Dell lets loose Precision M6400 Covet mobile workstation
By Darren Murph 
posted Oct 17th 2008 3:06PM
posted Oct 17th 2008 3:06PM
[Thanks, dualboot]
posted Oct 17th 2008 3:06PM
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Covet....that's a synonym for Envy right?
Hmm....
kinda sorta. covet is more wanting something or taking something thats not yours.
but excellent use of the word. you get a gold star.
MAN, APPLE REALLY NEEDS TO DROP PRICES ON THEIR...
oh, it's a Dell
Nice machine!
(lol)
Minus the lol.
Replace Quad GPU with the one similar to the new macs and it probably cheaper than them macs.
Well, you can't really compare the 2, but I'll give it a try.
The 15" MBP with 2.8Ghz, 320GB HD @ 7200, 4GB DDR3 is $2,849
The Dell, with 2.8GHz, 320GB HD @ 7200, add Bluetooth, 802.11n, Vista Ultimate, is $4,792.
The Dell has RAID, room for dual drives, a better video card, e-sata port, 17" display, and a 64 bit architecture, but I'm not sure those additions are worth almost $2,000 more. I'd love to have one, but I'd rather have a kick ass server *and* a MBP.
If this was, say, $3,000, then maybe, but it really does seem quite expensive for what Dell is giving you. This is way beyond Apple expensive, this is holy freaking Christ expensive.
If you want to compare to the MBP, you really need to compare the M4400, configured as you described for $2,578, three hundred less than the MBP. Macs are all kinds of great, but cheap is not one of them...
-e
CraigJ:
While the rest of the specs are comparable, keep in mind that you're buying a 1GB QUADRO video card. The drivers for these cards go through a much more rigorous testing and certification for high level CAD programs. Quadro cards, while similar specs to consumer cards, regularly sell for 3-4 times the cost of standard cards, just for this driver stability alone.
A similar quadro card for a desktop retails for $2,000. That's where your price difference is coming from.
@EF, yep, never said they were cheap
@Steve, I did not know that. The most expensive Quadro FX 3700 I could find is $900, but that plus RAID, etc. I guess you're getting close to $4500 at that point.
I guess I'm wondering what the market for these is. Not being facetious, I would like to know who would buy these (and can actually afford them) and for what specific purpose.
I wish I needed one...
You use these for 3d animation and movie effect production. Maya, etc.
@Craig
All these things on the Mac are worthless, since the max RAM that you can add on MBP is 4GB. This Dell allows you to expand till 16GB. 4GB RAM is now a common thing on most consumer portables while Pros are now looking for 8GB or higher.
But I agree, it's not worth the extra grand.
I don't understand the need for 16 gigs of RAM
playing Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Halo 2, World in Conflict, WoW, and Flight Sim X, of course
(all at the same time, that is.)
Running 4 virtual machines at the same time... Although 8GB is fine for that.
It's okay, you can't configure one that way anyway.
@barry99705
64bit version
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/workstation-precision-m6400-cov?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&~oid=us~en~4~workstation-precision-m6400-cov_anav2~~
Workstations can use quite a bit. Working on gigantic photos in Photoshop might take some RAM (those 50-60 MP photos of Hasselblads etc....), or huge scenes in Cinema4D or Maya etc.
@raycer94
Thanks! Didn't see that option. Holy shit! That's the price of a MacBook Pro, just for the ram!
it's for video editing / rendering and CAD, or shit, you could even turn this into a nice server
remember this is a workstation, it's not meant for joe the plumber :-P
I will say it looks pretty swanky. Now give me it with a gamer pricetag and graphics card! (2000ish?) It looks like a hotted-up thinkpad!
The macbooks look prettier. Honestly now I can't see prettier machines in the market.
Apple creates beauty.
pretty laptops are for girls
yup, and beauty costs a GRIP, even if the insides are still bitchy.
are we still talking about computers?
disclosure: i live in los angeles. =P
@aznofazns
Congratulations son, you're officially flamed for down voting a positive comment about Apple.
I mark you as a hypocrite.
FANBOYS EVERYWHERE. ATTACK!
you sound like youve been brainwashed
Bob, we call that the kool-aid.
@ lowestranked: Ohhh yeahhh!!!
For that kind of cash, the specs look kind of weak, if you ask me. 2GB of RAM? 160GB HD?
True. Sager notebook offers a more powerful customizable notebook, for less money... and a less attractive build.
Part of the higher cost is the LED screen. Plus it has RAID built into the motherboard.
True, but when you look at a fully-specced version, it's not much more than the base model.
I think it's a ploy to get people to buy the high-end config, and therefore more bang-for-their-buck. Apple do the same thing.
hmmm, up to 16 GB of RAM but You can only configure it with a 32 bit OS? How does that work out?
You can buy it with a 64bit OS.
Probably because the Vista Business licence covers both 32 and 64 bit versions.
How do they get 16GB in a laptop. 2 8GB SODIMM's that I haven't seen anywhere?
It has 4 slots that each support 4GB chips.
I placed my order yesterday for the quad core version of this laptop. This thing should crush with Visual Studio and Photoshop.
Quick question:
For games like Crysis, Far Cry 2...etc, is a 2X 512 9800M GTX better or this NVIDIA's 1GB Quadro FX 3700M GPU?
I'm not talking Photoshop, graphics, HD video...etc, I'm talking games.... which card is better?
For games, you would be better served by the GeForce line than the Quadro line. Workstations are for graphics and video work, not gaming.
My God! The balls on those guys!
Dude, what picture are you seeing ?
I know man, it's crazy! What, you guys don't see it?
I think Dell needs to update the XPS now. The M1530 still only offers a 8600GT 256MB (Macbook Pro has a 9600GT 512MB model).
Plus, what's this obsession with orange? First the Gateway, then Asus, and now the Dell....
The 17" LED is very nice, though. A first?
You forgot to mention this.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/04/acers-g24-gaming-monitor-with-worlds-best-contrast/
http://www.engadget.com/2008/05/22/acers-aspire-predator-gaming-pc-gets-previewed/
I still think the following quote is true: "All engineered to standards that don’t even exist yet." (from Apple)
Bring me a Kool-Aid!
If you like orange, get this for half the price. http://www.acer.com/predator/
I did and last night I busted out the McGauire (dang thing is shining). Oh yea, my girlfriend shook her head and said she is never giving “it” to me again, then called me a nerd ;^(...
As far as I can see, it comes with a 160GB Hard drive, upgradable to more. 16GB Ram should be a mistype, since it maxes out at 4GB at Dell.
And those of you who ask why 16GB it is were possible, this is a workstation laptop not a gaming, anyone working with CAD, digital imaging, simulations, photo processing can easily reach over 4GB.
yes, it can be configured up to 16GB in Dell's website. try changing the segment from small & medium business to large business or federal government and you can see all possible configurations of this machine
dell does not max out at 4gb ... (this workstation can accept 4x4gb of ram, aka up to 16gb)
hell my xps 1530 with the latest bios update (and x64 vista) and have up to 6gb (4gb + 2gb)
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=295500
It's not even fair to compare this to MacBook Pros. MacBook Pros are designed for average Joe the Plumbers. This machine is designed to crush your wallet as well as crush polygons and pixels.
It has features MBPs can only dream of. But the real reason the price is so high is due to the RGB LED display. I believe it's still a TN WUXGA (1920x1200) panel, but covers over 100% of the Adobe 1998 gamut or something. IT'S ALSO MATTE!!! So that adds to the insane price. Giving this machine to Joe the Plumber is like giving him a bulldozer when he only needs a spoon.
Does anyone else want to kill joe the plumber?