Dell lets loose Precision M6400 Covet mobile workstation
By Darren Murph 
posted October 17th 2008 3:06PM
posted October 17th 2008 3:06PM
[Thanks, dualboot]
posted October 17th 2008 3:06PM
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yes, it can be configured up to 16GB in Dell's website. try changing the segment from small & medium business to large business and you can see all possible configurations of this machine
MacBook Pro, 15", Aluminum
Part Number: Z0G0
2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
320GB Serial ATA @ 5400
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Backlit Keyboard (English) / User's Guide
AppleCare 3Yr
Total $3,148
Dell Precision M4400 Workstation with Hardware OpenGL Graphics
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9600 (2.80GHz, 6M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista Business Bonus-Windows XP Professional downgrade
15.4” UltraSharp™ Wide WXGA+ (1440x900) LED Display
3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site Service
NVIDIA Quadro FX 770M, 512MB
4.0GB, DDR2-800 SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
500GB Hard Drive, 5400 RPM
8X DVD+/-RW w/Roxio and Cyberlink Power DVD™
6 Cell Battery
Dell Wireless™ 1510 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
Dell Wireless® 370 Bluetooth Module
Internal English Backlit Keyboard
No Fingerprint Reader
Integrated webcam with microphone
Total $2,331
David @Dell
Dell Precision M6400 starts out at 3500$ in Denmark and MacBook Pro 15" at 2500$
@ Troels C:
The M6400 is 17", and the MBP15 is... 15". How about comparing the MBP17 to the M6400? Or the M4400 to the MBP15.
In that case they start at the same price in dk.
The 32 bit version can only come up to 4gig of RAM, check out the 64 bit version. 16 gig is avalible, pricey, but avalible.
Now, this is what i call a manly computer.
Indeed; if it was translated into a real life being it would drink beer, eat meat and fuck like a sailor on leave. 24/7.
that is an outrageous pric
thats what she said?
That's outrageous, Rick!
Forgive me for my ignorance, but for what purpose might one use 16Gb of RAM in a laptop at the expense of thousands of dollars extra?
Isn't that just showing off?
"No one will need more than 637 kb of memory for a personal computer"
Scalability for future applications. Although 16 GB (4x4GB) is expensive today it will drop quickly as more people start buying 4GB chips.
On-site demos using large data sets. "This is only running slow because it's on my laptop."
Yah well have you looked at the price of 4GB sticks of RAM for laptops? To trick out a lapy with 8GB (2 x 4GB) is around $900. Lets get 8GB to a reasonable price before we start talking 16GB
raycer94,
I hate to break this to you but by the time you need 16GB for average apps this laptop will be so out of date you will be lucky to even be able to run ANY current app on it. This laptop is a WORKSTATION. Its designed for CAD/CAM designs which is why it doesn't ship with a GeForce. There are only a small handful of apps that can even take advantage of 16, or even 8GB of memory for that matter, and sure has heck nothing short of games, and pro apps on the horizon that would take advantage of such memory. Right now 16 GM of memory for the average user is nothing more then a pissing contest.
Overpriced. I wish they would do this with the Precision M4400
You guys keep comparing this to the MAC Book Pro, but this Notebook is only available for businesses and not the general public and that sad.
If you are on good terms with your boss, I'm sure its just a matter of asking. Or get a friend to ask. Perhaps include a bottle of Amarone or something ;-)
Anyone can purchase this laptop, just use your name as the business name. If you are talking about the requirement for a Dell Business Credit account, you are better off using almost any other line of credit, but if you qualify for Dell Preferred, odds are you'll qualify for Dell credit. I ordered my M4400 and love it.
Damn it!
I set the table on fire again.
2.53GHz + 4GB RAM = £2275($4000) Excluding VAT and shipping in the UK :(
1. I am a student, so I can't actually buy this?
2. Tech specs say GPS and no config options for it. So is it inbuilt?
3. Do dell trackpads support mutli-touch?
4. Any idea how good this "jog shuttle" on the trackpad is?
Thanks
1. Sorry I can buy it under Higher Education, just the price goes up to £2617. Thanks Dell...
In the US, GPS in on the internal ATT Cellular Data card. I have the M4400, did not order the ATT card and do not have GPS.
Although its expensive, it should be noted that it comes with a free 19" UltraSharp Monitor.
if your in America :(
The next two models will be called Lust & Pride. Then somewhere down the line, names like Gluttony, Sloth and Wrath will be fashionable.
I'm looking forward to buy this computer. About five years ago I bought a Precision Mobile with full specs. The machine is still working and since it's a workstation, it still can handle most of my work (except HD video).
3D animation and video effects software demand a lot of memory and processing power. Mostly if you work with uncompressed video, dpx footage (that means 10bit images), or even HDR (high dynamic range). This equipment is expensive because of the display (100% Adobe RGB gamut is ideal for color proofing for print and film colour grading). The big difference between Quadro and GeForce graphics is that the Quadro bios focuses on rendering all the data with high precision, while GeForce may ignore some data to display a higher screen refresh (important for gamers).
The hard drives can work in a RAID configuration. That means that the data rate is very fast (ideal for video).
As for RAM, you can order up to 16 GB. That is true and correct. If you go to Dell website through the 'Large Business' section, you can order a 64 bit OS and 16 GB. But why would you need that much RAM? CAD visualization and digital content creation requires a lot of RAM to load large files on cache, instead of reading them from the hard drive. This allows faster interaction and facilitates realtime manipulation of data.
And finally the Quad Core processor. It is important, so you can render with multithreaded applications (like Cinema 4D, Realflow, After Effects, Nuke, Autopano Pro, etc.) and have enough performance to do many things at the same time. It comes very handy when your customers make changes at the last moment, or when you want to be rendering your 3d animation while creating a visual effects composite in another program.
Jose
With this machine tricked out, full tilt boogie, would hardware such as MOTU V4HD be a bonus or just more stuff to haul out.