M6600 and M4600 are coming in Feb.

It's really ridiculous, how corporations mess up. Wait another year and Apple MBP will be proclaimed as best workstation laptop for true professionals. And what they did? Nothing new, but they haven't done any stupid moves either like HP/Lenovo/Dell.
Claims about fixed resolution in LCD manufacturers are bogus. Each different display has different ppi, so they need to make different LCD plates anyways. And how they cut them is just a question of will....
Same thing happening with 27'',30" displays. No one but Apple transition it to LED backlit, so it's the only display on the market and far superior to the rest of the field. They even canceled all 24" WUXGA displays.

I'm really into getting a MBP now, although that is the last thing I would do, but hey 1080p vs 1200p +better GPU + smaller size + longer battery makes an important difference. I checked glossy screen in Apple store and it looks very good. Didn't have dell next to it, but I think it's superior.

OK, but I will still need to struggle with: "no DELETE button (wonder how MAC-ers delete spam from their mailboxes...)" "no right click" "no USB3" "no dual ext display support" "no blu-ray" and bitten apple logo embarrassment, but maybe I'll stick "DELL Precision" label over it , just to confuse people, and some +pr for Dell

 

You expressed my feelings 100%!
I am in exactly the same position. Still also leaning towards MBP but i am so hoping that i don't need to do that.

 

Haven't used a mac in a while? Right click has been in the OS for a few years now.

 

Just get an external monitor. Going from 16:10 to 16:9 can't be that big of a deal. I've done it, although I know that it's noticeable. On the bright side though, it makes the laptops a little slimmer in width and they fit easier in a backpack. The big thing that I see going with MBP is the loss of USB3, loss of any type of docking, and that they are using ATI in the new models so if you do video editing or anything and like the speed of Premiere CS5 you can kiss that goodbye. Also, my last computer was a Macbook and I got rid of it because although it was thin, you can't seriously expect to cool a quad core processor in a case that thin. The thing ran like a jet engine under full load and would seriously give you 1st degree burns on your skin if you had it on your shorts and they slid up. lol There are always trade offs though, and the best thing is that it's all your choice.

 

LED backlight still has kinks in it. It's the future yes, but the top end displays (for example from Eizo) are almost all still CCFL. Apple is far from the top in the field of displays.

As for the MBP, not sure how you can call their GPU better, especially since for workstation apps, even the lowest end Quadro demolishes consumer GPUs. It may be of a smaller size but far inferior build quality (and yes I actually have a MBP so I'm not just being an anti-fanboy).

 

So...you'll switch to a higher priced less powerful machine because it has 120 more pixels? That's a little extreme, and no, the graphics aren't better, hence the battery life. The only thing the MBP 17 has going for it in comparison to an M6600 is size/weight/osx. The M6600 is more powerful, it has a workstation class gpu (drivers are tuned for workstation, not gaming). LED backlighting isn't 'AWESOME' it's just, an evolution from CCFL, it's not truly ready yet for high end displays, even the ones just coming out from NEC and Eizo are CCFL. Anandtech did a review of the u2711 and ACD27, U2711 is superior. You can still get the 24" WUXGA's, so I don't know what you're talking about there. But if you really want a Mac, at least have the facts straight about them in comparison to a precision workstation.

 

You may be right that Premiere pro may work faster with CUDA, but Autocad + Inventor both use DirectX now so "openGL special driver support rip off" will soon have to change their tactics. Besides all current quadro GPUs are old generation apart from Q5000M which is insanely priced/powerconsuming.

I've never worked with MBP, but I could hardly believe that it's too hot to work, since there are millions of MAC users and doubt they all work on cold steel table (to dissipate heat) + having 8h battery, surely can not be a heater, although I saw Imac 27" being really hot, but it's desktop.

The size: 17.3 vs 17 17.3 is much larger (primarily longer) so you need new back pack (bigger one) + offer less desktop space.
Only really sensible FHD laptop is then Sony Vaio F 16.4", but it has poor CPU, GPU 540M (but it's CUDA) it is in return 3D, incredible LED backlit display, it's proper size, perfect on eyes with

NEC and Eizo don't use LED yet because they aren't up to newest tech yet. I can see edge lit LED being poor, but not full LED local dimming support.

I'm not posting to about everything, as I've use many many DELL laptops, and also referred to and sold many of them, and 6500 Precision looks a very good business laptop to me, so all they needed to do is stick SB + Quadro 4000M inside. I've been waiting more than 6mo. for this to happen, but no luck. To pay $3000+ for M6500 with dx10 gpu and older CPU which is outperformed by factor 2x by SB would be insanity in my mind.

 

NEC and Eizo don't use LED yet because there is none in the market that actually performs well(not enough to their price-point). They are relatively small companies and go by whatever the panel manufacturers offer.

 

Not to bash on Macs, but most of those millions of Mac users only use their Macs for email and word processing, hardly tasks that require a lot of power (which is why they don't heat up much). If you start stressing them at all with "real" work, they heat up quite quickly, because the venting solution is less than ideal.

 

I didn't read through this whole thread but the initial post mentioned RGB LED on the M4600? Nice! Is the RGB LED touch-screen as well? I think I found my next system.