force.
I would recommend Kevin Muldoon purchase Wera Kraftform Plus Lasertip screwdrivers, these look the business and are not that expensive, you only need the one.
The problem with the Heatsink or retaining plate for the hardrive not fitting right was caused by Kevin, you can see it sitting correctly before removal at the beginning of his unboxing video, a tab is later bent out of position that should slot into a groove not sit on top.
So with the money i saved on purchasing from the refurbished site I added 128GB of crucial Memory and changed the original 250gb drive for a 500Gb and added a second 1TB drive both Samsung 970 evo Plus NVMe M.2
I have put the original drive and stick of ram in a box, if you have any problems you need to return the unit back to its original specification, something to be aware of if changing drives and RAM
I also downloaded the windows installation software from Dells site and windows 10 install was painless.
One thing to note is you would think Dell might have replaced to chewed up screws caused by Kevin in his attempt to upgrade the system, i can tell you they haven't, other than that it is pretty much a brand new system.
To change the Drives and remove the keyboard and install the ram took around 25 mins and that's with bending back the tab on the Harddrive cover, the keyboard can be a little fiddly where its held by its ribbon cables but little bit of jiggling and she’s free.
I'm using this PC for Solidworks and plan to use for video editing hence the amount of ram, if you want the best performance from solidworks the xeon processor is an excellent choice with its 5ghz turbo is excellent.
I'm very pleased with the build quality and performance so much so I am probably going to purchase more of these for other members of my team.
I’m trying to use this laptop for solidworks too. I’ve got two 32gb ram cards to install. I fitted the ram cards to the slots on the back of the pc but it didn’t work. Do you know why this doesn’t work? Opening up the top seems like a nightmare.
M Doc It really isn’t that bad, download the dell manual shows you step by step, so long as you have the correct screwdriver it’s no problem, if your not confident drop it into a computer repair place can’t see them charging much. Really is a good pc for solidworks.
Bramptons okay I’ll give it a go! Cheers
M Doc if I remember the only thing I was unsure of was disconnecting the ribbon cables for the keyboard, there funny connections that you just prise apart.
@@bramptons6712 thank you. I was going to order this lap top and I still am. Refurbished for 400 dollars
I have the 7510, It was a gift from an engineer I know who wanted me to be able to work on the go. It’s very quick in inventor, and I don’t see myself needing the amount of power that the 7540 has
That's a very nice gift.
Do you still have it? How's it holding up if so?
Hi Kevin,
After watching your video, I can take a guess as to why you had the bad experience with the M2 screws.
1. Dell uses Blue Loctite on their fasteners in the Precision laptops. This may be seem like overkill to some, but with these Precision units, quality is paramount, and with the major thermal fluctuations these laptops go through, fasteners loosen up over time, hence the reason for the Loctite. Just know that with the appropriate *fastening* torque applied, any fastener will come apart even with Blue Loctite applied - the idea is that they don't come loose due to normal machine usage or vibrations.
2. You mentioned that this was a refurbished unit. With respect to 'appropriate fastening torque', I can tell you with quite a bit of confidence that your experience will most likely be common for anyone who bought a refurb unit. Why? they were repaired by a tech on a bench, who has to re-assemble everything by hand, and every tech is different, meaning every tech has a different sense of what 'tight enough' is on a fastener ... to make matters worse, I am going to bet the tech re-used the screws that were already in place ... which will still have traces of Loctite on them ... which will have most likely been 'torque-stretched' as they were tightened ... and I think you get the picture ....
When it comes to fastening, the torque guns that drive the screws in place are crazy accurate (especially when operated by robots) in the factory environment that builds things like this from scratch. Are torque guns used in every factory? No, but the operators, over time, have a sense of what is 'tight enough' if they are doing this work manually.
Also, regarding refurb services, they are almost always 3rd party services that were hired by the product manufacturer.
I have an 8 year old M6700 Precision unit. Just like you said: over time, owners will want to upgrade these units, and I have (hard drives, memory, 3rd battery), but over the long run, the unit I have has been, hands down, the best PC I have every used (to be fair, I did load it up with some serious hardware when I ordered it back then). It still performs the same as it did when I first bought it. Most users of the Precision line of laptops are long term happy campers!
Just my $0.02...
Hi Tomislav
Yes the screws that did came out had traces of blue paint on the bottom, which I assume is Loctite.
I genuinely wanted to keep the laptop, but just couldn't stick with 8GB of RAM as I was going to be using it for video editing.
I'm surprised they used such tiny screws though. It's a big laptop, so larger screws could have easily been used.
Appreciate your insight into this :)
Kevin
@Tomislav Jelecanin
I too have a M6700, and as you say "hands down, the best PC I have every used" I also upgraded ram & SSD drive.. Never issues with screws. I am in the market now to get a 15" either the 7540 or 5540, cant decide
That seems reasonable. I was also looking into dell but it will be new. I will put the questions to Dell. I had an M6800 which has been brilliant over the 6 years. Appriciate the review though.
@@Treefrogging i just recieved a Precision 7540 last week. I orderedit brand new at the end of Nov 2019, and it took Dell some time to build it. I haven't had the opportunity to *really* play with it as work obligations took precedence, but the little bit if time I've had with it has been positive. What I love about the Precision line is how 'fluid' its operation is ... no pausing, no glitching - just responsive as one would expect it should be. It is a heavy beast, but a significant amount lighter than my M6700. I won't be using it, it's for the wife ... I made the mistake of buying an entry level inspiron 2 years ago, thinking 'it couldn't be that bad' .... WRONG .... WRONG!!!! What a POS. So I made sure I didn't do that ever again.
My main issues with this laptop. I'm on the go often, can't use a mouse as I travel. I use the trackpoint for 3D stuff. It's horrible. Nothing like Thinkpads which are almost laser precise.
I get constant BSOD's when I'm on the battery. If I plug it back in, then the BSOD's disappear.
The internal battery, for a workstation it's useless. I wish companies would stop trying to make thin workstation laptops for esthetics or to save weight. I want to swap batteries! These machines have always been heavy. You make them lighter and you sacrifice other things.
Only thing I like about it, is the strong build. It's very solid. But runs too hot with that egg boiling CPU of Intel.
I'm going back to my trusty old W530 that has served me well for years.
I have the 7530 and I removed those screws -- and then lost them -- I don't know how. Had to order new M2x2mm screws and wait five days for them to arrive. One trick that can sometime be useful to remove a stuck screw is to grab it with a diagonal pliers.
I just purchased a new 7540 with a 4k 17" screen. The 1st one I received looked exactly like yours but I noticed the scroll mouse button between keys G and H, left a permanent mark on the screen. A purple colored dot only visible in dark video or during boot up. Took 3 months for them to send me a replacement and the new one is totally different. No mouse scroll button (which is fine with me) and the power button is located in the number's keypad where it resembles a regular key on the keyboard now. Took me a while to even find it. The color is slightly different, the one rear USB port is now located on the left side next to the two C ports, and it is overall a little slimmer as well. I like the new one but I'm pretty confused why they changed out the frame without informing me.
Just realized they sent me a 7750 as my replacement! Totally unexpected! now I need to search the differences between the two
Is the 7750 newer? Is the CPU and GPU the same?
@@KevinMuldoon Let me 1st state that my workstation was built specifically for 3D modeling and rendering. This is why elected to go with the following CPU. When I placed my original order I selected the Intel Xeon E-2286M, 8 Core. The specifications for this cpu limits the ram speed to DDR4 2666MHz and no faster which was fine with me. I'm more interested in GPU and single core processing, I didn't think 2933-3200MHz ram would be that significant where needed. I had the Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 w/16GB GDDR6 installed as well. It was just a few days after I received my workstation when I noticed the damaged screen. So after a bit of back-and-forth will Dell they agreed to replace it. 3 months later and several email it shows up. The GPU is still the same but they upgraded my cpu to the Intel Xeon W-10885M which runs @ 2.40GHz up to 5.30GHz which is .03GHz faster than the original. What's more they upgraded my ram to DDR4 2933MHz. Basically it's roughly $600. more valuable than the one I ordered. Furthermore, all benchmarks has this thing at the top of its class without any overclocking. Just can't believe they upgraded me to this. {sorry for the long reply}
That's amazing. Congratulations. That's great they upgraded you.
I'd like to upgrade my main PC next year. I normally build PCs, but I'm tempted to get something from Dell outlet to save me time and money. I'll see what's available next year.
@@KevinMuldoon building is always a great option especially if you have the ability and understanding on how to really tweak your systems performance. I understand hardware, however, software and behind the scenes windows language is not my strongest attribute. Something to consider if leaning towards Dell. their motherboard and its software is proprietary. This limits what you can do in the systems bios. You cannot overclock your CPU or the GPU and accessing the XMP settings for increased ram performance isn't available either. It all depends on what you know and what you're primarily going to use your computer for. If I had the time but more importantly the deep down knowledge, I would build one. If you do decide to build, post a video of the process!
I love this laptop - it's so powerful....HOWEVER.
...
It runs super loud and fast on the fan, like a jet taking off...unless you fiddle with power settings.
The screen brightness goes up and down...unless you disable and re-enable the onboard vid driver
The audio jack just stops working sometimes...unless you restart
The camera glitches on video calls and recordings and I haven't fixed it yet.
...
Essentially, such an expensive computer ought to be great out of the box and not require so much fiddling. But it's really, really fast.
That's the problem with powerful laptops. They can get noisy.
My gaming laptop is really bad in that respect.
I never experienced any issues with brightness, audio or video though.
Screen need to be replaced as per IT as it is damaged after 2 weeks of use
Hi Kevin, too bad it's literally screwed :) Instead of XPS 15, get Precision 5540, it's the same frame, but you have better parts to get, like T2000 :)
Hey Kris.
Great to hear from you again. I appreciate the help you gave me on the live stream. I did really like the 7540, but I didn't want to go through that every time I made an upgrade.
I'm not set on any laptop yet. XPS 15 was on my list because it has a 4K touch screen. I wasn't aware that the precision 15 had the same chassis. I'm looking at the sales page now. I don't know how I didn't notice it before. In the UK website it currently says "Ships in 42-44 business days" for it (new, not from the outlet).
Just noticed there is a 4K version of the 5540 in the outlet at the moment. i7-9850H with a T1000, but it has a 4K screen. You've peaked my interest in this. Going to check some reviews :)
@@KevinMuldoon Yes, it has 4K touch screen too :)
Head to head, the 1650 actually looks slightly better than T1000. There's a good comparison of them at www.notebookcheck.net/Quadro-T1000-Laptop-vs-GeForce-GTX-1650-Laptop_9860_9828.247598.0.html
Thing is, least if you compare the outlet prices, I'd be better getting the XPS 15 as I'd get an 8 Core CPU and a GPU that is slightly better. Obviously, it's a different story if any other 5540s pop up in the outlet that are specced differently.
I honestly thought, as soon as you remove something, they'll void the warranty (then you'll be stuck with the non returnable machine).... glad you've pointed out that its made to be upgraded... and if you can't upgrade it due to s**t screws, then quite frankly its reasonable to send back.
Without a doubt. It comes packaged with two spare NVME drive slots. For them to tighten those screws so tightly means that those drives can't even be accessed. To their credit, they did say that if I returned it, they would fix it. My concern was that down the line, what happens if I need to change memory or the SSD again?
@@KevinMuldoon I always explain this to my clients - Dell isn't mean to be upgradable by You. Dell is semi-closed ecosystem with no warranty seals - yes, but it doesnt mean Dell want You to upgrade their systems.
If You want modable mobile workstaion - buy Clevo or something like that. If You want professional, branded workstation deal with upgrade restrictions.
@@Vasudanin I've yet to go down the Clevo route as I'm not confident that the UK companies that sell Clevo chassis laptops will actively add driver support etc (I know that you can get it from other companies too).
I can see the argument for thin and light laptops such as the Surface Pro not being upgradable, but apart from those laptops, I rarely see the benefit of soldering RAM and SSDs onto the laptop. And when a company does make it possible to upgrade, they should make it easy to do so.
I've seen a few gaming laptops that put the motherboard upside down, so changing a memory module requires a complete teardown of the laptop. It's crazy.
@@KevinMuldoon I have both clevo and Dell ...well clevo is not as good as dell.
Will this laptop be good for someone who has no interest in updating it and will never be opening up the screws? :)
Yes. The laptop is awesome. It's super powerful.
That was my concern as well really.. lol
Buy proper SCREWDRIVERS
I have this 7540 and I had to do a repaste this is what I have to complain about - but the screws are fine if you use a proper screwdriver - Use Wera, Wiha or PB Swiss and you will not experience this issues. And btw they have a bluew glue on the threads thats called Loctite to secure them from lossing by vibrations..If you have bad screwdrivers it feels like the screw is to thight. I remember this from my early tinkering days before having good tools.
some inspiration
www.pbswisstools.com/en/tools/quality-hand-tools/vde-and-elektronics-screwdrivers/product/pb-8641/
I've used my screwdrivers on several motherboards for PCs and a few different laptops. Never had any problems with M2 screws.
@@KevinMuldoon Hi Kevin thx for your reply - the screws have a very thight fit. If the screwdriver is to big it still snaps in but not with the full edge. I had to take PH00 to get the full grab. But at the first look the screwdriver seems to be too small but it works great. PH 00 is already quite small I recommend to have a well manufactured driver head its easier to handle and the wearout on both scre and tool is way less. One example ruclips.net/video/2-3Iljo8W3k/видео.html around @8:00 ok no precision drivers but the principle is the same.
@@siclucealucks I can look into getting additional screwdrivers, but I do have three or four M2 2.0 and 2.5 screwdrivers.
The technical adviser did say that sometimes the machines can make them too tight.
I've bought a pack of M2 screws. I got the Alienware M15 and I replaced the M2 screws. The Dell ones have a tiny head, but the ones I added from the pack I bought as much better.
It does seem to be a common problem. If you look on discussion threads on notebook forum you will see a lot of people complaining about it.
Which workstation would you recommend instead, in terms of modularity and performance?
I'd still recommend this. I was just unlucky with the screws. I'd also recommend the Lenovo P53 and HP ZBook G6 etc. I've not tested those models myself, but read many positive reviews of them.
@@KevinMuldoon this dell is an abamonation of expensive parts in relation to performance
my laptop can be upgraded to 64 gb ram has an 8 core 16 thread cpu and rtx 2060
www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Xeon+E-2286M+%40+2.40GHz&id=3491
i.imgur.com/RGFAGK7.png 20560 points i an clear lead over intel
2 nvme slots and faster ram speeds 3200 Mhz
ruclips.net/video/HYHpov08POc/видео.html
waiting for precision 7550 revew. Any latest on screwdrivers on keyboard plates of the latest 7550?
Replied on the other video 👍
Kevin what do you suspect in the case where this same laptop screen is burned and need to be replaced after 2 weeks of use
Wow. That's pretty bad.
I've never faced that issue myself. By burned, do you mean there is an image burned into the screen?
What did Dell say about the issue.
Hi,
is the only way to install 64gb of ram by opening the top cover and keyboard? I installed them on the underside and it didn’t work. Couldn’t catch the reason in the video why it didn’t work for you? Trying to use this laptop for solidworks.
You can add 64GB at the back too, bit mine had its solo memory module under the keyboard.
What puts me off is the Glossy display. does this have any options for anti-glare? Thanks for the great details on this
I believe you can buy different displays for this laptop, but you can also place covers to prevent glaring on any screen.
These things normal come with pro support, so why do u fiddle around with it yourself?
2 weeks the same laptop display comes black when IT checked screen was gone very bad experience
Sorry to hear that. Yeah that's poor.
If I am not mistaken, there are 2 sets of slots for RAM, one set right behind the back cover and another set is behind the keyboard. So if you install 32 G RAM in the easy acceptable first set behind the back cover, you are fine? Please explain to me. I just got 7540 with lesser components, still Xeon but for video card, T2000. Bought the same RAM as is currently there 8G non ECC. Thanks
Yeah the primary slots are under the keyboard and the other ones are next to the battery.
The problem I had was that they already had one module under the keyboard, which I was unable to remove because the screws had been threaded.
@@KevinMuldoon Thanks Kevin. So I have 8 and bought 32, new 32 have to go under the keyboard, not into secondary? Can I have 32 and 8 together?
BTW we have IFIXIT set here in US, great with quality tools.
You can, but it's normally better to set them up in pairs for dual channel.
I have the ifixit kit too. It's fantastic.
Hello kevin. I would like to ask you about the i9 rtx3000 version of this laptop. I found a pretty good deal for refurbished one, and I don't know if the i9 is worth it
I didn't have the laptop long, but my first impressions were positive.
Only thing to watch out for when going from i7 to i9 is overheating. There's a lot of laptops that handles the i7 well, but didn't handle the extra heat the i9 variant generated.
What was the deal?
@KevinMuldoon well here we have a slight problem it's 5.3k PLN (Polish ZŁOTY) wich is roughly $1325, with a one year warranty so it is hard to gauge the value
@@kfaseusz-I oh ok. I'm not familiar with the Pokish laptop market and prices, so not sure if that's a good deal or not.
I'd look at how it's price compares to brand new laptops.
thanks for this video. I have a question. does its monitor support hdr?
The version I had came with a Quadro RTX 3000 GPU, which has support for HDR. You'd have to pair it with a monitor that always supports it.
could you wick a tiny amount of penetrating oil at the screw head to reduce friction? I'm also wondering if a tiny amount of crazy glue on the screwdriver might give you a better purchase on the screw heads.
I tried a few different things with the M2 screws on the NVME drives. For one, I was able to get it off by applying sticky tape and then unscrewing. That method didn't work on the other one though.
I didn't try glue. That might have worked, but I'm not sure. The two screws that were super tight could not move at all. They had simply been put on too tight.
just get a good screwdriver
When I use autocad with black background, the screen is automatically darker, how do I turn off the auto adjust brightness screen? thank you
support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4026946/windows-10-change-screen-brightness
@@KevinMuldoon Thank you so much!
What battery life you think the laptop would have with rtx 5000?
Poor. Very poor. These laptops aren't designed for battery life, they're designed for power. I'd be surprised if you get any more than three hours.
With these types of laptops, I expect to them to be plugged in all the time and the battery is just there for when the cable gets knocked off or when you need to do some work remotely for a short period of time.
What does exactly happened with the 32 gb memories? Were they not compatible? Which ones did you bought? Seems to be the HyperX 2666 mhz CL15. Thanks in advance.
Yeah it was the hyper x 2666 CL15. I suspect it was because the latencies were different. I'm not 100% sure though. I tried various options in the bios to fix it but couldn't get it to work.
Kevin Muldoon thanks for your replay. I already ordered this Dell Precision 7540 with the core i9 9880h and 32 gb of ram. I’ll post here a feedback about the RAM memories, cuz I want to update it until 64gb. I hope to don’t have problems with the screws.
@@chinaso1 yeah let me know how you get on. I do really like the laptop. I wish I had got it with a 4K screen and with at least 64GB so I wouldn't have had to have made changes.
I'd never rule out buying it again if a good model pops up that is maxed out.
@@KevinMuldoon My Dell precision already arrived and just updated the RAM up to 64 GB. In my case is an i9 9880H, so the memories which came were "non ECC". Therefore I bought 32 GB more with the same frequency and it works well. In your case I think the memories you should had to buy were the ECC because your processor was Xenon.
I think you can still use non ecc with it. It just won't have the same reliability etc.
How are you finding the laptop so far?
Hello Kevin, iam a solidworks user and i need a powerfull mobile workstation for my startup project (design and simulation). What would be your recommendations?
This is definitely a good choice for it as it's got a lot of power. Keyboard is decent too.
@@KevinMuldoon thanks a lot
Is that my dad's laptop!!??
😁😁😁
Damn I wish I could learn that Irish accent.
* Scottish 😁
@@KevinMuldoon oh, my bad. Scottish accent is awesome too. I love it. Just bonnie.
@@UmarAlFarooq It's all good. I have an Irish name, Irish heritage and I love Ireland so it's a compliment 👍👍👍
@@KevinMuldoon how does a country the size of half a thimble produce such amazing people?
I thought the Bezel would be a lot thinner for the price point
It's not that bad. You need to realise how powerful this is. This is more powerful than my main PC and it's not going to throttle like an i9 CPU in something like an XPS 15.
Not that throttling means that I wouldn't buy the XPS 15. There's always a tradeoff with laptops.
lol, its a desktop cpu powered laptop ... you can buy a macbook air for text editing ?
so... the truth please... go with Lenovo or Dell workstations?
Depends on the model and the configuration of the laptop.
XEON
my 2 cents, bro, buy a decent screwdriver, that one you use is brown smelly thing.
Simple solution to your problem, don't use cheap Chinese 'Alibaba' screwdriver. I have worked on a bunch of those laptops and as long as you use quality tools there is no issue 🤷♂️😅😢
I use two different iFixit precision kits and the other backup kit I have is quality too. The issue definitely wasn't the screwdriver kit with that laptop. The screws were completely stripped.
Doesn't matter how good the screwdriver kit is. If the screw is worn down, no screwdriver will get it out.
Xeon, not xenon
Kev nowadays you seem to just buy expensive tech and then send it back 😂
Unfortunately, it's the opposite 😂
I've bought a lot of stuff that I don't send back because it's a hassle. I do it all the time with camera accessories. This is the first laptop I've ever sent back, but I had no choice. On the bright side, I get to pick something else 😊
This laptop is a great power house but badly engineered. Strangely my ASUS 551 with I7 4720HQ ( 2016) loads system almost 2x faster than this Dell.
That is strange. Have you got a lot of apps loading at startup?
What English accent is this?
I'm Scottish 👍
@@KevinMuldoon I loved it 😊