Dell Releases New Precision M4700 and M6700 Linux Powered Mobile Workstations

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ell has announced that it has updated its business grade mobile workstation laptop line with new Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs, graphics card and comes with preloaded with RHEL 6. Theses systems are designed as replacement for desktop workstations and targeted at professionals, engineers, scientists, and users who need powerful hardware on the move for advanced analysis, engineering, manufacturing and design applications.

My company purchased a few Dell M6500 notebooks in early 2010, each with quad core Q820, 8GB with 2 x 500GB running on RHEL 5.x 64 bit. We use these for OpenGL apps, CAD apps, Intel parallel studio for Linux, video editing using cinelerra, and VMWare workstation for testing purpose.

The Dell Precision M4700 and M6700 incorporate the latest Intel Core i5, i7 and Extreme Edition processors with Turbo Boost Technology for optimal performance and an extensive choice of professional graphics including the NVIDIA Quadro K-series GPUS and AMD FirePro graphics. The M6700 is the first and only to offer AMD FirePro M6000 with PCIe x16 Gen 3 for fast data throughput.

Dell M4700 Specs

1.      Processor - Intel i7 3920XM, 3820QM, 3720QM, 3520M and Intel i5 3360M, 3320M

2.      Memory - Up to 16GB5 DDR3 SDRAM at 1866Mhz OR Up to 32GB5 DDR3 SDRAM  at 1600Mhz - 4 DIMMS

3.      Chipset - Mobile Intel QM77 Express Chipset

4.      Video Card - AMD FirePro M4000 Mobility Pro with 1GB GDDR5 dedicated memory OR NVIDIA Quadro K1000M with 2GB GDDR3 dedicated memory OR NVIDIA Quadro K2000M with 2GB GDDR3 dedicated memory

5.      Display - 15.6" HD (1366x768) OR 15.6" FHD(1920x1080)

6.      Hard Drive - SATA 3 Up to 1000GB hard drive OR SSD

7.      Optical Drive - DVD-ROM; Slot load DVD+/-RW; Blu-ray Disc writer; Optical bay caddy for additional hard drive or solid state drive

8.      Integrated Intel 82579M/V 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet

9.      Wireless LAN - Intel Centrino OR Dell Wireless

10.  Mobile Broadband & GPS: Yes

11.  Bluetooth: Dell Wireless 380 Bluetooth 4.0

12.  Multimedia - Dual integrated high quality speakers and dual integrated noise cancelling digital array microphones standard. Optional, integrated, light sensitive HD video webcam.

13.  USB 3.0 (2)USB 2.0 (3) – 1 USB/eSATA combo

14.  Stereo headphone/Microphone combo jack

15.  10-in-1 card reader, 54 mm ExpressCard, 1394

16.  Docking Connector, VGA, DisplayPort, HDMI

17.  1 Full and 2 Half Mini Card SlotsSmartCard Reader, optional Contactless SmartCard Reader/Fingerprint Reader, FIPS Fingerprint Reader

18.  Weight - 2.87kg (with 6-cell battery and airbay)

19.  OS - RHEL 6 or MS-Windows.

Dell M6700 Specs

1. Processor - Intel i7 3920XM, 3520M, 3820QM, 3720QM and Intel i5 3360M, 3320M.
2. RAM - Up to 16GB5 DDR3 SDRAM at 1866Mhz OR Up to 32GB5 DDR3 SDRAM at 1600Mhz - 4 DIMMS
   Chipset - Mobile Intel QM77
3. Hard disk - SATA 3 - SSD or normal hard disk upto 1 TB. Linux software RAID supported. You can add two hard disks and one msata storage.
4. Video card - AMD FirePro M6000 Mobility Pro with 2GB GDDR5 dedicated memory, NVIDIA Quadro K3000M with 2GB GDDR5 dedicated memory, NVIDIA Quadro K4000M with 4GB GDDR5 dedicated memory, NVIDIA Quadro K5000M with 4GB GDDR5 dedicated memory.
5. Display - 17.3" FHD(1920x1080) OR 7.3" HD+(1600x900) with option to upgrade to IPS, wide view, anti-glare, LED-backlit etc.
6. Optical Drive - DVD-ROM; Slot load DVD+/-RW; Blu-ray Disc writer; Optical bay caddy for additional hard drive or solid state drive.
7. Connectivity - Integrated Intel 82579M/V 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet.
8. Wireless LAN: Intel Centrino Ultimate or Dell wireless
9. Mobile Broadband & GPS: Yes
10. Bluetooth: Dell Wireless 380 Bluetooth 4.0
11. USB 3.0 (2) - USB 2.0 (3) – 1 USB/eSATA combo
12. Stereo headphone/Microphone combo jack
13. 10-in-1 card reader, 54 mm ExpressCard, 1394 6-pin powered
14. Docking Connector, VGA, DisplayPort, HDMI 2 Full and 2 Half Mini Card Slots
15. SmartCard Reader, optional Contactless SmartCard Reader/Fingerprint Reader, FIPS Fingerprint Reader.
16. Weight: starts at 3.52kg (with 9-cell battery, airbay and optional mSATA).
17. OS - RHEL 6 or MS-Windows.

18.  Please note that you need to call Dell to order RHEL 6 based operating system. You can run other version of Linux such as Debian or Ubuntu too.

Pricing and availability

All three new mobile workstations are available for purchase starting today. The U.S. starting prices are $1,649 for the Dell Precision M4700, $2,199 for the M6700 and $3,579 for the M6700 Covet when all configurations are available. More information available here.