Dell rolls out Precision M2300 laptop

It looks like Dell recently expanded its line of Precision "mobile workstations" a bit further, with its new 14-inch M2300 model squeezing in just under the larger M4300 and M6300 models. That 14-inch display is of the WXGA+ variety (or 1440 x 900), which gets complemented by some pretty decent specs across the board, including a choice of four Core 2 Duo processors between 2.0 and 2.6GHz, up to 4GB of RAM, a max 200GB hard drive, and NVIDIA Quadro FX 360M graphics. Those looking to join the SSD crowd can also opt for a speedy 32GB drive, although you'll have to pay a hefty $550+ premium for that pleasure. On the other hand, those slightly less demanding can snag one with the base configuration right now for $1,439.

[Via Notebook Italia]

[Rik @ Nov 8th 2007 4:37PM]

Newsflash;

The

Precision M4300 is the Lattitude D830 and vica-versa
Precision M2300 is the Lattitude D630 and vice-versa

I have a D830 and I wondered what the difference with the M4300 was, since they look the same... So I did a little searching, their service manuals are also exactly the same. Furthermore the NVS140 appears to be identical to the FX360 (in the D830 the ram is also the same) the difference being a somewhat higher clock speed and probably some driver settings. This corresponds with real world test which only report a 10%-15% performance bennefit over the NVS140.

Now for all those saying, don't buy that lattitude (in general)!
- You can always safely overclock it :-D
- Check out the new driver Dell released at 18-10, they gave me about 15% more 3D performance

[PhilJ @ Nov 8th 2007 4:49PM]

Rik, what's this driver you speak of for the Latitude and where can I find it?

FWIW, I'm VERY pleased with my Latitude D630 version of this computer. With my student discount, I couldn't beat anything for the price.

[Rik @ Nov 8th 2007 5:26PM]

Just look under downloads on the dell support page... at least for the D830. Both for Vista an XP a new driver was released on 18-10. I could suddenly run NWM2 smoothly with medium instead of low textures at 1920x1200. Someone I know with the same config who runs Vista saw his score go from 3.1 to 3.4 and the Crysis demo running a whole lot smoother (low res though... btw it ran much better on my D830 with XP ;-) )

[Rik @ Nov 8th 2007 5:30PM]

Hehe, true... I also got my D830 on a student discount at about 2/3rd the price of what it normally would have costed with my config. I love the premium a platform like this offer... got plenty of battery with a 2nd battery in the place of my DVD, the Dockingstation is really handy and I just love that 15,4" WUXGA screen... so much space on your desktop!

[Matt @ Nov 8th 2007 8:32PM]

There is a difference. It's called SolidWorks certification. The Precision is a CAD laptop and the Quadro FX is a CAD graphics card. Mechanical CAD programs take advantage of hardware acceleration that is built into the FX series that aren't in the business app-centric NVS cards.

I've been waiting for a sub-5lb CAD laptop for a long time. This is as close as I've seen.

[MrSoprano @ Nov 8th 2007 5:04PM]

Speaking of Dell, where is the XPS 1530???? It was supposed to be released on 11-07-07. I even confirmed that at a Dell Kiosk. Has this been pushed back?

[Robert @ Nov 8th 2007 6:10PM]

Well on the Dell website I searched m1530 and actually got some results. Here are some parts for the m1530 listed as "new" items
http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=dhs&c=us&l=en&cs=19&k=m1530&cat=all

[Tired_ @ Nov 8th 2007 6:15PM]

4 dual core processors in one laptop? Battery life must be pretty short.

[Patrick Montalbano @ Nov 8th 2007 6:17PM]

Speaking of Dell, where is the Latitude XT that was supposed to be released the 5th?

I couldn't wait any longer just to see the pricing.

I got a Lenovo T61p, mobile workstation, which has much better specs than the base of this M2300 for about $200 less. I know its not a tablet.

[Deuz Augustine @ Nov 8th 2007 8:06PM]

Everything Dell makes looks like shit compared to their m1330 now. I have a MacBook and love it but I can't help but be enamored by it. If the logos weren't so ridiculous looking, it'd be perfect.

[Charles Han @ Nov 9th 2007 12:34AM]

wow thats ugly, I mean it costs the same to make the casings out of plastic and etc. why can't they just design it little better hahaha.

[Rik @ Nov 9th 2007 5:37AM]

The case is made of magnesium, not plastic.

[Bobby @ Nov 9th 2007 12:05PM]

Dell's history of PRISON LABOR still gives me the chills about buying their products.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/07/04/dell.recycling.ap/index.html

http://infowars.com

[Hotwings @ Nov 9th 2007 5:20PM]

Ugly laptop, and whats with that wallpaper? Looks like another case of Windows computers copy Macintosh. It reminds me of the default wallpaper for an Apple computer, which I proudly rock.