Today, Dell announced a three-model expansion to its Precision mobile workstation lineup—the M4700, the M6700, and the specialty Covet model. All three models are intended for desktop replacements, and are certified for many of the major vertical-market applications for CAD/CAM and engineering.
Dell has just announced four newly updated Precision tower workstations for business professionals with Intel's 32nm, eight-core Xeon E5-2600 processors. Other than the new chip, the towers get an externally-removable power supply that doesn't require any tools. It is lockable and has a built-in handle that lights up green when it's functioning properly.
The Dell Precision M6600 desktop PC that's due to ship on May 10 is now available for purchase in the UK. The 17.3-inch notebook has some high-end options, including a quad-core 2.5GHz Core i7, as much as 16GB of RAM, 512GB of solid state storage space and a 2GB NVIDIA Quadro 4000M graphics processor. A 1080p display with multi-touch support is another high-priced option.
The new Dell Precision mobile workstations, the M4600 and M6600, have been quietly dated and priced. The notebooks which had their specs recently leaked, will arrive May 10, with the 15.6-inch M4600 priced from $1,678 while the 17.3-inch M6600 is priced from $2,158. Both will run a choice of Intel’s second-generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors.
The Dell Precision M4600 and M6600 mobile workstations first seen in February have now received more tech specs thanks to an online manual, though it's since been removed. The 15.6-inch M4600 and 17-inch M6600 can be optioned up to Intel's Quad Extreme 2920XM Core i7, rated at 2.5GHz, and as much as 32GB of RAM. The smaller, 6.3lb notebook gets a 1GB AMD FirePro M5950 GPU that can be upgraded to a 2GB NVIDIA Quadro 2000M.
Dell on Tuesday focused some attention on its pro-level Precision and Optiplex systems. Its most Precision M4600 and M6600 are the most genuinely new models and also the most secretive. The two should replace the 15.6-inch and 17-inch existing workstation notebooks and are likely to use Intel's 2011 Core (Sandy Bridge) processors along with new workstation graphics and a slightly refreshed design.
Dell on Wednesday sent out a media invitation to an event in San Francisco on February 8. It promises to showcase the "new generation of business computing solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of IT and end users." The header also reads "Dell means business," so the focus will very likely center on workplace PCs.
An upcoming notebook from Dell has appeared on the FCC site recently. Dubbed the Brooks, the 15-inch notebook should include and ultra wideband (UWB) radio, WWAN and Wi-Fi, according to a label on the technical diagram. It's not known whether the Brooks will be part of Dell's Precision range, though it will share some of the same wireless components as the M4600 and M6600 notebooks.
Dell plans to spark new life in its pro workstations if a leak of case renders comes true. The high-end Precision T7600 as well as the mid-range T3600 and T5600 should all use a new design language known as Fractal. Each system spotted by Engadget would have a segmented shape with bright red accents; they would be very modular and use what appears to be a special heatsink and otherwise organization more reminiscent of a Mac Pro.
Dell is planning to upgrade many of its pro notebooks to take advantage of Intel's Sandy Bridge processors and other breakthroughs, according to multiple leaks. The Latitude E6420 and E6520 would be direct replacements for the existing, respective 14- and 15.6-inch model that would both use faster processors. The Dell Lab insider doesn't list specs for the E6420 but said the E6520 would have chips ranging from a dual 2.1GHz Core i3 through to dual 2.7GHz and quad 2.3GHz Core i7 options.
PC maker Dell has upgraded its 17-inch Precision M6500 notebook to support as much as 32GB of RAM. Dell achieves this using four DIMM slots, with each packing an 8GB stick. The amount doubles its previous best and is much more suited to workstation-level tasks such as 3D modeling or simulations, many of which normally need a desktop.
Dell this morning formally began sales for a slew of faster-performing pro notebooks. The Precision M4500 is now ready to order and is treated as Dell's fastest regular-size notebook. It supports the same quad-core 2GHz Core i7 and optional tertiary SSD drive as the M6500 but with a smaller 15.6-inch LCD. In its base trim, it ships for $1,549 with just a 2.4GHz Core i5, 2GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and a read-only drive, but it comes with a Quadro FX 880M for graphics and scales up to DVD burners and Blu-ray, 500GB drives and a 1080p screen.
Dell continued its pro notebook updates this morning by launching a new mid-range Precision model. The M4500 replaces the M4400 and, despite a much more common 15.6-inch display, has many of the performance features of the 17-inch M6500. It can run up to a quad-core 2GHz Core i7 for a processor and supports the larger system's 64GB SSD mini-card, a $220 option that gives the M4500 a fast OS drive without sacrificing room for a regular hard disk.
Dell has sent word that its Precision M6500 pro notebook will get several new features and options. The system will now have the option of Intel's newer dual-core processors, including both the Core i5 and i7; previously, it was limited to only quad-core i7 models that justified the high $2,749 price. USB 3.0 will also be new and should make the Precision the first PC at Dell to get the 5Gbps ports.
(Updated with pricing) Dell today upgraded its most powerful notebook line today by launching the Precision M6500. The new mobile workstation updates to Core i7 quad-core processors and scales up to a 2GHz Core i7 Extreme. It claims an additional performance crown as the first notebook anywhere to use NVIDIA's Quadro FX 3800M, supplying an extra level of speed beyond the 3700M in 3D rendering.
Intel this afternoon finally made its Nehalem-based Xeon processors available to a wider audience. First introduced in the Mac Pro, the single-socket Xeon 3500 (not used by Apple) and the dual-socket Xeon 5500 share the same roots as Core i7 and drop the old northbridge system controller and system bus in favor of a point-to-point architecture known as the QuickPath Interface that talks directly to memory and peripherals. The memory controller is now built-in and can talk to three memory channels, improving bandwidth even as it drops lag.
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.
Dell today launched its all-new line of Latitude laptops, comprised of the 12-inch E4200, 13.3-inch E4300, 14-inch E6400, 15.4-inch E6500, as well as the 14-inch E5400 and 15-inch E5500. All of the business systems feature a new instant-boot function that allows users to access email the Internet without waiting for Windows to load. Likewise, all have wide-area wireless and a fingerprint scanner for security, with 3G, GPS and WiMAX optional extras. One of the highlight features of the new Latitudes is their claimed 19-hour battery life, which is unprecedented in the laptop world.
Check out our photo gallery from Tuesday's Dell Latitude introduction event, including photos of the new Precision models and their unannounced 17-inch model, after the break.
Dell today launched the new Latitude line, ushering in a significant refresh of its business systems. The new models have a new streamlined design with the choice of multiple shell colors and take cues both from recent PC designs like the Studio as well as the MacBook Pro; the new systems now have backlit keyboards, a magnesium shell designed to be strong, and an extra-thin design. The mainstream models are the thinnest ever in the mid-size class, the Texas-based company claims, while its ultraportable E4200 model weighs as little as 2.2 pounds.
Dell today quietly expanded the list of its notebook PCs affected by NVIDIA's mobile GPU failures to include several extra systems. The chart now includes the Latitude D620, D820, and D830 business notebooks as well as the Precision M4300 and M65 portable workstations. All of these run either a GeForce 8400M, 8600M, or its Quadro equivalent.
Dell this afternoon provided a list of its notebooks affected by a chronic graphics chip flaw as well as a firmware fix that should reduce the risk of the problem. The company is the first known PC vendor to do so and says that its new updates modify the fan behavior on each of the notebooks to make sure they remain cooler than normal and thus prevent the heat problems that trigger the failures.
Dell will keep using Windows XP until as late as 2012, a company representative has reportedly told users. Although Microsoft has said it would discontinue the option for XP this year in all but very low-cost notebooks, the claimed Dell message says the PC creator will continue offering XP Professional until 2012 on all its higher-end business offerings, including the Latitude, Optiplex, and Precision lineups.
