Dell lets loose Precision M6400 Covet mobile workstation

Hmmph. And we thought the Precision M6400 was hardcore. Check out the unapologetically named Precision M6400 Covet Mobile Workstation, a hotly colored beast that can't be procured direct from Dell for less than $3,859 (stackable coupons notwithstanding). Aside from the sweet orange paint job, this one also comes packing a 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo T9400, Vista Business, a dual-layer DVD writer, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 160GB 7,200 RPM hard drive, NVIDIA's 1GB Quadro FX 3700M GPU, a 2-megapixel webcam, WiFi, 9-cell battery and a 17-inch WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) LED-backlit display. Those who don't mind throwing in a few extra hundies can spring for an optional SSD, WWAN, a Core 2 Quad CPU and 16GB of RAM. You're due for a new lappie at work anyway, right?

[Thanks, dualboot]

[Kamokazi @ Oct 17th 2008 3:10PM]

Covet....that's a synonym for Envy right?

Hmm....

[Patrick @ Oct 17th 2008 11:07PM]

kinda sorta. covet is more wanting something or taking something thats not yours.
but excellent use of the word. you get a gold star.

[oZ @ Oct 17th 2008 3:13PM]

MAN, APPLE REALLY NEEDS TO DROP PRICES ON THEIR...

oh, it's a Dell

Nice machine!

(lol)

[Lowest Ranked @ Oct 17th 2008 3:27PM]

Minus the lol.

[roach @ Oct 17th 2008 3:33PM]

Replace Quad GPU with the one similar to the new macs and it probably cheaper than them macs.

[CraigJ @ Oct 17th 2008 4:05PM]

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.

[EFVincent @ Oct 17th 2008 4:24PM]

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

[Steve A. @ Oct 17th 2008 4:25PM]

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.

[CraigJ @ Oct 17th 2008 4:33PM]

@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...

[Tom Boudreau @ Oct 17th 2008 5:35PM]

You use these for 3d animation and movie effect production. Maya, etc.

[IndiaTech @ Oct 17th 2008 5:42PM]

@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.

[0mega @ Oct 17th 2008 3:17PM]

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!

[lt.milo @ Oct 17th 2008 3:17PM]

I don't understand the need for 16 gigs of RAM

[Jacob @ Oct 17th 2008 3:20PM]

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.)

[CraigJ @ Oct 17th 2008 3:26PM]

Running 4 virtual machines at the same time... Although 8GB is fine for that.

[barry99705 @ Oct 17th 2008 3:38PM]

It's okay, you can't configure one that way anyway.

[raycer94 @ Oct 17th 2008 3:41PM]

@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~~

[kadajawi @ Oct 17th 2008 5:15PM]

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.

[barry99705 @ Oct 18th 2008 5:58PM]

@raycer94
Thanks! Didn't see that option. Holy shit! That's the price of a MacBook Pro, just for the ram!

[surge @ Oct 19th 2008 10:39AM]

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

[Nineteen88 @ Oct 17th 2008 3:18PM]

The macbooks look prettier. Honestly now I can't see prettier machines in the market.

Apple creates beauty.

[aznofazns @ Oct 17th 2008 3:21PM]

pretty laptops are for girls

[samurai1200 @ Oct 17th 2008 3:23PM]

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

[Nineteen88 @ Oct 17th 2008 3:26PM]

@aznofazns

Congratulations son, you're officially flamed for down voting a positive comment about Apple.

I mark you as a hypocrite.

FANBOYS EVERYWHERE. ATTACK!

[bob sakamano @ Oct 17th 2008 3:26PM]

you sound like youve been brainwashed

[Lowest Ranked @ Oct 17th 2008 3:30PM]

Bob, we call that the kool-aid.

[chris @ Oct 18th 2008 8:56PM]

@ lowestranked: Ohhh yeahhh!!!

[joe23521 @ Oct 17th 2008 3:24PM]

For that kind of cash, the specs look kind of weak, if you ask me. 2GB of RAM? 160GB HD?

[TareX @ Oct 17th 2008 3:30PM]

True. Sager notebook offers a more powerful customizable notebook, for less money... and a less attractive build.

[raycer94 @ Oct 17th 2008 3:34PM]

Part of the higher cost is the LED screen. Plus it has RAID built into the motherboard.

[CJ @ Oct 19th 2008 5:21AM]

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.

[José @ Oct 17th 2008 3:25PM]

hmmm, up to 16 GB of RAM but You can only configure it with a 32 bit OS? How does that work out?

[raycer94 @ Oct 17th 2008 3:29PM]

You can buy it with a 64bit OS.

[Mark Anderson @ Oct 17th 2008 5:48PM]

Probably because the Vista Business licence covers both 32 and 64 bit versions.

[Ashwin @ Oct 17th 2008 3:25PM]

How do they get 16GB in a laptop. 2 8GB SODIMM's that I haven't seen anywhere?

[raycer94 @ Oct 17th 2008 3:30PM]

It has 4 slots that each support 4GB chips.

[raycer94 @ Oct 17th 2008 3:28PM]

I placed my order yesterday for the quad core version of this laptop. This thing should crush with Visual Studio and Photoshop.

[TareX @ Oct 17th 2008 3:28PM]

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?

[Ashwin @ Oct 17th 2008 3:36PM]

For games, you would be better served by the GeForce line than the Quadro line. Workstations are for graphics and video work, not gaming.

[zenstylejunglist @ Oct 17th 2008 3:40PM]

My God! The balls on those guys!

[Lowest Ranked @ Oct 17th 2008 3:43PM]

Dude, what picture are you seeing ?

[Smileypanda @ Oct 18th 2008 10:18PM]

I know man, it's crazy! What, you guys don't see it?

[YpoCaramel @ Oct 17th 2008 3:55PM]

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?

[Nineteen88 @ Oct 17th 2008 7:24PM]

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!

[Frankenstein Black @ Oct 17th 2008 3:58PM]

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 ;^(...

[grumps01 @ Oct 17th 2008 4:17PM]

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.

[v1ztr0 @ Oct 17th 2008 4:44PM]

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

[darcyv @ Oct 17th 2008 5:11PM]

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

[Kimleng @ Oct 17th 2008 4:22PM]

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.

[James @ Oct 17th 2008 5:01PM]

Does anyone else want to kill joe the plumber?