Dell Adds Firepower to Its Workstation Line

By STEPHEN WILLIAMS

With netbooks and ever-slimmer notebook computers attracting the lion’s share of consumers’ attention this holiday, Dell apparently believes there’s still room for workhorse PCs, even if — at about nine pounds — they defy current fashion. Enter the Precision M6500 “mobile workstation.”

Workstations are just that: monster-spec machines made for high-performance and powerhouse applications (although it still runs user-friendly Microsoft’s Windows 7, among other operating systems). Dell’s just-released package, priced to start at $2,750, is structured around an advanced Intel Core i7 quad-core processor — among the first mobile PCs to use that chip — and a 17-inch, 1920-by-1200 LED-lighted screen. There’s a gaudier variation, the Covet, in hot copper orange ($4,220), that makes the Apple MacBook Pro look like the Fisher Price version.

While the base version is loaded with only 2 gigabytes of memory — not nearly enough for a computer with this potential — it will accommodate up to 16 gigs in four memory slots, a feature normally found on desktops, not on laptops. The nine-cell battery should run strong, although its life on the road depends on how the PC is configured. The M6500 began shipping on Dec. 1.

Article Sourch :http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/dell-adds-firepower-to-its-workstation-line/