Dell Precision M6300 Review (with Samsung SSD)

by Jerry Jackson

The Dell Precision M6300 is a 17" desktop replacement targeted towards businesses that need a full-featured workstation with exceptional build quality. This notebook competes against such notebooks as the HP Compaq 8710p, HP Compaq 8710w and Fujitsu LifeBook N6470. The M6300 offers a wide range of hardware configurations, as well as a 64GB Samsung SSD for the businesses that require extreme ruggedness and extreme performance. Processors range from the T7250 all the way up to the X9000, RAM from 1GB to 4GB, display resolutions starting at WXGA+ up to WUXGA, and either NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M or NVIDIA Quadro FX 3600M discrete graphics.

Our review model came with the following options, bringing the price up to $2,738 as configured from a base of $1,849.

• Windows XP SP2
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7250 (2.00GHz)
• Mobile Intel P965 Express Chipset
• Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (802.11a/g/n)
• 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM (maximum capacity 4GB)
• 64GB Samsung SSD
• 8x DVD (+/-R double layer) drive
• 17.0" diagonal widescreen matte TFT LCD display at 1440x 900 (WXGA+, matte)
• 256MB nVidia Quadro FX 1600M (512MB dedicated and shared memory)
• Dimensions: 1.6"(H) x 15.5(W) x 11.3"(D)
• Weight: 8.5 lbs
• 130W 100-240V AC adapter
• 9-cell (85Wh) Lithium Ion battery (1lb 1oz)
• 3-Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3-Year NBD On-Site Service

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Build and Design

Like most of the Latitude and Precision notebooks, the Dell Precision M6300 is a simply refined "down to business" look. The chassis lacks any user configuration such as a custom top cover paint, but companies interested in outfitting their workforce with these workstations aren't concerned about attractive paint jobs. In fact "system envy" (when one employee becomes jealous of another employee's workstation) is something most companies want to avoid ... and the simple exterior of the M6300 conceals an impressive level of performance.

The simple look and feel is matched with an even stronger and more durable chassis. During testing no plastic creaks or squeaks could be heard. In fact, even with significant (excessive) force applied to the LCD lid the lid refused to flex. The entire bottom shell is a metal alloy which gives the laptop a strong footprint on your desk, and is gives enough strength to resist bending if you hold the laptop by the edge of the palm rest walking around the room. The only downside to the chassis was the lack of a second hard drive bay ... unusual for a 17-inch workstation. Overlooking that fact, the chassis is strong enough to hurt your knuckles if you try to punch it without giving up less than a millimeter of flex in the process.

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One additional benefit of not having a customized paint option is long term durability. The review models of several Dell Inspiron consumer notebooks had paint defects out of the box on the customized the LCD covers. The M6300 has no such problem and the chassis will likely withstand years of significant use and abuse before showing its age.

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Screen

The matte WXGA+ (1440x900) screen on the Dell Precision M6300 is absolutely beautiful. No dead pixels were found during testing, and backlight bleed while noticed on some dark screens was minimal. Colors were vibrant despite the matte screen and the additional benefit of matte screens is the lack of reflection in an office environment. Wide viewing angles made the screen look sharp even at oddly contorted angles. Backlight adjustment was very broad, allowing me to adjust low enough for darker room settings, and bright enough to still be readable in sunlight or a bright office.

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Protection for the screen through the rear cover prevented any rippling when you press in the cover. The release latch was smooth and unlike most latches on budget notebooks required little effort to release.

Speakers

The speakers on the M6300 were better than average for most laptops, comparable to speakers found on most midrange televisions. While lower bass was lacking, volume levels were quite loud, and distortion at peak levels was not present. Combined with the 17" display, it would not be hard at all to entertain a small group of businessmen with a multimedia presentation during a meeting.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard and palm rest structure matches the strength of the bottom panel of this laptop. Pressing down very firmly, the keyboard suffers from virtually zero flex. The palm rest is just as firm, supporting my wrists or elbows pressing down with barely a hint of flex.

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The keyboard is very comfortable to type on, and gave just the right amount of response for each key press. Key travel is similar to most business notebooks with just a bit less clicking sound than what we hear on ThinkPads in our office. The keyboard layout was not cramped at all, and the control key was in the correct (outmost) position on the left-hand side.

One odd omission is the lack of a dedicated number pad. Most 17-inch notebooks make sure of the additional footprint of the larger form-factor and include a dedicated number pad. While this isn't a major problem, some corporate jobs that involve significant amounts of data entry will find the lack of a dedicated number pad quite depressing.

The touchpad is reasonably responsive, but could be improved. Lag time was minimal when starting each time, but accuracy was less than perfect. The size of the touchpad surface was large enough for comfortable control, and the surface texture had a smooth matte feel. The threes touchpad buttons spanned the full length of the touchpad, and each had a responsive click when pressed. One thing I appreciated was a third touchpad button to allow easier control of tabs during web browsing.

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Performance and Benchmarks

The Dell Precision M6300 as configured has more than enough speed and storage space to handle most users needs. The base-level Intel T7250 and nVidia Quadro FX 1600M combined with a blazingly fast SSD make this laptop an excellent performer, for both multimedia uses and number crunching. Below are benchmarks to give you an idea of how this laptop might compare up against other notebooks on the market.

WPrime 32M comparison results

WPrime is a benchmark similar to Super Pi in that it forces the processor to do intense mathematical calculations, but the difference is this application is multi-threaded and represents dual core processors better. Lower numbers indicate better performance.

Notebook	Time
Dell Precision M6300 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, Windows XP)	46.797s
Toshiba Satellite L355D (2.0GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60, Windows Vista)	39.732s
Gateway P-171XL FX (2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo X7900, Windows Vista)	30.359s
Toshiba Qosmio G45 (2.50GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9300, Windows Vista)	31.108s
Toshiba Qosmio G45 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Windows Vista)	42.085s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T7400@ 2.16GHz, Windows XP)	41.40s
HP dv6000z (AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60 @ 2.00GHz, Windows Vista)	38.913s
Sager 9260 (Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E6700@ 2.66GHz, Windows XP )	33.718s
Dell Precision M70 (Intel Pentium-M 780 @ 2.26GHz, Windows XP)	78.992s

PCMark05 overall system performance comparison results (higher scores indicate better performance):

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Dell Precision M6300 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M)	7,070 PCMarks
Dell Inspiron 1720 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT)	5,377 PCMarks
Dell Inspiron 1420 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS)	4,925 PCMarks
Sony VAIO FZ (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	3,377 PCMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS)	4,591 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	3,987 PCMarks
Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB)	4,189 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	4,234 PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX)	5,597 PCMarks
Sony VAIO SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, Nvidia Go 7400)	3,646 PCMarks

3DMark06 graphics comparison results (higher scores indicate better performance):

Notebook	3DMark06 Score
Dell Precision M6300 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, NVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M)	5,335 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 1720 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600M GT)	2,930 3DMarks
Dell Inspiron 1420 (2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,329 3DMarks
Sony VAIO FZ (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	532 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	1,408 3DMarks
Samsung Q70 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 and nVidia 8400M G GPU)	1,069 3DMarks
Asus F3sv-A1 (Core 2 Duo T7300 2.0GHz, Nvidia 8600M GS 256MB)	2,344 3DMarks
Alienware Area 51 m5550 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, nVidia GeForce Go 7600 256MB	2,183 3DMarks
Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Xi 1526 (1.66 Core Duo, nVidia 7600Go 256 MB)	2,144 3DMarks
Samsung X60plus (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T7200, ATI X1700 256MB)	1,831 3DMarks
Asus A6J (1.83GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB)	1,819 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	827 3DMarks
Sony VAIO SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	794 3DMarks
Samsung R20 (1.73GHz T2250 and ATI 1250M chipset / GPU)	476 3DMarks

SSD Performance

Unlike traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) with moving parts that are prone to failure and data loss when they receive an impact, Solid State Drives (SSDs) are flash-based storage drives with no moving parts. Notebooks tend to get "torture tested" in most corporate environments when the sales force tosses their laptops inside their cars or staff drop their notebooks off the edge of a table during a crowded meeting. The Samsung 64GB SSD in our test configuration (an $849 upgrade) helps eliminate the risk of data loss due to rugged treatment.

The other benefit of these SSDs is the extreme level of performance and reduced heat output compared to traditional HDDs.

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Below are the results from our standard storage drive benchmarks (HDTune and Atto) which indicate impressive read and write times and well and minimal data access times (the amount of time wasted while the drive searches for specific data on the drive).

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Input and Output ports

Port selection was not a problem, although I would have enjoyed seeing a HDMI port, but the inclusion of a DVI port is a reasonable compromise and probably more useful in a corporate environment. Going around the notebook, we find the following ports

Left: Kensington lock slot, two USB ports, optical drive.

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Front: Media buttons and volume controls.

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Right: Smartcard reader, ExpressCard slot, HDD/SSD bay, Firewire, Headphone/Mic, Firewire, memory card reader.

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Rear: S-video, LAN, Modem, four USB ports, DVI, VGA, Power connector.

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Heat and Noise

The M6300 handles heat as if the notebook is barely working ... even with the processors are crunching numbers and the SSD is actively reading and writing data. Even after running PCMark05, 3DMark06 and wPrime multiple times during a one-hour period the exterior of the M6300 barely reached the triple-digit range in degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature of the heat exhaust was surprisingly cool and the most impressive thing we observed is that the WiFi card reached temperatures that exceeded either the RAM or the SSD.

Simply put, the M6300 with Samsung SSD stays remarkably cool even when the system is being heavily stressed. The images below show the external temperature readings in degrees Fahrenheit:

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The fan noise was rarely loud enough to be heard in a quiet room unless the notebook was under extreme stress such as benchmarking or serious gaming.

Battery

Under normal web browsing use the 9-cell battery performed quite well, pushing out 3 hours and 42 minutes of life before going into hibernation mode at two percent. Screen brightness was two notches below max, or about 80 percent, and other items were set to XP's "Portable/Laptop" power management settings. This gives more than enough time for taking notes (surfing the web) during a couple of classes throughout the day away from an outlet.

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Conclusion

This Dell 17" laptop is a great performer and extremely well built laptop. It seems to be built well enough to be thrown around in day to day use, and hold up throughout a reasonable life cycle in a corporate environment. The SSD option, while expensive, significantly improves both durability and performance of this workstation.

The only problems I found which don't relate directly to the function of the laptop are the lack of a second hard drive bay, which would be helpful given the relatively low capacity of the SSD. Additionally, the lack of a dedicated number pad will be a issue for some users and the weight and bulk of the M6300 make it a desktop replacement workstation and not the best solution for corporate road warriors.

Pros:

• Very tough structure and rugged overall chassis design.
• Strong video editing (and gaming performance) with nVidia Quadro FX 1600M
• Excellent battery life for a 17" notebook
• Bright and Vivid LCD with excellent viewing angles
• Super fast Samsung SSD
• Remains remarkably cool even when working hard (in part thanks to SSD)

Cons:

• No dual hard drive option
• No dedicated number pad
• Thick and heavy, but that's to be expected with 17-inch workstations

 

Nice review Jerry. I believe the the M6300 shares the same chassis as the XPS M1730. Both are beasts, if you need a machine that "looks" serious and can do work and also do some gaming, the M6300 can dual as both

 

Nice review. I've been interested in what the Precisions could do. I'm curious as to whether you thought it was a drawback that the notebook didn't come with a full sized keyboard or not.

Also, in terms of build quality, would you say the Precision clearly beats the Vostro and Latitude? Or is this merely more of a notebook for power CAD users and the like?

 

I would say the keyboard wasn't bad at all ... just the lack of a dedicated number pad might be an issue for some users.

In terms of build quality. The Precision M6300 is much better built than the Vostro notebooks in the way of ruggedness and the M6300 is "a little" more rugged than the Latitudes.

 

Holy crap. Samsung RBX SSD is crazy fast. Is that the SATA II version? Its HD Tune seems faster than its advertised speed? How come it differs so much from the Atto (which is a lot closer to its supposed speed)?

 

It is the SATA II version but don't lay heed in results from the HDTune/HDTach scoring. This ssd lies steady in 80MB/s write and 100MB/s read yet the results from these two programs have shown elevated read results which aren't accurate. I have spoken to Samsung and they cannot provide reasoning for this either. So....don't count on actually getting 150MB/s peak and 130MB/s avg read times from this ssd.

Good review Jerry. Just to add a side note as this comes up very often, Dell sells both SATA I and II versions of the Samsung SSD. The SATA II version, tested here, is described as "Ultra Performaing" when ordering. It is not an automatic order.

 

HDTune and Atto are notorious for often giving less-than-identical results. I've also noticed that HDTune seems to be more susceptible to Windows doing something in the background. For example, when I had all the included bloatware running in the background the Atto benchmark remained mostly the same but the HDTune results were much lower.

We basically just provide these to give our readers a rough idea of the performance of a given drive in a given laptop and shouldn't be viewed as an indicator of absolute best possible performance of a given drive.

 

Thanks for the review, Jerry. I was surprised by a few of the benchmark results. The strange drop in HDTune performance between 20 and 45 GB is odd. I suppose other replies have addressed this observation, however, in noting that these HD benchmarks aren't terribly reliable with SSDs. The other surprise, for me, was the relatively poor showing in WPrime. The only system that performed worse was a single core Precision M70: the several year old precursor to the current Precision line. Several of the other laptops work at the same 2 GHz clock speed. I realize that the Core 2 Duo T7250 reviewed is the low end of the options offered in this model by Dell but its certainly no slouch. 18% slower than a Turion X2 at the same clock speed in the Toshiba Satellite L355D and 21% slower than the same in the HP dv6000z doesn't seem right to me. Is there any chance this result was anomalous? Did you repeat the benchmark multiple times and average or take other measures to look for or prevent outliers? The other explanation for its ranking in the list is the choice of other laptops shown. How is the list of other laptops determined?

Thanks

 

We always run our benchmarks at least three times on two different system start-ups. All three of the wPrime results were consistent within about .5 seconds of one another and I published the fastest (lowest) result.

As for the systems listed in the comparison, it's actually relatively random. We try to make sure that at least three similar form-factor notebooks are included in the tables but we don't set out to say, "We need to directly compare the performance of this notebook to X notebook."

 

It might seem more rugged just because its bigger and thicker (there is no 17" Latitude model). It definitely is better than Vostros.

But the Precison M6300/M90 gets a big thumbs up from me. I've been using a M90 (same shell, but with Core Duo) for 2 years, 24/7 (although it just sits at my desk). No paint/plastic fading anywhere, I mean none. It looks as it was when new (apart from dust)]

I also like the keyboard; and I'm coming from 2 years of thinkpad use.

The only thing I did not like were the lid latches. They are plastic (the same as ones used on the inspirons)

 

XPS M1710 / Inspiron 9400 / E1705 actually

 

yeah its kind of a hybrid between the 1730 and the 1710 in terms of using the same layout as the 1710 but having newer components like the 1730 has. The FX3600m is a 8800gtx mobile.

 

So this thing can hold the quadro 3600M too, right?
I would`ve loved to see how that works...

 

Can and does hold

 

Actually the FX3600m is an 8800m GTS. It only has 64sp's rather than 96, so it isn't quite as powerful as the GTX. However, it is still a very big performance leap from the FX1600m, despite what the 3dmark score might tell you. Dell's dual heatpipe cooling solution also keeps the GTS much cooler than the Gateway P-6831FX (which I also owned previously) and is probably one of the quietest current generation laptops with an 8800 series card available.

 

great review thanks

 

Looking at your sig. At 8.5lbs, it's actually relatively light for a 17 inch workstation.

 

I like the fact that the M6300 has some pretty outstanding performance (which is priority #1 in my book). Otherwise, meh. I'd rather have the HP Compaq 8710w with the FX1600m. It has similar performance to the M6300, but in a thinner, lighter case that looks more attractive and features a dedicated number pad.

 

The HP8710W is also available with the FX3600M. Wouldn't that imply similar performance? Assuming similar hardware configurations of course.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot about that! You can get the 8710w with the FX3600m now. Looks like I got the numbers confused...

So yeah, I'd love a 8710w with a 3600m.... except I don't have the need nor the money for one yet.... lol

 

When I got my 8710w, the 3600M option costs me an extra $600, but I think it is worth it.
There is no good reason to get the Precision M6300 if it costs the same as the 8710w as I reckon it looks dated, is heavier and thicker and have a worse keyboard.
Performance-wise, they should match as they are almost similar internally.

Great review, Jerry!

 

Hmmm. Should've stuck a number pad on it. :twitcy:

 

hmm.. seems like you can't get the 8710w w/ 3600m for under $3900 (according to hp.com) due to the way the bundles work. however, i was able to configure a m6300 w/ 3600m for under $3k (even with 3 year warranty) with a decent configuration... so even though the hp is probably the more desirable computer, the price is definitely prohibitive...

 

Workstations have always been more expensive, since they`re built to last.
I fancyed the idea of having another HP in the bussiness class, I love how they withstand in time.
This Dell doesn`t look bad either,but as pixelot says, a numpad would`ve been nice.
I use it daily...

 

Well, it's good to see that they've at least started using better screens. My screen was mediocre at the time, but 2 years later, it's just bad. Viewing angles are crap and backlight bleed is terrible.

Other than that, I have no complaints for what it is. Plenty powerful even two years later, runs cool and quiet, and very durable. I mean, I'm hard on this thing (I do carry it around A LOT), and short of a scratched lid (unfortunately the aluminum lid does scratch) and a broken F7 key (which I accidentally did), it's in great condition. No paint fading either. The keyboard is pretty much the best I've ever used, laptop or desktop.

The only problem I've had with my M90 (same as XPS M1710 and M6300 here) is that I've gone through two power supplies for some reason. Both were replaced free under warranty, but the last one was 3 feet shorter, which is annoying.

 

That uses the same chassis as the Inspiron E1705!
Only the Precision has black bumpers.

 

The black bumpers as you called it seem to be made of a different material. There is no paintjob anywhere (or at least none is visible after 2 years of use on my precision). Also, the lid is of metal (its plastic on the E1705, making it look and feel better aesthetically..
Overall it screams of higher quality (even though the durability may be the same because of the same chassis).

 

I bought one of these a few weeks ago, in the FX 3600M version.

I think it is very solid in build, albeit a little on the heavy side.

The built is much better than the XPS m1730 - my friend has one, and I think it is just a flimsy peice of crap, like the rest of the XPS series (sorry guys, but I really feel that way). The m6300 feels very solid and can do everything apart from be dropped with force (my wife killed a video card, Thank G-d for Dell warranties!)

The 3dmark 06 speed on the upgraded video card is 7799, but would probably do better with some overclocking.

Haven't tried it with the SSD, but funnily enough, my Macbook Pro (circa May 08) seems more responsive for day to day tasks....

I prefer the Precsion for gaming and the Macbook for actual work (screen is better, sounds better, lighter, backlit keyboard - these don't matter for gaming, but do when the lights are off at 4am).

 

How often do we find ourselves using the number pad folks? Everyone is quick to do over any laptop not having one. Honestly most people dont get alot of use out of the number pad. I can tell you from my experiences with this laptop and the predecessors in the m90 and inspiron 9200 to xps m1710, these laptops have a top notch quality build and great keyboards second ONLY to the IBM thinkpads of days now gone by. I'll take a good quality chassis over a numeric keypad any day. And for those excel crunchers out there?? You can always plug in a desktop keyboard which is likely where the Precision would be found anyhow.

Sadly folks seem too interested in bling than quality.

 

Most definitiely, the new inspiron line is mimicked into the xps with the 1730, a bling bling design with some rather underwhelming plastic and OUCH those dimples you can see in the lcd when you press the lid, that never happened in the xps 1710 and the other lappies based on that particular chassis such as the precision. Just like the inspiron refresh, the xps refresh has also taken the zing out of graphics no 8800 cards to be found. I can just hear some people after they drop their xps 1730 or new inspiron........well yeah it broke when I dropped it off my desk but at least it had a numeric keypad and colors to choose unlike my previous gen xps or inspiron that still work LOL