Dell Precision M6600 Laptop

Description

Standing screen display size 17.3 Inches Max Screen Resolution 1920×1080 Memory Speed 2.5 GHz Chipset Brand Nvidia Card Description Dedicated Other Technical Details Brand Dell Series Dell Precision Item model number Dell Precision M6600 Operating System Windows 7 Professional Processor Brand Intel Processor Count 4 Flash Memory Size 256 GB Hard Drive Interface Solid State  Ram  4GB   4gb ram Review Dell Precision M6600 Notebook Outperformer. The Dell Precision M6600 mobile workstation can really flex its muscles; it is full to the brim with high-performance components. Generous specs, a wide range of configuration options, and high-end build quality are all part of the package, as are comprehensive warranty and support options. We examine whether Dell has managed to maintain balance and keep ergonomic aspects in sight. This notebook’s younger brother the Dell Precision M4600 was reviewed by us a few weeks ago, and left a lasting impression on our editorial team. Along with high performance and good portability, the review model was convincing from an ergonomic standpoint as well. This is why it was deservedly named our “Editors’ Choice” for September. The Dell Precision M6600 falls into the 17-inch category, and at first the major difference you notice is its more generous proportions. This allows more room for cooling powerful components, for mass storage, for connectivity and for a vast number of configuration options. In the Dell online shop, for example, you can choose between 6 CPUs, 11 different mass storage devices, and four professional graphics cards. Prices currently begin at 1500 Euros without tax, while our modest review model reached a price of around 4100 Euros without tax. But for this you get an Intel Core i7-2920XM CPU, 8 GB of RAM, a 256 GB SSD, an Nvidia Quadro 4000M, and a matt 17.3-inch screen with FullHD resolution. Case Nit-picking really: small inaccuracy on the review model The case only differs from the smaller Precision M4600 in its dimensions and its weight. The dark brown colouring, the metal finish and the square-edged design mean that the two models look similar enough to be mistaken for one another. The Precision M6600 is about 600 g heavier and about 4 cm wider. Because the notebook’s height has barely changed, the large workstation looks a little slimmer, proportionally, than the 15-inch model. To the almost 3.8 kg of weight you also need to add the more than 1 kg of the 240-Watt power block, bringing the total weight very close to the 5 kg threshold. For simple transport from A to B this is certainly manageable, but it’s not the best notebook to have to carry around with you the whole time. As ever, you have to remove the laptop’s large base plate in order to reach the components. Nor is there any provision here for quickly interchangeable drives in a modular bay. If the battery is not slotted in, the case tips forward and to the right because it lacks the necessary stability without one of its rubber feet. Despite the case’s size, there is only a slight loss of rigidity. The lid can be twisted back and forth a little bit more than before, because of the larger dimensions, and on the left next to the on/off button we produced a very small creak by applying pressure. Other than a slightly larger gap than expected in one place on the case lid, the workmanship is flawless and of an extremely high quality.  Connectivity FireWire 400 in 6-pin version Ports Dell Precision M6600 The range of ports on this machine is identical to the Precision M4600, apart from one small feature. Instead of a four-pin FireWire 400 port (IEEE 1394), the M6600 comes with the six-pin version that you see on Macs. This may offer no advantage in terms of transfer speeds, but it does offer its own power supply. This enables the use of mobile FireWire hard drives (usually from the ‘world of Macs’) without an additional USB power source. This will particularly please users who still have older FireWire hard drives in their repertoire, or who often work with Macs and Windows computers in parallel or in turn. We have represented the performance we measured for the individual ports in the graphic below. At the suggestion of several users, this time we also tested the usefulness of the ports in conjunction with mobile hard drives that don’t have a separate power supply. The problem is that sometimes USB hard drives won’t run or are not recognised. But in this respect we could not ascertain any kind of limitations that the workstation could be responsible for. USB 2.0 hard drives worked on the USB 3.0 ports, and vice versa. Perhaps in the cases where there were problems it was because of energy-hungry hard drive models which did not correspond to the USB specifications. We have often observed this kind of bad behaviour in our accessory tests of external hard drives. Front: Lid opening mechanism Left: