At the tike, linux (rather Xorg) doesnt officially support gpu hotswitching, but there are workarounds to make this work. Nvidia itself has no immediate plans on supporting optimus offcially on linux, thats the reason Linus was so mean to them.
Project Bumblebee is pretty much the main thing out there for Optimus on Linux though it still definitely falls short of the same Optimus features we enjoy. Hope the Linux Kernel Devs and Nvidia can work out their differences and get something working.
On another note, though, Jarred mention that he was unsure if you can order one of the workstations without Optimus and from my understanding, that would actually just cost extra. Optimus seems to be implemented in the motherboard's BIOS with all Nvidia GPU cards having support baked in (so I should be able to go pick up any 460/560/660M MXM card and stick it on a motherboard that supports Optimus and have it work). I'm thinking that having a separate mobo just for excluding Optimus is silly and costly, so if one configuration supports it, I would think that they all support it. Possibly even still if you ordered it with the AMD card as well.
This "workstation" branding is retarded. GPUs are named in a way that you can't know and relate their actual performance without extra research. The whole thing costs way more than if it used "normal" components, while not offering any real-world benefit, at all. Draining corporate finances and getting a commission out of it sounds like the only reason that anyone would pick this crap for.
Whoops, you're utterly wrong. Quadro and FirePro cards offer MASSIVE performance benefits, real world, in specific professional applications. They don't have better silicon, but BIOS lockouts and special drivers are what I assume create this effect.
Also, they're pretty nice machines overall, and you can get a 1080p IPS screen - try finding any other machines around that have that..
On the nVidia side all but the lowest end quadros have FP64 = 1/2 FP32 instead of the heavily nerfed (in software) 1/8. They also have drivers/firmware optimized for accuracy of rendering instead of raw FPS.
A couple of years ago GeForce were trivial to flash to Quadro, though I admit I haven't read up on if nVidia has tightened things up since. Even if they have, that is no reason to give them money for nothing.
I would consider one of these... if they still had a 1920x1200 display. How can Dell seriously promote these as "workstations" for great graphics work, and then skimp on the display?
Agreed. I was looking at new business laptops but the screen was the most important thing for me. Much more important than performance. And nothing since i5/i7 came out has a 1200p screen anymore. The last 1200p 15" laptops were Core 2 Duo.
So I went and bought a refurb with the fastest Penryn and a 1920x1200 display. Couldn't be happier.
We purchased a few Dell M6500 notebooks in early 2011 - quad core Q740 i7, 1920x1200 17" screen, 16GB. Weighs a ton, but the extra resolution is worth it, especially when remoting into a virtual server and doing SharePoint dev work.
I have a Dell M6400 from a couple years ago with a 17" 1920x1200 display. I think it's still a TN panel, but it did have an RGB backlight, so it doesn't do too bad. I have to say, the thing is pretty hefty, has crap battery life, but very sturdy build quality and still pretty quick. The second internal HDD bay made adding an SSD simple, which really makes it snappy. I'm glad to see they're keeping internal bay counts high.
I have the M6500 with the 1366 resolution screen and got that on purpose. My eyes are not that great and I like the native resolution being a little lower. Makes it easier on my eyes, less strain. I'm a programmer and designer, so I use this machine constantly.
Yes, there are times the larger resolution would be nice, but I'm glad there is a choice. I couldn't imagine anything higher than 1920. How can human eyes read web sites like that? Such, blow it up, but that just wrecks quality and isn't native.
Increase your DPI and the high resolution screen would look much better than the 1366 screen at a comparable text size.
If that doesn't work for you, then maybe get better glasses?
If that doesn't work for you, then ok, yes, I agree, you are the 0.1% of the population who is better served by a poor quality, low contrast, low resolution screen.
Lenovo was faster out of the gate with the W530 and my company just grabbed a bunch for the latest upgrade cycle. They beat out both Dell and HP with their Ivy Bridge workstation laptops and got our dollars as a result.
I have an M6600 that I travel with (I fly 45+ weeks a year) and I absolutely love it. I hear people complain about the weight on 17" laptops but really all you need is a good backpack that keeps the laptop flat against your back and its not bad at all. You just can't get by with a crap bag that has bad balance. I get 4-4.5 hrs of battery life which is all I usually need between plug ins.
I wish Dell would offer this same chassis build quality in all their models. I would love to see a consumer Precision type line that forgoes the expensive certifications and uses consumer gfx cards but keeps the chassis and other components. I got my M6600 in part due to not wanting the annoying aesthetic you are stuck with in an Alienware. Alienware guts in a Precision Chasis would rock.
This question is ABSOLUTELY FUNDAMENTAL for people thinking about buying this laptop. Unfortunately most reviewers will have the cheaper normal display and throw in a comment saying that an IPS display is available.
I have the IPS display on the M4600 and the nVidia Linux driver cannot use Optimus. I don't know if it is the same with the Windows nVidia driver. I would be interested to know.
No Optimus is a big issue when travelling. Best case (mostly idle on minimum brightness, which requires fairly dim surroundings) is just under 2 hrs on the 6 cell battery. Any interaction with the computer will reduce that to 1hr30 at best. Had I known that I was trading battery life for the IPS display, I would have gone for the normal display.
I have been using All types of workstation class Laptop/Desktop replacement laptops.In my long term experience The precesion class far outweighs other brands including lenovo w700/701 and HP envy class laptops of same specs.The basic reason is the after sales promptness and logistical backend support and services on systems given by Dell.When one pays heavily for such products one also expects such support.I nly wish it had ecc ram support which Eurocomm gives on some of its laptops with xeon class processors.Hope Dell is listening.The last time I had Ecc ram was on a Sun Notebook long time ago.The benefits are immense.
I have used the HP Elitebook series at my job for the past several years and have to say that the construction quality is better than the last Precision workstation I used (a 6600). Comparing a Precision to an Envy line is like comparing it to an Alienware - Envy is good for high end consumer (I have an Envy 15), but still can't come close to touching my Elitebook in terms of build quality.
For those that complain that a workstation is heavy is like going into a truck dealership and complaining that the vehicles are big and heavy. If you're looking for a compact you shouldn't be in a truck store. Nevertheless, today's workstations are lighter and more powerful than ever.
And so far nothing is good so I might actually look into one of these now that they appear to support 120hz. If they have a decent keyboard and a kepler gpu I could be sold.
These workstations have GREAT backlit keyboards. Very little light bleed around the keys. The key travel is nice. My main issue is there's a little sponge in the middle and after a few years I have a little squeek in the center as well. I could by a new keyboard for $30 on ebay to replace my worn out one (but it's not that bad, very minor complaints).
Just tried to price it out, +$720 just to get the 120hz screen. Dell always drops the ball, there is simply no value in that company with better hardware which is why I have not bought a dell in a long time.
Now days the 555M is the best GPU you can find in their XPS line which is pretty sad.
You've pointed out the problem by not the solution. What notebook manufactures offer a better alternative or deal? Dell is as competitive as any in the market.
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nevertell - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
At the tike, linux (rather Xorg) doesnt officially support gpu hotswitching, but there are workarounds to make this work. Nvidia itself has no immediate plans on supporting optimus offcially on linux, thats the reason Linus was so mean to them.Freakie - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
Project Bumblebee is pretty much the main thing out there for Optimus on Linux though it still definitely falls short of the same Optimus features we enjoy. Hope the Linux Kernel Devs and Nvidia can work out their differences and get something working.On another note, though, Jarred mention that he was unsure if you can order one of the workstations without Optimus and from my understanding, that would actually just cost extra. Optimus seems to be implemented in the motherboard's BIOS with all Nvidia GPU cards having support baked in (so I should be able to go pick up any 460/560/660M MXM card and stick it on a motherboard that supports Optimus and have it work). I'm thinking that having a separate mobo just for excluding Optimus is silly and costly, so if one configuration supports it, I would think that they all support it. Possibly even still if you ordered it with the AMD card as well.
Visual - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
This "workstation" branding is retarded. GPUs are named in a way that you can't know and relate their actual performance without extra research. The whole thing costs way more than if it used "normal" components, while not offering any real-world benefit, at all.Draining corporate finances and getting a commission out of it sounds like the only reason that anyone would pick this crap for.
piroroadkill - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
Whoops, you're utterly wrong. Quadro and FirePro cards offer MASSIVE performance benefits, real world, in specific professional applications. They don't have better silicon, but BIOS lockouts and special drivers are what I assume create this effect.Also, they're pretty nice machines overall, and you can get a 1080p IPS screen - try finding any other machines around that have that..
DanNeely - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
On the nVidia side all but the lowest end quadros have FP64 = 1/2 FP32 instead of the heavily nerfed (in software) 1/8. They also have drivers/firmware optimized for accuracy of rendering instead of raw FPS.Visual - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
A couple of years ago GeForce were trivial to flash to Quadro, though I admit I haven't read up on if nVidia has tightened things up since. Even if they have, that is no reason to give them money for nothing.piroroadkill - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
For shame. That screen looks like it has a big border bottom and top...perspicacity - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
I would consider one of these... if they still had a 1920x1200 display. How can Dell seriously promote these as "workstations" for great graphics work, and then skimp on the display?magreen - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
Agreed. I was looking at new business laptops but the screen was the most important thing for me. Much more important than performance. And nothing since i5/i7 came out has a 1200p screen anymore. The last 1200p 15" laptops were Core 2 Duo.So I went and bought a refurb with the fastest Penryn and a 1920x1200 display. Couldn't be happier.
spguy - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
We purchased a few Dell M6500 notebooks in early 2011 - quad core Q740 i7, 1920x1200 17" screen, 16GB. Weighs a ton, but the extra resolution is worth it, especially when remoting into a virtual server and doing SharePoint dev work.magreen - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
Yes, I just wouldn't want a 17" behemoth. That's why I'm miffed they stopped providing 1200p at 15".icrf - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
I have a Dell M6400 from a couple years ago with a 17" 1920x1200 display. I think it's still a TN panel, but it did have an RGB backlight, so it doesn't do too bad. I have to say, the thing is pretty hefty, has crap battery life, but very sturdy build quality and still pretty quick. The second internal HDD bay made adding an SSD simple, which really makes it snappy. I'm glad to see they're keeping internal bay counts high.p05esto - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
I have the M6500 with the 1366 resolution screen and got that on purpose. My eyes are not that great and I like the native resolution being a little lower. Makes it easier on my eyes, less strain. I'm a programmer and designer, so I use this machine constantly.Yes, there are times the larger resolution would be nice, but I'm glad there is a choice. I couldn't imagine anything higher than 1920. How can human eyes read web sites like that? Such, blow it up, but that just wrecks quality and isn't native.
seapeople - Sunday, August 5, 2012 - link
Increase your DPI and the high resolution screen would look much better than the 1366 screen at a comparable text size.If that doesn't work for you, then maybe get better glasses?
If that doesn't work for you, then ok, yes, I agree, you are the 0.1% of the population who is better served by a poor quality, low contrast, low resolution screen.
Pessimism - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
Lenovo was faster out of the gate with the W530 and my company just grabbed a bunch for the latest upgrade cycle. They beat out both Dell and HP with their Ivy Bridge workstation laptops and got our dollars as a result.Ikefu - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
I have an M6600 that I travel with (I fly 45+ weeks a year) and I absolutely love it. I hear people complain about the weight on 17" laptops but really all you need is a good backpack that keeps the laptop flat against your back and its not bad at all. You just can't get by with a crap bag that has bad balance. I get 4-4.5 hrs of battery life which is all I usually need between plug ins.I wish Dell would offer this same chassis build quality in all their models. I would love to see a consumer Precision type line that forgoes the expensive certifications and uses consumer gfx cards but keeps the chassis and other components. I got my M6600 in part due to not wanting the annoying aesthetic you are stuck with in an Alienware. Alienware guts in a Precision Chasis would rock.
douglaswilliams - Tuesday, July 24, 2012 - link
Is there still the issue where if you get the IPS display you can't use NVIDIA Optimus to switch to the Intel graphics?As I understood it, an IPS display is driven by 10-bits, and Intel can only do 8-bit...something like that.
Thanks!
Douglas
pbclayton - Saturday, September 8, 2012 - link
This question is ABSOLUTELY FUNDAMENTAL for people thinking about buying this laptop. Unfortunately most reviewers will have the cheaper normal display and throw in a comment saying that an IPS display is available.I have the IPS display on the M4600 and the nVidia Linux driver cannot use Optimus. I don't know if it is the same with the Windows nVidia driver. I would be interested to know.
No Optimus is a big issue when travelling. Best case (mostly idle on minimum brightness, which requires fairly dim surroundings) is just under 2 hrs on the 6 cell battery. Any interaction with the computer will reduce that to 1hr30 at best. Had I known that I was trading battery life for the IPS display, I would have gone for the normal display.
advrsharma - Thursday, July 26, 2012 - link
I have been using All types of workstation class Laptop/Desktop replacement laptops.In my long term experience The precesion class far outweighs other brands including lenovo w700/701 and HP envy class laptops of same specs.The basic reason is the after sales promptness and logistical backend support and services on systems given by Dell.When one pays heavily for such products one also expects such support.I nly wish it had ecc ram support which Eurocomm gives on some of its laptops with xeon class processors.Hope Dell is listening.The last time I had Ecc ram was on a Sun Notebook long time ago.The benefits are immense.erple2 - Sunday, July 29, 2012 - link
I have used the HP Elitebook series at my job for the past several years and have to say that the construction quality is better than the last Precision workstation I used (a 6600). Comparing a Precision to an Envy line is like comparing it to an Alienware - Envy is good for high end consumer (I have an Envy 15), but still can't come close to touching my Elitebook in terms of build quality.Krane1 - Saturday, July 28, 2012 - link
For those that complain that a workstation is heavy is like going into a truck dealership and complaining that the vehicles are big and heavy. If you're looking for a compact you shouldn't be in a truck store. Nevertheless, today's workstations are lighter and more powerful than ever.As for 1920x1200 display, try the Apple store.
PubFiction - Monday, July 30, 2012 - link
And so far nothing is good so I might actually look into one of these now that they appear to support 120hz. If they have a decent keyboard and a kepler gpu I could be sold.p05esto - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
These workstations have GREAT backlit keyboards. Very little light bleed around the keys. The key travel is nice. My main issue is there's a little sponge in the middle and after a few years I have a little squeek in the center as well. I could by a new keyboard for $30 on ebay to replace my worn out one (but it's not that bad, very minor complaints).PubFiction - Monday, July 30, 2012 - link
Just tried to price it out, +$720 just to get the 120hz screen. Dell always drops the ball, there is simply no value in that company with better hardware which is why I have not bought a dell in a long time.Now days the 555M is the best GPU you can find in their XPS line which is pretty sad.
Krane1 - Thursday, August 16, 2012 - link
You've pointed out the problem by not the solution. What notebook manufactures offer a better alternative or deal? Dell is as competitive as any in the market.DaEngineer - Friday, January 4, 2013 - link
Is it possible for me to purchase an SSD and replace the harddrive myself? or add on in?and if so. will it be easy?
worio - Tuesday, April 16, 2013 - link
i like very much