Dell Precision M4700, M6700 business laptops suit up (update)

Dell just put out its new hardcore business laptops onto its storefront. Both the Precision M4700 and M6700 come with Ivy Bridge CPUs and a wealth of build-to-order options including Red Hat Linux -- after all, this is Dell we're talking about here. The 15-inch M4700 is available for $1,049 (£999 in the UK) plus tax and shipping, while the 17-inch M6700 has a base price of $1,849 (£1,349 in the UK).

[Thanks, Nick]

Update: And now, with PR! In case you're not itchin' to dig into the details, let us hit the highlights for you. In addition to the six pound M4700 and 7.6 pound M6700, Round Rock also rolled out a new 17-inch Covet Edition laptop that sports a ruby red skin and an edge-to-edge 1920x1080 IPS display covered in Gorilla Glass 2. Speaking of screens, the less flashy Precision units also have the HD IPS display option, and all three PCs come with a nine-cell, 97Wh battery. As for storage, a wealth of spinning and solid state options are available, for a max of 2.8TB that can be configured in RAID 0, 1 or 5. Appetite whetted? There's more after the break, and you can head on over to the source link below to put in your order.

Show full PR text

New Dell Precision Mobile Workstations Provide Unrivaled Performance and Dependability for Power Users on the Go
· Dell Precision mobile workstations are the world's most powerful, building on the company's heritage of developing innovative workstation technology

· All day battery life, fastest memory speeds and highest expandability and storage options enable users to work effectively regardless of location

· Dell's Precision M6700 is the industry's lightest 17-inch mobile workstation, first to offer built-in NVIDIA® 3D VISION Pro™ solution, Gen 3 professional graphics and Phoenix Red Covet Edition

ROUND ROCK, Texas, July 24, 2012 – Dell today announced the next generation Dell Precision mobile workstations for engineering and design professionals who need uncompromising performance and dependability wherever their demanding work takes them. Film editors on movie sets, architects at construction sites, geophysicists in the field and many other mobile professionals can now run their graphics or compute intensive applications faster and more accurately regardless of the location.

"Appalachian State University relies on Dell's tower and mobile workstations in our IT, Building Science, Geological, Interior Design and Astronomy departments and they've proven to be bullet-proof for our varying high-performance and critical computing needs," said Stephen Taylor, an IT Manager at Appalachian State University. "I've used Dell Precision mobile workstations for the past six years and the attention to detail Dell put into the look, feel and performance of these new systems elevates them to a new level. These are truly mobile workstations without compromise and they have changed the way I look at all Dell products going forward."

Dell continues to build on its workstation leadership with two new systems, the Dell Precision M4700 and M6700 – the world's most powerful 15-inch and 17-inch mobile workstations. The M4700 is Dell's 15-inch mobile workstation with exceptional portability and performance and the Dell Precision M6700 provides fixed workstation capability and higher performing graphics with a 17-inch display. The popular Covet Edition is back on the 17-inch version, featuring a brilliant Phoenix Red color finish for extra appeal and edge to edge Corning® Gorilla® Glass 2 for brighter images and increased resilience and protection.

Go-Anywhere Performance

The Dell Precision M4700 and M6700 incorporate the latest Intel Core i5, i7 and Extreme Edition processors with Turbo Boost Technology for optimal performance and an extensive choice of professional graphics including the NVIDIA Quadro K-series GPUS and AMD FirePro graphics. The M6700 is the first and only to offer AMD FirePro M6000 with PCIe x16 Gen 3 for fast data throughput.

Additionally, Dell provides DDR3 SDRAM with up to 32GB¹ of system memory and 1600MHz of memory speed and up to 16GB¹ of 1866MHz memory, the fastest memory available on a mobile workstation, for high performance and fast access to large data sets. They also offer an optional SATA3 512GB¹ solid state drive (SSD).

Both systems come with outstanding expandability in the form of RAID 0/1/5 and three storage devices with up to 1.8TB¹ of total storage in the M4700 and up to four storage devices with up to 2.8TB¹ of total storage in the M6700. That means not only can Dell Precision mobile workstations deliver the graphic-intensive designs fast, but also can store them locally no matter where they are.

Delivering on the promise of a true desktop replacement, the M4700 and M6700 offer a wide array of ports which enables users to connect to a greater number of formats and devices without carrying around multiple dongles, increase storage and connect to more displays. The I/O ports include two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and one eSATA / USB combo ports and three integrated video ports - one VGA, one HDMI and one DisplayPort 1.2.

Smart Design

Designed for increased uptime and dependability while working in or away from the office, the new mobile workstations feature a durable aluminum and magnesium alloy chassis that is MIL-STD 810G tested, the lightest 17-inch design and all day battery life. An optional slice battery, ExpressCharge battery and NVIDIA Optimus™ technology, which intelligently and automatically optimizes the system to provide outstanding graphics performance when needed while extending battery life, are also available on both the M4700 and M6700.

The new workstations also have quiet dual fans and cooling solutions for the CPU and graphics to enable long periods of high performance without overheating and an easy ejectable primary hard drive caddy for customers working with large volumes of data or sensitive data and need to remove or swap out hard drives frequently.

Specifically designed for customers doing color-critical work, Dell's mobile workstations offer a variety of brilliant WLED and IPS RBG LED display options with a wide spectrum of colors including more than 100 percent Adobe color gamut. The M6700 will also be the first mobile workstation to offer optional 10+ finger multi-touch in the coming months.

Another first on the M6700 is NVIDIA 3D Vision Pro, a combination of wireless active shutter glasses, an integrated RF communication hub, and advanced software. The technology automatically transforms various CAD/CAM/CAE, DCC, seismic visualization, life sciences and other applications into full stereoscopic 3D to improve the usefulness of the application, deliver better results and increase productivity.

The M4700 and M6700 can power up to three simultaneous displays when undocked and up to five displays when docked and are compatible with the Latitude E-family dock.

Complete Dependability

Dell Precision mobile workstations come backed with leading Dell ProSupport™², Dell Data Protection | Encryption and FIPS fingerprint reader security features and ISV certifications to keep professional workstation users up and running and their sensitive work and data secure at all times.

All Dell Precision workstations are ISV certified for the top professional software applications from vendors such as Altair, Ansys, Autodesk, Adobe, Avid, Grassvalley, Matrox, Sony, Dassault Systemes, PTC, Siemens PLM Software, Barco, Schlumberger, Landmark, esri, ffA (Foster Findlay Associates), Dynamic Graphics and many others, guaranteeing application compatibility and dependability.

Finally, Dell designed the M4700 and M6700 with the environment in mind from the start. In addition to being EPEAT-registered³ to help customers understand the full breadth of their environmental attributes, both systems fully qualify for the energy-efficiency standard ENERGY STAR. Additionally, they are engineered with smarter materials, including environmentally preferable replacements for Brominated Flame Retardants and Polyvinyl Chloride (BFR/PVCs)⁴.

Pricing and availability

All three new mobile workstations are available worldwide for purchase starting today. The U.S. starting prices are $1,649 for the Dell Precision M4700, $2,199 for the M6700 and $3,579 for the M6700 Covet when all configurations are available.

Dell Financial Services (DFS) is offering zero-percent financing to US-based small and medium businesses when they spend $3,000 or more on any combination of qualifying Dell Precision, Latitude and OptiPlex systems. Dell Financial Services understands customers' technology needs and delivers customized payment solutions to help customers better manage cash flow. In addition, DFS financing experts are seamlessly integrated into the Dell sales process making financing Dell technology a hassle-free experience. This offer is on a 36-month $1 buyout lease and is available August 4, 2012 thru November 2, 2012, directly through Dell.

Quotes:

"Our new family of mobile workstations offer uncompromising performance, dependability and design," said Kirk Schell, vice president of Computing Products, Dell. "We are continuing to build on our heritage of developing innovative workstation technology by offering the first NVIDIA 3D VISION Pro solution, Gen 3 graphics and 1866MHz memory in a mainstream mobile workstation, enabling our customers to bring their creative and design work to life faster regardless of their location."

"Dynamic Graphics tests, certifies and recommends Dell Precision mobile workstations as the optimal platform for running CoViZ 4D software for oil field visualization," said Art Paradis, president and co-founder, Dynamic Graphics. "Not only do Dell's mobile workstations lead the industry in memory and hard drive capacities, they provide the portability and graphics performance to view and interpret oil and gas deposits in real-time while in the field."

"Paired with AMD FirePro™ graphics, Dell's newest mobile workstations are incredibly versatile rendering and digital design powerhouses that make it possible to turn virtually every countertop, every client site, and every airport lounge into the perfect place to develop the next digital masterpiece," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics. "AMD FirePro graphics brings an important set of features to the latest generation of mobile workstations including support for industry standards such as OpenCL™, AMD Eyefinity multi-display technology, AMD HD3D stereo 3D capability and broad application optimization and certification, and we believe Dell customers will very quickly appreciate the expanded toolset and its productivity and creativity enhancing benefits."

"Discovery and creativity is happening anywhere anytime and mobile workstations with powerful Intel® Core™ i5/i7 processors are helping engineers, artists, animators, analysts and scientists collaborate with their peers where they work– unlocking answers faster than ever before," said Frank Soqui, Workstation Group General Manager, Intel Corporation. "Hardware and software technologies are combining to accelerate innovation and with solutions like Dell's Precision M4700 and M6700 mobile workstations with Intel Core processors we like to think we are helping them do it faster than ever before."

"NVIDIA Quadro mobile workstation graphics deliver unrivaled horsepower while conserving precious battery life with Optimus, and our 3D Vision Pro technology provides exceptional 3D application performance," said Jeff Brown, general manager of the Professional Solutions Group, NVIDIA. "These new Dell Precision mobile workstations with Quadro GPU technology truly transform modern workflows."