Got a DELL Precision M4800 notebook for $5

Sold by my workplace, I can only assume they were dumping systems
which were seemingly troublesome.

The announcement was for desktop and portable systems, at $10 each.
No keyboard, no monitor, nothing but a basic box.

I checked when I found out about it, but only desktop/tower systems remained.

I figured I might use a desktop system for a NAS build, and checked the next day.
A surprising find was a laptop machine, not available the day before.
I purchased it for $5 instead of the advertised $10, only because
a power adapter was not included.

It's a DELL Precision M4800 Mobile Workstation.
A laptop/portable with a Core i7, 8GB memory, NVIDIA and Intel display,
plus a bunch of other DELL-specific features you may not imagine.
Took me some long time to understand that XP wasn't going to fly on it,
but 7 is running admirably.

It was troublesome.
A dead CMOS battery, as it turned out, and a not-included power brick.
No settings could be saved with an uncharged battery.
The HORROR! What was I to do!?

I had a power brick from a much-earlier DELL that fit, so I tried it...
...And, it works!

The incredibly moronic thing about this system is that it will not boot
when I have the adapter plugged in; it displays a message about the
power-supply being underpowered. Yet, all I have to do is unplug
the power supply during any restart, let it start loading an Operating
System, plug the A/C adapter back in, and it's good to go.
The so-called "underpowered" power supply will even recharge
the battery level to 100% during full use after a significant battery drain,
whether the system is powered on or off.

As long as the battery holds some charge, and it shows to be in excellent "health"
or it's plugged into an A/C adapter, it only needs a CMOS battery.

Not too shabby for a $5 acquisition, yes?

Dell laptops are somewhat sensitive about power supply. Essentially three version are made; a 60 watt, 90 watt and unfortunately, for the M4800, 180 watt. The 60 wat (or some 65 watt) will likely not work well, the 90 watt with the correct tip should work, the 180 watt (or higher) is best. You can likely find a genuine Dell one on eBay but they are pricy ($50); just be sure to zoom in on the label and make sure it says 180 watts.

[Added info] Dell charger for $32 at https://www.ebay.com/p​/7027306736

It may not adequately power the CPU under load with the lower powered adapter, so you may want to pick up the correct one.

Owner's manual at https://www.dell.com …d-55caa84ba7f9&lang=en-us

Scroll down for replacing the coin battery or go directly to
https://www.dell.com …9-b820263b2ac9&lang=en-us

Appreciated guys, but I'm just bragging about this deal.

I've already been inside the thing and found the CMOS battery,
and I've no need to immediately get a 180w charger.

"but 7 is running admirably."

Go through the steps to get a legal and free copy of Win 10. The "free" method may only last a day or two more.

Already downloaded and burned x32 and x64 versions to DVD.

In making the move from Win 7 to Win 10, one thing I always do for my clients is run the free Belarc Advisor. It can be found at https://www.belarc.com​/products_belarc_advis​or.

After the Advisor runs (maybe 5 minutes), print the results. One area I frequently find useful is the summary of the product keys.

Nice find. As long as you don't push it too hard the charger you have will probably be fine. Once you get the CPU and GPU going I'm sure it'll come up short.

I've got a precursor M4700, which have mainly used for 3D animation. I got a secondary charger when going back and forth between two locations. I have the included charger, and another Dell charger that's compatible (actually slightly higher amps, so no issues). PM if you're interested in getting a fully compatible supply.

I think all configurations included Quadro cards instead of GeForce (so they're built with mobile CAD/3D workstation in mind). Haven't had issues upgrading to Windows 10 and other graphics apps on it.

It seems 180W-plus power bricks can be had for around $30 to $35 new.

Yes, it seems the extensive Precision series of the particular time
included the Nvidia Quadro, while at the same time also including
Intel integrated HD graphics.
I suspect it was used by one of our engineering staff.

It was(and is) a line geared towards some pretty serious computational activity.
From this M4800:

SkedAddled wrote in post #18991352
.
Appreciated guys, but I'm just bragging about this deal.
.

SkedAddled wrote in post #18992093
.
All in all, I grabbed a helluva bargain!
.

.
Congrats on the bargain!

I now how it is to make a post just because you're happy about something, only to get replies that have advice and cautions and the like . . Sometimes all we're looking for is for others to be happy for us.


You'll get nothing from me but a congrats and a big virtual hi-five!


.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #18995816
.
Congrats on the bargain!

I now how it is to make a post just because you're happy about something, only to get replies that have advice and cautions and the like . . Sometimes all we're looking for is for others to be happy for us.

You'll get nothing from me but a congrats and a big virtual hi-five!

.

Many thanks, Tom.

Just as an update for everyone else:

Securing a 2032 battery clip was significantly delayed by Coronageddon,
while direct replacements for the system's shrink-wrap-sealed OEM options
were of used or exploitative sources, which I chose to forego.
Upon finally receiving the clips, I transferred the wires of the OEM harness
to the new clip, requiring me to simply apply pressure to a lock-tab area of the bottom
cover to replace it. It bulges slightly, but has no effect on the machine's
resting on a flat surface, nor on performance.

I've a mSATA drive expected to arrive at the end of this week,
which will allow me to clone the recently-acquired SSD to it, and use the 1Tb drive
for storage/downloads/prog​rams, which will give me a nice project to concentrate on
while I'm in a state of shutdown.

Windows 10 will run quite adequately on it too. Do you know someone with Win 10 install media? You can install it and use it endlessly without a license to see how it works for you. The main drawback of not being activated is you can't "personalize" it. If you find it works well, buy a license, then activate it.

The M4800 originally came with a 180 watt power adapter. Below that there are 65, 90 and 130 watt ones. A lower wattage one may power the computer but may not charge the battery. Depends on how low you go. That's why the warning you're seeing.

canonnorm wrote in post #19055603
Windows 10 will run quite adequately on it too. Do you know someone with Win 10 install media? You can install it and use it endlessly without a license to see how it works for you. The main drawback of not being activated is you can't "personalize" it. If you find it works well, buy a license, then activate it.

OP has stated Win 7 “...is running admirably” so he doesn’t need to know anyone. There are well documented procedures to still get a fully licensed Win 10 direct from Microsoft.