Dell M6500: A Precision Strike on Bling
by Jarred Walton on March 9, 2010 3:00 AM ESTDell Precision M6500: Works as Advertised
Reviewing the M6500 has been a bit of a shakeup for our normal notebook and laptop tests. As a workstation class product, we had to look at additional tests to try and determine value. Ultimately, the recommendation is pretty straightforward: you buy a mobile workstation with certification to run the particular software package that you need for a reason. You can try the Dell Precision Workstation Advisor, though I suspect it will likely just confirm that the M6500 is capable of running your particular application. So that's the quick summary: if you want a mobile workstation, the Dell Precision M6500 delivers on all fronts.
So the M6500 is from the "big is beautiful" school of thought. It's sturdy and built to last, with an attractive industrial design aesthetic. If you want something that looks fancy, or you want a lighter notebook, the M6500 isn't for you. It weighs nearly nine pounds (more with the power brick, which would definitely be required), and it can suck up quite a bit of juice under load. Opinions on what makes a laptop look "good" obviously differ, but there's something to be said for a less in-your-face notebook. Personally, I'd take an M6500 chassis over the Alienware M17x chassis, even if the younger crowd may think the M6500 looks "boring". Boring it may be, but at least it doesn't come with a glossy LCD and a plastic casing! We can only hope that Dell will release an update so that the LCD will calibrate better with the alternative profiles, as right now you'll need to use the NTSC preset (i.e. LCD native) with a 1.8 gamma setting to get an acceptable result. Elsewhere, the design works very well, with the cooling configuration performing well and managing to keep both temperatures and noise levels in check. This isn't a CULV laptop by any means, but the industrial design definitely helps moderate heat and noise.
If you're in the market for a mobile workstation, then of course the M6500 is definitely worth a look, particularly if you're after higher performance. Looking around, there's nothing faster from HP right now (the EliteBook 8730w uses a T9600 and Quadro FX 3700M). The only competing option we can find right now is Lenovo's just-announced ThinkPad W701 series, with specs similar to the M6500 and a built-in Wacom digitizer or a slide-out secondary LCD. The ThinkPad W701 is scheduled to begin shipping this month, and it includes a built-in X-Rite color calibration utility that runs when you close the lid; hopefully that will handle all the calibration properly so you won't need to worry about manually tweaking settings. But the M6500 is already shipping and the new quad-core models include USB 3.0 if you're not a stickler for color accuracy. It's also nice to see the dual-core i5 M6500 version, as not everyone needs the power of an eight-threaded i7 beast. If you want a high-end workstation GPU but you don't demand as much from your CPU, an i5-520M/540M version will cost far less than the system we tested and should still run circles around older Core 2 Duo systems (and will likely give Core 2 Quad a run for the money).
Would I personally buy the Precision M6500? Of course not, but it's not designed for me. I simply don't use software that would make it necessary. For those of you who have more complex software needs, look at the above slide; if you run any of those software packages the M6500 is a worthy candidate. Just as trying to game on a notebook with integrated graphics doesn't work well—when it works at all—trying to run workstation applications without a workstation GPU produces generally unacceptable results. If you run professional graphics software packages for a living, getting an appropriate GPU in your system will pay back in time saved very quickly. The Dell Precision M6500 simply takes your average workstation level of performance from a desktop ~18 months back and stuffs it into a notebook. It's not without flaws, but overall the M6500 presents a very nice package for mobile professionals that need all the performance they can get.
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FXi - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
The M17x sure could have used some touches to bring it more along the looks of the M6500. I have a M6400 and it's really a fantastic machine. It gets looks and questions wherever I take it.Why did the M17x lack a latch, USB3 and some of the other subtlety that the M6500 has in spades? It's not that the M17x is "bad", not at all. It just could have had a more subtle elegance with so little additional effort. And moreover, the M17x "could" have used the very same docking station as the M6500. Same chipset, same overall form factor. The grill bottom of the M17x could have taken a docking port without making it too weak.
Anyway I have a M6400 and it's really a fantastic machine. Moreover I get about 2-2.5 hours on the battery which is wonderful for car appointments sitting in the lounge getting work done.
Great machine. Only sadness is the case is so packed they can't fit SLI Quadro's. But that doesn't keep it from being a Class A machine.
hko45 - Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - link
I have an M6400. I like it's clean, serious look. Not like the over-the-top "fashion" toys I've seen from other laptop purveyors.As I said in an earlier post, the E-Port and E-Port Plus docking stations make Dell Precision & Latitude laptops my only choices for now. (Other docking stations that I know about do not offer multi DVI/DP options and require a USB connection, as opposed to the dedicated docking port on the Dells.
Although, I've heard rumors that NVidia is considering offering an external graphics card option (that I presume will use USB 3.0). If so, they'd be crazy not to include multiple monitor capabilities.
wicko - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
Would be nice to see a consumer version of this, I'd be completely interested if it weren't for the abnormal price range.geekforhire - Wednesday, March 17, 2010 - link
Goofy question, but would your opinion change if this machine were $3000 rather than about $6000? Check my review above.Lothsahn - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
We use about 20 of these (M6400) where I work, and they are extremely fast, but their quality is absolutely horrible (despite what the article says). We've had nearly one problem in each laptop within the first year (some worse, some better).My laptop was completely replaced by Dell due to 10 separate RMA requests, likely resulting from a defective powerbrick that Dell could not diagnose (even with my suggestion that they replace the power brick).
Some of the problems we've seen:
1) fan failures (requiring replacement of the ENTIRE graphics card daughterboard, not just the fan, because they're integrated together
2) battery failures
3) Motherboard failures
4) Power supply failures
5) Display issues-- the contrast is EXTREMELY poor on the displays ( http://www.google.com/search?q=M6400+display+color">http://www.google.com/search?q=M6400+display+color )
6) Numerous driver issues causing BSOD's in WinXP-64.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
Hopefully Dell provided good service at least in terms of getting things replaced? I did tech support for a giant corporation at one point, we had hundreds of Dell PCs and laptops, and they would send someone out within 24 hours to fix problems.Obviously, I can't comment on long-term stability when I only have a unit for a month, but I didn't have any stability problems at all. The PSU is now updated relative to the M6400, and for sure the LCD doesn't have "extremely poor contrast"... I tested this one, and it rates 670:1, which is great.
As for the color tint, that's partly a problem from too bright a backlight (run at ~40% and you'll be a lot closer to 6500K; 100% is likely in the 9000K+ range). For calibration, you do need hardware and software, but with a 1.8 gamma setting (see above and updated text in article) that issue is now addressed.
Lothsahn - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
Dell provided excellent service. No complaints there. But I would be terrified if we didn't have a 3yr onsite warranty--these units are all out of a typical 1yr warranty now and given the current failure rates, I would expect most of them to be dead within the next year if we didn't have them repaired.I should clarify the LCD issue--it's not "contrast" in terms of brightness of white to black. The monitor is extremely bright and contrasty. However, certain colors have NO grey definition whatsoever. There are details in this post:
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19243123/195...">http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19243123/195...
If you look at the yellow pushpin on the M6400 monitor, ALL greys in the yellow pushpin are nonexistent--the pushpin is one solid color. For graphics editing, that is clearly unacceptable. Thankfully, we don't graphics edit, but some webpages are still more difficult to see because of this problem.
People reporting this error have calibrated their displays, but that does not resolve the issue. It's more than a software or a calibration issue.
I have adjusted gamma and brightness settings in the Nvidia driver (from the default settings), which has been good enough for web browsing, although the problem remains. However, when you pay 4-5k for a laptop, you shouldn't have these sorts of problems.
mino - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
Just give me DUAL NIC for VMware worstation dual-node operation and I be in heaven.The node2 being something in x200 tablet class ...
Lazlo Panaflex - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
POS screen with unfixable blue tint, no DVI (vga? LOL!) and lack of other ports, expensive price tag and bland asthetics...sorry, but this is epic fail for Dell.Jarred, methinks you were a bit too kind in your overall assessment of this lemon.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - link
See above: LCD issue is "fixed" now and I updated the article. Docking station provides two extra DVI ports I believe, but it's still irritating. Still, that's not "epic fail" by any but the most limited perspective.