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Dell Precision M6300 Workstation  (Source: Dell)

Dell Latitude XFR D630  (Source: Dell)
Dell updates one of its workstations and provides a rugged version of its Latitude D630

Dell is expanding its reach into the business market with two business laptops. The first is a refresh to the Precision M6300 Workstation aimed at digital content creators and CAD users while second is the rugged Latitude XFR D630 designed to withstand tremendous abuse.

The refreshed Precision M6300 is built around Intel's new 45-nanometer Penryn processors. Customers can choose from Core 2 Duo processors up to 2.6GHz and up to a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo Extreme processor can be selected. Dual memory slots supports up to 8GB of memory, while graphics options include the NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M (256MB) and Quadro FX 3600M (512MB).

The NVIDIA GPUs will sync up with a 17" LCD on the Precision M6300 -- customers will be able to decide on a 1440x900 resolution, but most will likely go for the optional 1920x1200 display.

Considering that the Precision M6300 packs considerable firepower, it should come as no surprise that the 15.5" x 11.3" x 1.6" weighs in at a hefty 8.5 pounds.

Pricing starts at around $2,400 for a base Precision M6300 -- adding options like a solid-state drive (SSD) will quickly inflate that figure.

The other new notebook from the Dell camp is the Latitude XFR D630. Dell says that this new notebook meets MIL-STD 810F standards from the Department of Defense. Dell is positioning the notebook to take on Panasonic's popular Toughbook series -- in fact, Dell says that its Latitude XFR D630 offers 23% better system performance than the Toughbook CF-30.

"The Latitude XFR D630 represents a tectonic shift towards simplicity in the ruggedized laptop space," said Dell Product Group Director Brett McAnally, director, Dell Product Group. "We are taking a multi-dimensional approach that focuses on simplified deployment, service and durability without sacrificing performance. Major competitors focus their efforts on ‘rugged’ only."

The Latitude XFR D630 features a 14.1" display with DirectVue technology, sealed keyboard, dual locking butterfly mechanisms for access to system components, optional SSD storage options and shock mounting for the hard drive, LCD and other critical points.

The Latitude XFR D630 is available now with a starting price of $3,899.

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A bit pricey
By thornburg on 3/4/2008 2:15:32 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
The Latitude XFR D630 is available now with a starting price of $3,899.


Is it normal to shoot the moon with your first entry into a market? Toughbooks start at like $1500-$1700 for the entry level, only their top models sell for over $3000 in the base configuration.

Even the one they are comparing it to costs $500 less than the Dell. Weird.




RE: A bit pricey
By rudy on 3/4/2008 2:20:03 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah it is normal for dell. Their iMac and tablets were also over priced. It is odd cause I expected them to bring a good value to these areas but instead they did the impossible and priced higher then apple or sony.


RE: A bit pricey
By theapparition on 3/5/2008 8:54:45 AM , Rating: 3
Can you point me towards the morons that actually pay Dell's list price?


RE: A bit pricey
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 3/4/2008 2:25:06 PM , Rating: 2
Perhaps you haven't seen pricing for the Latitude XT compared to its competition :-)


RE: A bit pricey
By ElFenix on 3/4/2008 3:41:37 PM , Rating: 2
isn't the latitude XT a lot better than it's so-called competition?


RE: A bit pricey
By Sazar on 3/5/2008 3:34:11 PM , Rating: 2
Yes, but apparently that point is completely lost on those who love the bash the product :)

The XFR is a fully ruggedized product, not a partially ruggedized system.


RE: A bit pricey
By Varun on 3/4/2008 3:10:23 PM , Rating: 2
The fully rugged CF-30 is right around the same price. I believe you are looking at the "Buisness rugged" which isn't anywhere near the piece of hardware a CF-30 is.

I've had to use CF-27, 28, and 29 machines, we are supposed to get some CF-30s this year. The are all pretty slow machines.


RE: A bit pricey
By thornburg on 3/4/2008 3:25:04 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I believe you are looking at the "Buisness rugged" which isn't anywhere near the piece of hardware a CF-30 is.


I followed the link from the Panasonic Toughbook site to "buy online", and the store I chose (I think the first one on the list) sells the CF-30 for less than $3300 (and it says it meets the same mil-spec that is listed in the article). That might be in the same realm as $3899, but a $600 difference is pretty big, especially if you'll be buying multiples (as most organizations would be).


RE: A bit pricey
By ElFenix on 3/4/2008 3:41:06 PM , Rating: 2
are the warranties the same? dell comes standard with a 3 year warranty (though it's crappy mail in service, NBD is another $99).


Competition
By Hexus on 3/4/2008 2:04:26 PM , Rating: 2
You got to love it. I liked the Toughbooks, and Dell's answer looks promising. I've always wanted a laptop that I could stop bullets with.




RE: Competition
By 16nm on 3/4/2008 3:03:40 PM , Rating: 2
Bullets perhaps, but can it withstand an entire pot of steaming hot coffee being poored on it? That's the true test for a tough laptop. Oh, that and the Tonka emblem. Dell and Panasonic must think these things have to look like Fisher Price baby toys.


RE: Competition
By Polynikes on 3/4/2008 3:58:50 PM , Rating: 2
It doesn't stop bullets. Even if it did, it wouldn't run anymore, that's for sure.


First laptop with > 4gb?
By noirsoft on 3/4/2008 2:20:17 PM , Rating: 2
I'm almost positive that this is the first Dell laptop to support more than 4 GB RAM, and I could not find any laptop manufacturer that allows 8 GB configs. I know a few people who would buy this laptop just for that feature alone.




RE: First laptop with > 4gb?
By dever on 3/5/2008 3:32:08 PM , Rating: 2
A little off topic, but, when will consumer computers start supporting larger amounts of RAM for the eventual switch to 64 bit? When I bought my first PC, I paid a couple hundred extra to double the standard 8MB RAM to 16MB. But, even then, the motherboard supported 768MB... which I eventually used. Not a laptop granted, but it would be nice to buy a computer and not have the RAM maxed out the day you buy it.


RE: First laptop with > 4gb?
By noirsoft on 3/6/2008 11:22:58 AM , Rating: 2
Unfortunately, when I go to Dell's site and look at the M6300, it only shows up to 4GB of RAM. Is this atypo in the article, or has Dell changed the specs?


Cooling fans?
By RogueSpear on 3/4/2008 3:22:11 PM , Rating: 2
I can't seem to get an answer as to whether or not these things have any cooling fans. The complete lack of fans is one of the things that has made the ToughBooks (27, 28, 29) so reliable for us.




RE: Cooling fans?
By darkangelism on 3/4/2008 7:33:46 PM , Rating: 2
it has one fan for the proc.


Techtonic shift
By abandonhope on 3/4/2008 2:05:55 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
The Latitude XFR D630 represents a tectonic shift towards simplicity in the ruggedized laptop space," said Dell Product Group Director Brett McAnally, director, Dell Product Group.


Alright, I think the Dell rep has a lifetime membership to the Overused-and-Manufactured-IT-Descriptor Course. Many of these completely overused terms, like robust, scalable, distributed, synergistic, etc. are moderately creative but at least associate well with the message.

Come on...tectonic? Tectonic shifts are exceedingly slow, but are often violent. So, this product is a exceedingly slow, violent shift to create a new laptop....heh. Well, at least it will be a multi-dimensional tectonic shift, because the 2D variety always leave me wanting more.




By ninjit on 3/4/2008 9:28:30 PM , Rating: 1
Yes, yes, yes - we all hate spelling/grammar nazis, but if no one ever points out mistakes, how would we ever better ourselves as human beings.

So, without further ado:

quote:
...notebook meets MIL-STD 810F standards from the Department of Defense...


MIL-STD , means Military Standard, so the subsquent "standards" is unnecessary, and even if you were to keep it, it shouldn't be plural: 810F is a single standard, one of many.




By Raidin on 3/6/2008 9:09:36 AM , Rating: 2
The thing is, MIL-STD 810F would be considered a proper noun in this case, a name of a standard, which happens to include the word standard in abbreviated form. I would agree though that the word standards should be singular.

This would represent a paradigm shift in grammar and spelling trends!


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