This design has a lot going for it. As one user suggested, kids going to college. BUT, I think that a strong argument could be made for it with small business owners.
Why?
Considering that I went through Hurricane Katrina, and literally everything (including both of my cars, my father's brand new Avalanche, both PC's) was underwater, the one thing that saved all of our records was my mother's laptop.
No one expected it to be quite the monster that it was, and even though the PC's were put up high, and bagged, they were swamped. My mom's laptop of course, went home with her.
Had we had two of these mobile PC's, I *guarantee* they would have been taken out of the building and away from the storm, and we wouldn't have to deal with waiting for insurance to settle, the inevitable depreciation involved (even though the two PC's involved in the storm were perfectly okay for our needs), and lost productivity. Backups are great and all, but let's face it, they are fallible and it can take a lot of effort to recover from two lost PCs.
Personally, if these units were available in "value" flavors without the souped up video cards, I know several folks I would recommend them to right now.
Of course, I'd want a decked out screamer for my own personal use :)! ::drool::
I think this is a verry intresting thing, but can it realy work like houres whit solar power. I mean thers almoust light everywhaer when this can work let's say 10 h I be impressed.
Funny that everyone thinks of dell for low price/cheap computers and now that profit margins have slowed they drop a 30" LCD for 2 grand that takes a "limited edition" overclocked (Overclocked by Dell...hell must be cold!) quad GPU XPS just to eke out playable framerates on the newest games. What's next?!?! Water cooling and AMD brought to you by the dell duuuude? =X
Very true. Plop down an estimated 10 grand on a system like this today and it will be outdated next year or even by the end of this year (there is no way nVidia will leave Quad SLI as a Dell exclusive). People will stick them in an overclocked FX-57 (perhaps watercooled) they build themselves and save themselves a few thousand dollars (and have a higher performing system to boot).
We'll leave you today with a picture of Toshiba's HD-DVD player that was sitting in Intel's booth. The player crashed when we took this picture, but other than that there was nothing particularly interesting to see here.
Aww poor DVD player is shy. Dont take pictures please! Move along, give this DVD player some breathing roomm!
I don't think it's a good idea. I quote the article "Internally it's basically a notebook with discrete graphics and support for up to two 2.5" hard drives running in RAID."
It offers nothing over a Desktop Replacement Laptop imo.
I was thinking the same thing, however I think it has potential. Assuming it's priced competitively, and we could dump the discrete graphics, I'd be interested.
Dell actually has some nice concepts. Dell high end products are getting better. To bad most people buy thier low end junk. I doubt the CPU would limit he Quad the computer in anything. The Quad video card might get a little more work if you get a 30in. But really can you game on 30in. I think tunnel vision would kick in
I really like the idea of the portal. Now if they could add some MCE stuff to it would be ideal for Dorm rooms. No tv needed. and study (or play) center you can take with you, if needed.
I'm going to guess though that, as it comes with a Media Center Remote, it probably is kitted out with an internal TV tuner.
It's a nice idea and one that whilst discussed has never really seen the light of day. However, given the choice I think I'd rather sit down and DIY it with a briefcase/suitcase or something than pay Dell to do it for me - if only for flexibility. Also 20" widescreen is good but it's going to be big and pretty heavy too. The fact that Dell tried something different shows attempted innovation which I don't think anyone can say is a bad thing.
In my opinion, the socket thing is a bad idea. It will make a complete graphics "setup" more expensive, will introduce another load of compatability issues and forced upgrading, and looks shat. Plus heatsinks will be a bitch to design/replace.
omg I hadn't thought about heatsink issues, only enthusiasts and qualified proffesionals would be able to upgrade the GPU anyway and re-fit the heatsink (assuming it can still use the old one). I'm totally against the idea anyway for far more sensible reasons like how the GPU core and memory are very much tailored to each other and how memory speeds are steadily increasing, and sticking a next-gen core in a card will likely be a waste of money. And that's all before considering stability issues with a card you upgrade as opposed to the current market where you buy a card guaranteed to work.
There is no place for upgradeable graphics sockets except on a mobo to provide an alternative to whatever the chipset offers. Actually no, that doesn't make sense either as a PCie graphics card would likely be just as cheap and offer better performance. No, upgradeable GPU/VPUs seem pointless to me. Let's stick with cards that are designed around components that work together best, rather than waste money on more expensive cards
However to say that is the world's first upgradeable graphics-card is totally wrong. Many graphics-cards in the mid 90's had sockets to add extra video-memory making which at the time was considered a serious upgrade as it allowed the use of higher resolutions and colour-depths. Different sort of upgrade agreed, but most definitely a true graphics-card upgrade and one which was readily available, unlike what we're talking about today.
I think it's a killer idea, but poor implementation. I'd have done the design a bit differently if it is possible to do so, by making it possible to use Socket A or Socket 370 type HSF's on the GPU's so that customized cooling would be an easy option, and by separating the RAM from the GPU modules (perhaps SO-DIMM style?). This is probably more nVidia's issue than MSI's though. The idea of an upgradeable graphics card needs to be done to make it less expensive for the consumer rather than more (i.e., the cost of a GPU upgrade is less than buying a second card or a new card) more like buying a mainboard and changing processors. That probably needs to be done by nVidia as a from-scratch design though, and since it might not make them more money, there's probably no incentive to do so.
I'm also very interested in this mobile desktop concept. I travel every week, and I currently take a laptop and a mini-tablet with me, but I leave the laptop in the hotel all week just so I can have a bigger screen and media/gaming options in the evenings.
I would love it if the monitor could be used separately, like as an external monitor for my tablet. It would AMAZING if the monitor could travel separate from the rest of the computer in case I just want a bigger screen for my mini-tablet. If there were a way to just grab the monitor + battery and use it to extend the capabilities of my other devices, that would make me buy it right there.
I forgot to add that I would sertiously consider something like that for purchase ... right now I build all my own PCs. Something like that is NOT something I could build on my own.
The only thing that might keep me away is Dell's comsumer software load. The buisness PCs (Optiplex) have a much cleaner load.
Has no one here ever tried to build a briefcase PC? The only thing I couldn't get working in mine was a battery. The second one I built worked fine off a battery, but being powered by a VIA Eden CPU didn't make for the best Counterstrike:Source play in the world.
The Dell Transportable is a very nice idea, probably influenced by modders (suitcase mod anyone?) While appealing, I think they can take one step further and make a barebones system in addition to the version they showed at CES. Having the option of installing and upgraded your own vid cards/RAM/cpu would be a huge draw...and provide fierce competition for shuttle/SFF/Viiv/HTPCs. This would also be a godsend for LAN gamers everywhere, as someone mentioned above.
I'm not sure if that wireless rechargeable keyboard is necessary. Most gamers would be using a nicer one, regular users would be lazy enough to not charge their keyboard, and media users would probably be using the remote when afar, rather than the keyboard. As for the battery, it can be good and bad, I can't really decide.
It doesn't say, but if the Dell Transportable has a TV tuner in it, then it'd rock. As a college student, you could buy it as a all-in-one dorm solution. As an adult, it'd be a fully portable DVR/HTPC.
ONE GTX 512 is a beast, imagine 4 of them. And the 4.26 GHz 955 Presler isn't so bad - I'd say it should match the 4800+ in most apps - remember the recent AT review of the 955 - at default clock speeds it was slightly slower or sometimes faster than the 4800+. Of course the question is how much does this monster rig cost?
Well, overcloked like that, it would easily match and exceede a 4800+'s performance, but in a simillarly configured AMD system, there'd be no comparison.
What are the other specifications for this? How come this information is never available from Dell when they release a new laptop. Screen size? Weight? Etc.
The Quad-SLI thing is rather interesting but would this actually be beneficial in any way? The games probably won't show much of a big difference in framerate given the CPU but one has to wonder what games can truly push the GPU enough to really need 4 to see any benefits from it. I'm all for overboard and extreme stuff but I question the practicality of it. Expensive, high heat output, and high power consumption, three things that don't go together very well...
Unfortunately, I would sell off the CPU, motherboard, and RAM... only to have it replaced with X2 4800+, 2x1GB RAM, and the best SLI motherboard one can get. At least with that setup, the system would perform better and won't eat up as much power.... tho I ponder if that'll make a difference in the end considering quad-SLI. Ugh...
"The Bottom Line – 4/10"
"The system itself is a decent gaming platform and the hardware was well built."
"But we couldn’t even install one of the most popular games on the market, Sims 2, and trying to play other popular games would lock up the system and gaming sessions, when they would run, would get interrupted."
"The pre-installed programs that Dell chose to include on its computer were almost certainly the cause of all these problems"
dude, if u're gonna drop cash on a sys like that, u could care less about heat output, price, and electricity bills. It's like ppl who buy hummers are'nt concerned about gas prices, it's pennies to them.
Not only that, but until they start putting AMD procs in their boxes, they'll never have *any* credibility with gamers. Even then, I don't think their "target market" would consider a pre-built box anyway. Sounds like another still-born idea by a bunch of MBAs that don't know anything about the DIY/gamer set.
Each dual 7800 card requires an external power brick, which takes a huge ammount of strain off of the PSU. In effect, it doesnt have to power the most power hungry item in any case, the graphics card. The PSU is actually mounted in the front of the case, beneath the HD's and CDROM drives, underneath the Dell logo panel. There is one PSU, but its likely quite a beast.
What's the total power draw of that Dell Renegade?! four pentium cores, 4 nvidia gpu's, and 2 10,000 raptors!? The thing must come with dual PSU's to boot!
dunno bout the power requirements - must be heaps lol. But i see this as kinda a publicity move - ordinary ppl see how fast this comp is 4 games then they think dell comps r really good and go buy one of their more budgeted offerings
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Aerows - Saturday, February 4, 2006 - link
This design has a lot going for it. As one user suggested, kids going to college. BUT, I think that a strong argument could be made for it with small business owners.Why?
Considering that I went through Hurricane Katrina, and literally everything (including both of my cars, my father's brand new Avalanche, both PC's) was underwater, the one thing that saved all of our records was my mother's laptop.
No one expected it to be quite the monster that it was, and even though the PC's were put up high, and bagged, they were swamped. My mom's laptop of course, went home with her.
Had we had two of these mobile PC's, I *guarantee* they would have been taken out of the building and away from the storm, and we wouldn't have to deal with waiting for insurance to settle, the inevitable depreciation involved (even though the two PC's involved in the storm were perfectly okay for our needs), and lost productivity. Backups are great and all, but let's face it, they are fallible and it can take a lot of effort to recover from two lost PCs.
Personally, if these units were available in "value" flavors without the souped up video cards, I know several folks I would recommend them to right now.
Of course, I'd want a decked out screamer for my own personal use :)! ::drool::
estbear - Monday, January 9, 2006 - link
I think this is a verry intresting thing, but can it realy work like houres whit solar power. I mean thers almoust light everywhaer when this can work let's say 10 h I be impressed.Sry for bad englis :P
PeteRoy - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
http://news.com.com/1606-2_3-6020675.html">Watch the videodev0lution - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Funny that everyone thinks of dell for low price/cheap computers and now that profit margins have slowed they drop a 30" LCD for 2 grand that takes a "limited edition" overclocked (Overclocked by Dell...hell must be cold!) quad GPU XPS just to eke out playable framerates on the newest games. What's next?!?! Water cooling and AMD brought to you by the dell duuuude? =XAnonymouseUser - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Who'd a thunk it?hoppa - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Does the flaming skull graphic on the Dell machine automatically change to a rusty snail over the next 3 years?ohnnyj - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Very true. Plop down an estimated 10 grand on a system like this today and it will be outdated next year or even by the end of this year (there is no way nVidia will leave Quad SLI as a Dell exclusive). People will stick them in an overclocked FX-57 (perhaps watercooled) they build themselves and save themselves a few thousand dollars (and have a higher performing system to boot).Griswold - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
We'll leave you today with a picture of Toshiba's HD-DVD player that was sitting in Intel's booth. The player crashed when we took this picture, but other than that there was nothing particularly interesting to see here.Aww poor DVD player is shy. Dont take pictures please! Move along, give this DVD player some breathing roomm!
yuchai - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
I don't think it's a good idea. I quote the article "Internally it's basically a notebook with discrete graphics and support for up to two 2.5" hard drives running in RAID."It offers nothing over a Desktop Replacement Laptop imo.
Nick5324 - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
I was thinking the same thing, however I think it has potential. Assuming it's priced competitively, and we could dump the discrete graphics, I'd be interested.Xenoterranos - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
maybe it'll be a ton cheaper than a DTR. If it was maybe just a bit more expensive than say, a similarly equiped PC, then I could see it being viable.OrSin - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Dell actually has some nice concepts. Dell high end products are getting better. To bad most people buy thier low end junk. I doubt the CPU would limit he Quad the computer in anything. The Quad video card might get a little more work if you get a 30in. But really can you game on 30in. I think tunnel vision would kick inI really like the idea of the portal. Now if they could add some MCE stuff to it would be ideal for Dorm rooms. No tv needed. and study (or play) center you can take with you, if needed.
plewis00 - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
I'm going to guess though that, as it comes with a Media Center Remote, it probably is kitted out with an internal TV tuner.It's a nice idea and one that whilst discussed has never really seen the light of day. However, given the choice I think I'd rather sit down and DIY it with a briefcase/suitcase or something than pay Dell to do it for me - if only for flexibility. Also 20" widescreen is good but it's going to be big and pretty heavy too. The fact that Dell tried something different shows attempted innovation which I don't think anyone can say is a bad thing.
FrozenCanadian - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Does that MSI upgradable graphics thing remind anyone of the 1998 Micron/Rendition Socket X.Donegrim - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
In my opinion, the socket thing is a bad idea. It will make a complete graphics "setup" more expensive, will introduce another load of compatability issues and forced upgrading, and looks shat. Plus heatsinks will be a bitch to design/replace.PrinceGaz - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
omg I hadn't thought about heatsink issues, only enthusiasts and qualified proffesionals would be able to upgrade the GPU anyway and re-fit the heatsink (assuming it can still use the old one). I'm totally against the idea anyway for far more sensible reasons like how the GPU core and memory are very much tailored to each other and how memory speeds are steadily increasing, and sticking a next-gen core in a card will likely be a waste of money. And that's all before considering stability issues with a card you upgrade as opposed to the current market where you buy a card guaranteed to work.There is no place for upgradeable graphics sockets except on a mobo to provide an alternative to whatever the chipset offers. Actually no, that doesn't make sense either as a PCie graphics card would likely be just as cheap and offer better performance. No, upgradeable GPU/VPUs seem pointless to me. Let's stick with cards that are designed around components that work together best, rather than waste money on more expensive cards
However to say that is the world's first upgradeable graphics-card is totally wrong. Many graphics-cards in the mid 90's had sockets to add extra video-memory making which at the time was considered a serious upgrade as it allowed the use of higher resolutions and colour-depths. Different sort of upgrade agreed, but most definitely a true graphics-card upgrade and one which was readily available, unlike what we're talking about today.
LoneWolf15 - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
I think it's a killer idea, but poor implementation. I'd have done the design a bit differently if it is possible to do so, by making it possible to use Socket A or Socket 370 type HSF's on the GPU's so that customized cooling would be an easy option, and by separating the RAM from the GPU modules (perhaps SO-DIMM style?). This is probably more nVidia's issue than MSI's though. The idea of an upgradeable graphics card needs to be done to make it less expensive for the consumer rather than more (i.e., the cost of a GPU upgrade is less than buying a second card or a new card) more like buying a mainboard and changing processors. That probably needs to be done by nVidia as a from-scratch design though, and since it might not make them more money, there's probably no incentive to do so.erwos - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
The transportable is actually a brilliant idea. There's so many kids at college who buy a laptop when all they really need is something like that.-Erwos
VooDooAddict - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
I think Dell's transportable PC is a great idea. The handle makes it all come together.I'm supprised no one mentioned LAN Party! That thing has the possibility of giving Shuttle SFF PCs a nice competition.
I think that a battery is an unnessesary expense.
Seraph321 - Saturday, January 7, 2006 - link
I'm also very interested in this mobile desktop concept. I travel every week, and I currently take a laptop and a mini-tablet with me, but I leave the laptop in the hotel all week just so I can have a bigger screen and media/gaming options in the evenings.I would love it if the monitor could be used separately, like as an external monitor for my tablet. It would AMAZING if the monitor could travel separate from the rest of the computer in case I just want a bigger screen for my mini-tablet. If there were a way to just grab the monitor + battery and use it to extend the capabilities of my other devices, that would make me buy it right there.
VooDooAddict - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
I forgot to add that I would sertiously consider something like that for purchase ... right now I build all my own PCs. Something like that is NOT something I could build on my own.The only thing that might keep me away is Dell's comsumer software load. The buisness PCs (Optiplex) have a much cleaner load.
Xenoterranos - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Has no one here ever tried to build a briefcase PC? The only thing I couldn't get working in mine was a battery. The second one I built worked fine off a battery, but being powered by a VIA Eden CPU didn't make for the best Counterstrike:Source play in the world.s2kpacifist - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
The Dell Transportable is a very nice idea, probably influenced by modders (suitcase mod anyone?) While appealing, I think they can take one step further and make a barebones system in addition to the version they showed at CES. Having the option of installing and upgraded your own vid cards/RAM/cpu would be a huge draw...and provide fierce competition for shuttle/SFF/Viiv/HTPCs. This would also be a godsend for LAN gamers everywhere, as someone mentioned above.I'm not sure if that wireless rechargeable keyboard is necessary. Most gamers would be using a nicer one, regular users would be lazy enough to not charge their keyboard, and media users would probably be using the remote when afar, rather than the keyboard. As for the battery, it can be good and bad, I can't really decide.
LoneWolf15 - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
It doesn't say, but if the Dell Transportable has a TV tuner in it, then it'd rock. As a college student, you could buy it as a all-in-one dorm solution. As an adult, it'd be a fully portable DVR/HTPC.UzairH - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
ONE GTX 512 is a beast, imagine 4 of them. And the 4.26 GHz 955 Presler isn't so bad - I'd say it should match the 4800+ in most apps - remember the recent AT review of the 955 - at default clock speeds it was slightly slower or sometimes faster than the 4800+. Of course the question is how much does this monster rig cost?Xenoterranos - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Well, overcloked like that, it would easily match and exceede a 4800+'s performance, but in a simillarly configured AMD system, there'd be no comparison.OCedHrt - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
What are the other specifications for this? How come this information is never available from Dell when they release a new laptop. Screen size? Weight? Etc.keitaro - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
The Quad-SLI thing is rather interesting but would this actually be beneficial in any way? The games probably won't show much of a big difference in framerate given the CPU but one has to wonder what games can truly push the GPU enough to really need 4 to see any benefits from it. I'm all for overboard and extreme stuff but I question the practicality of it. Expensive, high heat output, and high power consumption, three things that don't go together very well...Unfortunately, I would sell off the CPU, motherboard, and RAM... only to have it replaced with X2 4800+, 2x1GB RAM, and the best SLI motherboard one can get. At least with that setup, the system would perform better and won't eat up as much power.... tho I ponder if that'll make a difference in the end considering quad-SLI. Ugh...
grank0 - Sunday, January 8, 2006 - link
I know why you need 4 CPU cores--it's to handle all the crapware in the background they preinstall. Did you see the HardOCP review, which was linked by slashdot? They reviewed an XPS400: http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTI0LDg=">http://hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTI0LDg="The Bottom Line – 4/10"
"The system itself is a decent gaming platform and the hardware was well built."
"But we couldn’t even install one of the most popular games on the market, Sims 2, and trying to play other popular games would lock up the system and gaming sessions, when they would run, would get interrupted."
"The pre-installed programs that Dell chose to include on its computer were almost certainly the cause of all these problems"
poohbear - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
dude, if u're gonna drop cash on a sys like that, u could care less about heat output, price, and electricity bills. It's like ppl who buy hummers are'nt concerned about gas prices, it's pennies to them.bob661 - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
The basic Dell XPS 600 costs over $4000. I'm thinking this will be pretty close to a $10,000 system.bob661 - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
True indeed but you really won't see much difference in framerates without some insanely high resolution monitor.jvrobert - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
nonsense.. Try playing F.E.A.R at 1600x1200 with everything turned on on any current video card.bob661 - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Forgot about FEAR. I wonder if that game would become CPU limited. I'd like to see some benchies.at80eighty - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
..and Dell debuted their 30"er - coincidence?MrSmurf - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Ironic that Dell would showcase such a computer which is obviously targeted at hardcore PC user but hardcore PC users wouldn't buy a Dell.Deinonych - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Not only that, but until they start putting AMD procs in their boxes, they'll never have *any* credibility with gamers. Even then, I don't think their "target market" would consider a pre-built box anyway. Sounds like another still-born idea by a bunch of MBAs that don't know anything about the DIY/gamer set.Pass.
Bonesdad - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
no matter how fast it is...it's fugly as heck.Why do manufacturers put PC users on a level with guys who pimp out their pickups and vans?
at80eighty - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
while 'fugly' is debateable - to me, the last pic on page 2 - of the rig in flames , is frickin perfect on two levels1) Blazing performance
2) Reminds you that you'll need a fire hydrant handly in case that baby blows up :-)
at80eighty - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
i have NO clue how that happened - mods please delete repeated entriesat80eighty - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
while 'fugly' is debateable - to me, the last pic on page 2 - of the rig in flames , is frickin perfect on two levels1) Blazing performance
2) Reminds you that you'll need a fire hydrant handly in case that baby blows up :-)
at80eighty - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
while 'fugly' is debateable - to me, the last pic on page 2 - of the rig in flames , is frickin perfect on two levels1) Blazing performance
2) Reminds you that you'll need a fire hydrant handly in case that baby blows up :-)
Tanclearas - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
QFTWoodenPupa - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
What are the power requirements of a quad SLI??Cygni - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
Each dual 7800 card requires an external power brick, which takes a huge ammount of strain off of the PSU. In effect, it doesnt have to power the most power hungry item in any case, the graphics card. The PSU is actually mounted in the front of the case, beneath the HD's and CDROM drives, underneath the Dell logo panel. There is one PSU, but its likely quite a beast.Xenoterranos - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
What's the total power draw of that Dell Renegade?! four pentium cores, 4 nvidia gpu's, and 2 10,000 raptors!? The thing must come with dual PSU's to boot!Iv3RSoN - Friday, January 6, 2006 - link
dunno bout the power requirements - must be heaps lol. But i see this as kinda a publicity move - ordinary ppl see how fast this comp is 4 games then they think dell comps r really good and go buy one of their more budgeted offeringseun-sik lee - Thursday, June 14, 2018 - link
We are very intersted in boards as sample 2pcs.