Dell Precision M6700 Notebook Review: The Enterprise Split
by Dustin Sklavos on December 12, 2012 7:43 PM ESTConclusion: Lacking in Progress
As of this writing, the Dell Precision M6700 is the fastest mobile workstation I've yet tested; impressive considering its comparatively modest weight. Dell was actually able to get the M6700 to be slightly lighter than HP's EliteBook 8760w, its chief competitor, but 7.76 lbs. is totally reasonable given the robust performance of the hardware included. The PremierColor display is also among the most beautiful panels I've yet tested in a notebook, and the included software is a rarity among OEM solutions: useful and welcome. So if Dell is able to get all of the function right, why am I reluctant to recommend it?
If you're looking strictly for a more affordable mobile workstation, Dell once again has HP beat, offering the Precision M6700 for roughly a grand less than a comparable system from HP. So much like the desktop workstation space, Dell has the edge on price. The M6700, despite having a stranger internal layout, can be ordered with a full-fledged mSATA drive in the mSATA slot instead of just a cache drive, ultimately allowing you to order it with more storage from the factory than HP's offering.
The problems here are shared by Dell and HP, but Dell remains more on the back foot than HP is. Both are guilty of letting their designs sit idly by and coast on their successes, but Dell's is more notably archaic than HP's. The EliteBook 8770w is a better-looking and better-feeling notebook, with a smarter keyboard layout, a better touchpad, and it's easier to service. Dell has been quicker to update their internals, but they're both guilty of throwing last year's hardware into the ring, and if Dell wants to beat HP at the workstation game they're going to need to be hungrier than this.
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And what of the old stalwart, the ThinkPad? Unfortunately a victim of Lenovo's continued mismanagement of the ThinkPad line. What used to be the gold standard unfortunately now doesn't even have a model to compete with the likes of the 8770w and M6700; their top end is a 15.6" unit with the CPU support in place but mediocre, DDR3-based Quadro graphics hardware. This lumps Lenovo in the same pile as Apple; they just didn't show up to this party.
I may be too critical of Dell's Precision M6700. It has the performance, it has the price, it has the expandability, and looks aren't everything. Yet I can't help but be baffled by the substandard aesthetic, the less user-friendly access panel, and bizarre keyboard layout. The chassis HP was using prior to the 8760w and 8770w was a mismatched, miscolored eyesore, definitely a step below what Dell was and is using. But they went back, redesigned it from scratch, and came up with something a lot more pleasing and functional. So why can't Dell get it together?
If you prioritize build quality above all else, HP's EliteBook 8770w is going to be the one you want. If you want the performance and display quality at a lower price, the Dell Precision M6700 is the right call. I just wish Dell would produce enterprise notebooks as smartly designed as their current generation desktops.
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bramv101 - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link
I agree with most comment above. I use this workstation for small FEA and CFD runs.This is not to be compared to a Macbook pro, which is a machine for graphic design.
I dont think any serious engineer would consider a macbook pro for these type of tasks
j_newbie - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link
@Dustin Sklavos,Looks like Anandtech readership has a high percentage of mechanical engineers using fea and cfd programs. The benchmarks provided focus mainly on 3d modelling performance.
One benchmark you could consider adding is specfp 2006.
Since I am the IT dept in a small (15 engineers) services firm in Bangalore, I find it to be one of the most usable benchmarks for FEA and CFD.
These programs rely on four things:
FLOPS, memory bandwidth, memory size, disk speed.
An alternative would be to ask ansys for a 64 bit copy to run benchmarks on
something like these http://www.padtinc.com/support/ansys-benchmarks.ht...
Hope these will help,
cheers,
borceg - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link
Could you make a review for Lenovo ThinkPad W530 ?critical_ - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link
I've owned a W520, W530 and own a M6700 right now. It is a smaller machine with a slower graphics card. The only thing that bothers me on the W530 is the cooling system isn't great.borceg - Friday, December 14, 2012 - link
I'm looking for 15-inch machine, GPU either k1000m or k2000m should be fine. I'm not working with some ultra heavy CAD.How is build quality, screen, keyboard and touch-pad ?
borceg - Friday, December 14, 2012 - link
And according to this review, http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-ThinkPa... temp seems fine to me (maybe I'm wrong)bernstein - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link
with these machines the choice chart it is really really simple.as long as you satisfy one of these your set. otherwise buy a macbookpro or similar.
1) you must have a quadro/firepro gpu
2) you must have > 16GB RAM
3) you can't live with 6% less cpu ghz
4) you must have a 10bit panel
and seriously hope you don't care about weight, build quality & usability...
Jaguar36 - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link
A bunch of folks I work with have these, and I'm shocked at the size of the power brick. Its about the same size as a regular desktop powersupply, and weighs more than some smaller laptops. That's completely unacceptable. Most people I know had to get two power supplies so they could leave one at the office.Also no-one should be comparing this to an Apple anything, nobody is going to cross shop the two.
DanNeely - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link
It's a 240W power supply; so of course it's going to be bigger than the normal 50/100W units that come with IGP/low end discrete GPU laptops. That said, unless Dell's serving up the wrong picture it looks like it's roughly 3x5x1" in size; and while the former two numbers roughly match up with an ATX supply; the latter is typically at least 5" (for the 120mm fan) in the third.Jaguar36 - Thursday, December 13, 2012 - link
Just measured one, its 4"x7.5"x1.75" or so. It's completely ridiculous.