Dell Precision M6300 – The unboxing of the mobile workstation
After some hubbub and waiting on Fed-Ex I finally got my Dell Precision M6300 to review. The FedEx guy handed me the box and immediately I felt how seriously massive this machine was.
Dell™ Home Notebooks
I quickly brought it inside and started the unboxing ritual as you can see from the pictures below. This monster of a laptop is sporting a 17 inch 1920×1200 screen and an NVIDIA Quadro FX1600M OpenGL graphics card. This bad boy is serious! Wow that screen looks beautiful!
After using the Dell X1, with its 12 inch screen, for so long this thing feels massive on my lap. The screen feels like I am working on a normal flat panel monitor. I went to go plug this guy in and noticed the huge power brick. Again the M6300 is not playing around.
This lappie rocks a 2.8 Ghz, 64-bit Core 2 Duo Extreme Edition X7900 processor from Intel in combination with that beautiful screen this laptop is a powerhouse.
Our demo unit has a 80 gig 7200RPM mechanical hard drive but you can opt for the 32GB solid-state drive instead. We got a DVD-RW with ultra speed but you can opt for a Blu-ray writable optical drive. The built-in card reader supports SD, MMC and MS Pro’s. The finger print reader is handy for those who need extra security.
For all you mobile fans you can cop a internal AT&T 3.5G/HSDPA card. But be prepared to crack open your wallet and fork over a nice chunk of change starting at $2417 $1959. Seeming this lappie is more powerful then my current desktop – the word desktop replacement comes to mind.
Dell™ Home Notebooks
We will be giving it a solid going over with our hands-on use over the next week and report back with our final verdict. But I am beginning to think I will have a hard time going back to my little X1! I am going to load up Photoshop CS3, blog as usual, watch a few flicks, download and do all my normal day to day activities from this beauty for the week. So if you are thinking of buying this laptop and have questions – now is the time to ask! Check out the updating Flickr set here.
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about 4 years ago
I was just looking at this machine on dells site how much does it weigh? can i get it with vista?
about 4 years ago
8.5lbs and 1.6″ thin
1.6″(H) x 15.5(W) x 11.3″(D)
and before you ask:
Express Card Slot:
One 54mm Express Card slot, supporting both 54mm and 34mm I/O
I/O Ports:
Docking connector, 6 USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, DVI, VGA, S-video, headphone/speaker out, microphone in, RJ-11, RJ-45, AC power
Docking:
D-Family Advanced Port Replicator,
D-Family Docking Station, D/Monitor Stand
Modular Options:
24X CD-RW/DVD, 8X DVD +/- RW7, DVD-ROM, Blu-Ray
about 4 years ago
Hey Admin! Review looks great. I’m actually in between laptops and trying to decide on one. This review of yours tipped the scales for me. Is there any way you can maybe get me a discount on one?
about 4 years ago
Hi Rachel – this was just the unboxing stay tuned for benchmarks and a full on review.
As for a discount we can try but for now if you are in a hurry Dell usually has some sort of coupon codes out there – you just need to search. Google is your friend!
What lapptop are you using now Rachel?
about 4 years ago
I was just thinking about getting this laptop. i do alot of web and graphic design work. Would you recommend it?
about 4 years ago
So far so good! I will have my full review up shortly stay tuned.
about 4 years ago
Hello,
Is this machine good for games i.e. it’s geared towards heavy 3d work, so the use the of Open GL. Can we load a different set of drivers for the graphics card to make it more suitable for gaming? I know quaddro 1600M supports DX10, so can we reorient it?
Also, could you share your experience with dual booting between Xp and Vista and any problems you faced with SATA AHCI – BIOS issues while loading Vista (if you end up testing this).
I don’t know what you plan to post in your final review but if you could include stuff that’s more applicable to general users on day-to-day basis rather than pure 3d mark and other scores, then it would be great.
Thanks.
-AG
about 4 years ago
Hey AG!
First we only used XP Pro on the machine so Vista will not be covered. Now as for games i am not a huge gamer but i rock the hell out of Photo Shop and video apps.
I had a few of my friends have a go at some games on the 6300 and they were pleasantly surprised. The 6300 has a powerful graphics card. As for replacing the drivers – it wasn’t necessary so we didn’t try it.
We would give it a go if you tell us which driver you would like to try and mainly what app you want us to test it with.
Our review is going to be about battery life, looks, feels, weight, handling in our applications and day to day ability. Along with some bench mark tests.
Let us know what you want to see – as I will be finishing it up this weekend.
about 4 years ago
Hello,
By change of drivers, I meant loading “consumer” drivers which are meant for gaming and visual aesthetics as compared to the stock (read “business”) drivers meant for CAD, Engineering stuff (on M6300).
It may sound silly and given the fact you are not focussing on games in your review: If you can load consumer drivers for the card and benchmark gaming performance and visual effects (shaders, reflection), then it could give some clue about performance degradation when using stock drivers. As for a specific app (game), you could try GTA-SA or NSF-MW.
-AG
about 4 years ago
Can’t wait for the review, I think it will be the first. I ahev searched the net and mag racks for a review lon the M6300 for a fortnight now and to no avail.
I ordered a 2.8GHz M6300 with 4GB RAM, 200GB 7200 drive and Vista Business a while ago but delivery date keeps on being moving forward. Dell are apparently awaiting parts for the M6300 which will not arrive until 17/10 but cannot (or rather won’t to me) specify what they are awaiting. Could you hazard a guess?
Thanks! Look forward to haring what your opinion of the 6300 is.
about 4 years ago
Also, please include comments about the display i.e. the screen. WUXGA, resolutions, light bleeding (if any) etc.
I heard M6300 has a dust-proof keyboard – in the sense that the keys are packed to prevent any dust particles to enter the circuits underneath.
-AG
about 4 years ago
Just received an email from Dell UK saying that that due to the popularity of the PC, the estimated delivery date has had to be moved forward by 5 weeks to 23 November. How frustrating :-( It will now be two month wait after oredring. I will have to live vicariously through you, so I am even keener now to see your review!!
about 4 years ago
I ordered this computer with Windows Vista Ultimate – with Media, Intel Core2 Duo X7900 2.80GHz, 17 Inch Wide WUXGA LCD Panel, and 4.0GB – DDR2-667 SDRAM – 2 DIMMS.
Does this mean that it is 64 Bit or do you have to request a 64 Bit, and do you need to run 64 Bit to use all 4GB RAM or can you run 32 Bit and still use all 4GB RAM?
Also can i still use my existing 32 Bit programs or do I have to purchase all new software for 64 Bit? This is really confusing
about 1 year ago
I’m looking for somthing similar to this laptop but the price os alittle to high for me. Are anything good laptops for under $500 that is similar to M6300