Precision: M6400 vs M4400

So the M6400 has come to the Outlet... and I'm realizing I could actually get my hands on one within budget - a quite limited $1600 - instead of the somewhat more "loaded" M4400 I was planning on getting.

The tradeoff is, it'd be 2GB DDR3 RAM instead of 4GB DDR2, 2.26GHz instead of possibly 2.8GHz, 80GB@5400 HD instead of 250GB@7200, and Vista Business instead of Vista Ultimate. The benefit is the Quadro FX 2700M over the Quadro FX 770M. Both systems have the WUXGA screen and a backlit keyboard (both features quite important to me).

I know it's rather low-end, but I could always upgrade the CPU, RAM, and HD later as more cash becomes available - i.e. "eventually" . To me, the appearance is QUITE nice, and I've been thinking seriously about making the move from 15.4" to 17". While it wouldn't be as much of a powerhouse at first, it would give me room to grow.

Alternatively, I could stick with the M4400 that I know will remain quite capable for some years to come. I'd probably also be getting some more goodies with the M4400, like a mouse, a bag, etc. that I wouldn't get with the M6400.

So I guess the question is, is the 2700M worth it? The primary uses would be software development and gaming (yes I know, CAD card not gaming card, but that's true for both of them). And for those of you that have the M6400, what do you think? Would you buy it again?

 

for that price, i would go with the M6400 and upgrade it over the course of a year.

but more importantly, is the size acceptable to you? the power adaptor itself is the size of a netbook lol!

 

"over the course of a year" is really more like "after 2 years" - my wife is rather disapproving of technology purchases, but in this case the money's already spent, it's just a matter of what its spent on.

I generally use it sitting on the couch, very rarely travel with it, and for travel we could just bring my wife's 15" Inspiron.

 

the CPU is not important to upgrade IMO, 320GB 7200RPM hard drives can be got for under $100 now.....

im not sure about the price of another stick of ram. but the M6400 has 4 slots for ram.....so you can just add another stick....i dont think its gonna cost you much to upgrade.

maybe when quad cores become more common on notebooks, you can find a compatible quad core on the cheap and install it.

 

I don't believe the M6400 memory banks allow tri-channel? There's a couple rules with upgrading if I recall correctly, someone said before it's not as easy and adding another stick. I do know that the sticks have to be upgraded in matching pairs. Besides, with a limited budget DDR3 RAM is expensive.

 

newegg has 4GB dual channel for about $100... I might be able to squeeze that over the course of a year. Maybe if I sell some of these old parts I have scattered around.

I guess compared to what she originally ordered and I returned, it's the same proc, much better vid card, 2GB RAM is still not bad, and the HD as you said I can upgrade later.

Thanks for your input.

 

yea if you dont need the portability of a 15 incher i dont see why not , go for it!

 

I guess the cincher will be - is it glossy or matte? The Outlet listing says "17 inch UltraSharp WUXGA (1920x1200) LCD Display" which, from our discussion in the other thread, means it's matte since it doesn't say "TrueLife", right?

 

is it the RGBLED display? if not, it should be matte.

 

no, it's the CCFL I think.

I'm so tempted, but I can't convince myself yet... must do more research on the size of this thing.