Dell Precision M6300 laptop: huge, powerful
When buying a laptop, the first question you probably ask yourself is “power or portability?” The smaller a lappie is, the less capable it’s going to be when it comes to running demanding applications; the more powerful a laptop is, the less likely it is that you’re going to want to lug the thing around town. While most of us try to find some sort of balance between the two, there’s a certain breed of professional who simply must have the most powerful machine this side of the desktop. So this one goes out to you, Lapzilla fans: Dell’s new Precision M6300 enterprise laptop. Rocking a 2.8Ghz, 64-bit Core 2 Duo Extreme Edition X7900 from Intel, a 17 inch 1920×1200 screen and an NVIDIA Quadro FX1600M OpenGL graphics card, the M6300 looks to be both large and in charge. In the options department, you can opt for a 32GB solid-state hard drive or a 7200RPM 160GB drive of the mechanical variety, a DVD, DVD-RW, or Blu-ray writable optical drive and an AT&T HSDPA card. Unfortunately, this monster also sports a proportionally large price tag (the M6300 starts at $2070) but given that Dell is calling the thing a “mobile workstation,” this beast is probably well worth the scratch if you need all that power.
For more on the new laptop:
– see this press release
Comments
I purchased one of these systems and haven’t fully regreted it, but i have many issues. The drivers are wrong, missing, or broken. The original XP installation kept crashing. The Embassy Suite and Bluetooth driver installer is missing on their site. The Intel Wireless driver is old and i finally found the one available on Intel’s site and its finally working for more then 5 minutes. Oh and there’s is currently NO support for 64-bit XP or Vista. Given how expensive this machine is, i’m a little disappointed at having any problems. So far no hardware issues after 3 days.
I have a 2.6ghz Core2 Duo, 2gb RAM, 120gb 7200rpm HDD version of this on order and wondered what the 3D performance is like and whether the fan is loud.(3Dmark?) I cancelled an order for an m90 in favour of this. Mistakenly received a Dell shipment report saying M90 would ship on 9 January 2008 (today is 12 Oct 07)
I am so keen on getting this one. I would settle for the m4300 but the chasis on this is some Mg alloy, thats a big draw for me. HP has better configurations (but lesser service period) on their DV series for far lesser cost but no Mg alloy. Theres also the issue of their 2 GB ram being 2 DIMM (basically 2X1 GB cards). They sell a 2 GB ram card for 150$, but charge 490$ to increase the RAM to 4Gb. Do they install their memory in a clean room or what?
We purchased a couple of these for the office, and I was able to keep one. It’s nice. I got the 2Ghz CPU because I wanted the Blu-Ray writer; it’s still quick. The upgrade to 4GB RAM costs more because they can’t just add a 3GB stick; they have to install two 2GB sticks. 2GB SODIMMS are still a bit pricey. Dell overcharges on them for sure, but that’s why it’s a bit more money then just adding 1GB to get 2GB. (Our quote for the RAM chips is $147.89 for each 2GB stick and you have to install two at a time.)
The machine is very nice, the screen is excellent, and the video card is ample for this machine. It plays games very well.
We have the 4GB upgrades and D/Docks coming soon, and be prepared to purchase a new notebook bag to carry this 17″ monster in.
well, got the machine and it does look smart. 3DMark06 is 5400, but thats with DirectX9 stuff. Waiting for more DirectX10 apps to max out on the machine’s potential.
Positive:It is comparatively light for a 17″, compared to my Clevo D870P, which was massive. In addition, the battery lasts for 3 hours, so you can cart it home from the office without bringing the power brick.
The screen is excellent WUXGA and powering my external 24″ Dell WUXGA screen too.Advantage here is direct scaling when dragging artwork or menus across, as opposed to different resolutions which are annoying.
Negative: Bluetooth is a bit dodgy and drops calls from handsfree
metallic finish under palms will definitely get scratched by watch straps. Could do with leaving the adhesive protector film in place.
Finally, a question: does anyone leave the battery out of the machine to keep it conditioned when in desktop mode? My Clevo went to zero in two years.
