09/24/2008, 8:10am, EDT
Wednesday, September 24thDell intros pro notebook with 16GB memory
Dell on Wednesday acted on its early tease and launched the Precision M6400, the company's new flagship notebook for professionals. The 17-inch notebook is Dell's fastest ever by using both the Centrino 2 platform and the size to its advantage: the system is Dell's first to use Intel's quad-core 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme processor and carries four DDR3 memory slots that can each support 4GB of memory, pushing the system up to a desktop-like 16GB in the most extreme configurations.
The M6400 likewise matches some of Dell's other technology claims and optionally carries an edge-to-edge, LED-backlit 1920x1200 display which covers 100 percent of the Adobe color space; to match, Dell gives the notebook a top-end Quadro FX 3700M with a full 1GB of video memory. Dual hard drive bays give the notebook up to 1TB of storage either in separate partitions or a RAID array.
A base system starts at $2,599 with a somewhat modest configuration that includes a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, 1GB of memory, an 80GB hard drive, a read-only DVD drive and a 512MB Quadro FX 2700M for video. Dell itself doesn't allow configuring the notebook with 16GB of memory but charges $3,499 for a quad-core base configuration and provides options for DVD burners, solid-state drives and 3G cellular data from AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. Orders start today and deliver Precisions by late October.
Filed under: computers
Other story tags: Intel, AT&T, Verizon, Dell, sprint, NVIDIA, Core 2, Centrino 2, Quadro, Precision
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Windows ? >3GM RAM?
IIRC, Windows XP and Vista won't be able to use any RAM over about 2.8GB (unless you're running the 64bit versions). WinXP SP2 actually changed the RAM reporting to hide this little 'feature...'
Not too shabby
QuadCore and 16 GB in a notebook? Nice. One can only hope that Apple takes the cue and won't just speedbump the next MacBook Pro by the usual 5-10% clock rate, but finally get some serious power into those machines.
So Dell leads for the moment in terms of specs. Mind you, the machine is still ugly though. And what's that on the side, a VGA port? How quaint. :-)
HP will
be coming out in september with there quad core for around 1600 bucks starting price. Am hoping the mac book pro follows. If not, I'll be getting a HP (I don't like Dell) and installing linux!
lol
It has a VGA output. What year is this? 1990?
Good Specs
Too bad it's an ugly OS-limited POS Dell.
Maybe this is a harbinger of what the New MacBook Pros will deliver. I'd love a quad-core MBP!
Heat dissipation is the biggest issue here, especially in the svelte form factor of the MBP!
The Dell looks like a tank next to a MacBook Pro. I went to the Dell site and sure enough, it's an M1 Abrams:
Weight & Dimensions:
Preliminary weight starting at: 8.5lbs/3.86kg9 with WXGA panel, DVD/CDRW, 9-cell battery.
Width: 15.4"/393mm
Depth: 11.0"/280.5mm
Height: 1.35"/34.5mm(F), 1.5"/38.5mm(B)
13.2GB unusable?
Based on that Apple Insider article a couple weeks ago, explaining why Windows can't address anything beyond 2.8GB of RAM, are DELL basically just selling this to skim cash off people who don't know better?
Re: 13.2GB unusable?
Sure if you plan on running a 32-bit version of Windows on the thing.
I'm thinking that if you require 16 gigabytes of RAM, you are likely going to be running XP x64 or 64-bit vista on this thing.
Also these things are not exactly your everyday laptop. They are meant as a portable version of a CAD/CAM workstation essentially.
Anyone who can't understand the specs of this beast is obviously not in the target market.
Re: Good specs
If you are doing CAD/CAM for a living, the weight of this notebook is a small price to pay. It sure beats dragging your behemoth Dell Precision Workstation everywhere you go!
Comparing a Macbook Pro to the Precision M series is like comparing a small sports car to a semi. Different ends of the spectrum.