Hello, I just got a brand new Dell Precision M4500 laptop with docking station + dual monitors from my employer. From what I understand, this is a pretty high-end laptop, with an i7 dual core processor and Quadro FX 1800M graphics. Its running Windows XP SP3. The issue I am having with it is that it runs like absolute garbage when I load pretty much any program. For example, when I start up AutoCAD (which this laptop is supposedly tailor-made for), for like 2 minutes the computer is borderline unresponsive as it loads the program, and once it finishes loading it still doesn't run great at all. Another frustrating experience is loading anything with java in internet explorer or firefox. It slows the computer down significantly while the java document or program is loading. I just installed the blackberry desktop software and that slows the computer down for 45 seconds or so while its starting up too.
To sum up, pretty much anything besides internet explorer seems like it is stretching the limits of this computer, which should not be the case at all. The computer does have full hard disk encryption, which I was wondering if that could slow it down, but I was assured that it doesnt. This computer is running as slow or slower than my old computer, which was like 1/10th the power of this one.
Does anyone have any ideas of what could be wrong? Is it configured improperly? I know I could turn to my IT dept but I kind of prefer to solve problems myself if possible.
Thanks for your help!

MojoKid writes: Dell recently revamped their M3800 model to better entice graphic designers, engineers, and other high-end users who often work in the field, with a true mobile workstation that's both sufficiently equipped to handle professional grade workloads and is thin and light to boot. Dell claims the M3800 is the 'world's thinnest and lightest 15-inch mobile workstation' and at 4.15 pounds, it could very well be. In addition, ISV tools certifications matter for workstation types, so the M3800 gets its pixel pushing muscle from an NVIDIA Quadro K1100M GPU with 2GB of GDDR5 memory. Other notable specs include an Intel Core i7-4712HQ quad-core processor, 16GB of DDR3L memory, and a 256GB mSATA SSD. One of the new additions to the M3800 is a Thunderbolt 2 port with transfer speeds of up to 20Gbps that allows for the simultaneous viewing/editing and backing up of raw 4K video. Finally, the M3800 is equipped with a 3840x2160 native resolution IGZO2 display, which equates to a 60 percent increase in pixel density over a current gen MacBook Pro with Retina display. Performance-wise, the M3800 holds up pretty strong with standard productivity workloads, though as you can image it excels more-so in graphics rendering throughput.