News on Haswell based mobile Precision M6800 ?

No but we'll probably see a new iteration of Quadros based on the technology under the 700 series (just as the Quadro K series lines up with the 600 series).

 

Yeah, the quadro version would do.
I doubt the latitude E6540 (the preferred option, really) would get that level of GPU. Too much heat for the chassis. I love my E6410, but I devoutly wish for more GPU.

 

We used Boxx workstations for all our rendering on many of the largest scale VFX shots of the past few years. Boxx Technologies offers the most powerful certified laptop out there. http://www.boxxtech.com/Products/goboxx-2725

Be prepared to add a few pounds though.. it uses desktop procs. Precision is engineered better IMO. Anything over 10lbs is just too damn heavy.

 

Not just heavy. It's missing 2 important things: premium business class warranty (next-business-day on-site) and business grade build quality. And by build quality I mean not only the overall workmanship (mil-spec testing), but also a whole bunch of extras like low latency, WWAN support, secure smartcard reader, docking station port, fips compliant FPR, etc. You simply cannot shove a quadro + desktop CPU in a laptop? chassis and claim it's a true mobile workstation. As far as I recall, these beasts (Clevo barebones btw) had a ton of quality issues at the time of launch, the mobo had to be redesigned due to power failures. Also, they can't really operate under 100% CPU load for extended periods of time due to heat issues.
There's really no good alternative to Precisions/Elitebooks/ThinkPads.

 

I was going to buy a Dell 6700 finally, but I don't need it immediately, so I think I'd rather wait for the updated version with the newer Haswell processor. What do you all think the timeframe is on the updated version being released? Another month? Two? Anyone think that it won't be released by say, the end of September?

 

What has happened in the past is all we've got. But that's no guarantee it will happen in the future.

 

Precision generally comes last in the refresh cycle. We're still seeing other models being refreshed for Haswell and nothing has yet been heard about the Precision. The update will come eventually, I'm personally speculating a "late summer" timeframe.

That said, if you can hold off, I'd recommend doing so. When the M6800 is released within the next few months, you can choose to either get it with the latest and greatest tech, or get a M6700 which will likely be a bit easier to get a discount on at that time.

 

Today I talked with two guys who both work at Dell here in Sweden and they both said that the precision line notebooks will be released in the beginning of the september month, and thats no surprice since dual-core i5 haswell cpus are not yet released.

 

Does everyone think the 6800 will have wireless 802.11ac support? I have been thinking of moving my house to that, but without a network card it's a little silly to do right now.

 

Intel and Atheros (I think) have some AC chips out now, even if they aren't officially in the M6800, you'll be able to DIY one in if Dell keeps with the current trend of not whitelisting wireless adapters. I am betting on AC being an option though.