What makes a "precision" a "precision" machine?

sorry for the confusing topic... but DELL boasts their "Precision" as a "Workstation" grade laptops...

so, aside from the GPU, and some noticeable Hardware, what are the advantages of getting a precision over, say a Studio 17?

will i really benefit from a Workstation laptop?
is it the reliability?
is it the speed?
is it the stability?

and for a normal person, no CAD's, only Vector Graphics such as Corel, Photoshop, Illustrator, Outlook, Warcrack... is it worth spending the additional money to upgrade a Studio 17 to a Precision M6300?

i hear that the M6400 is coming soon, and it looks tempting... but i'm sure the price will also be more expensive when a product first debuts...

 

So components aside, if you are comparing the precision to the studio there are several things tha differentiate a busiess laptop from the consumer lines.

First is support. Business support has lower wait times, can be onsite, generally for 3 years standard and is based in the US (at least for US customers)

Next is build quality. Again, components aside, the internal structure and skins of the latitude and percision are magnesium alloy rather than a plastic type material. This makes for a tougher system in general and one that can take a beating a bit better. Better to take a scratch or dent than a crack in the case material imo.

Last is the actual difference from the percisions versus consumer or even the latitude systems. The ISV certifications. The precisions are certified on most of the major software packages used in engineering, programming, etc. This is a big thing for the people who use these packages because support can be an issue if they havent qualified the config. Knowing that the system is certified and optimized to run these packages is a huge value to those folks.

Other than that, there is no technical difference. Intel chip is an intel chip and a hard drive is a hard drive for practical purposes of the discussion.

 

get hp compaq 8710 from ebay and be happy

 

As you have mentioned, there are some significant hardware differences (GPU, FSB 1066Mhz vice 800, RAM speed 800Mhz vice 667).

For me, it came down to the Precision is able to run Windows XP and the Studio can't. That alone is worth the price difference for me.

 

Haha, well said. That is one of the main reasons I bought through small business.

 

The differences you mention should be temporary - Dell just hasn't gotten around to updating its consumer lines with Montevina. Also, as long as you find the right drivers, I don't see why XP wouldn't work on the Studio 17.

 

I don't believe Dell has any intention of updating their consumer line with Montevina anytime soon. That's the problem, XP drivers are NOT easy to find.

I'll stick with the NVIDIA GPU without the heating issue (knock on wood)