News Bits: Dell Precision M2300, Dell Dude Interviewed, Call of Duty 4 Review

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Dell introduces Precision M2300 Workstation

Dell today introduced its latest notebook, the Precision M2300 Mobile Workstation. It features a 14.1-inch display, Intel Core 2 Duo processor, and up to 4GB of RAM. It is designed for business and other demanding environments. It has the following specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Duo processor up to T7800 (2.6GHz)
• Windows XP Professional/ x64 or Vista Business/Ultimate
• Nvidia Quadro FX 360M graphics
• 14.1-inch WXGA+ widescreen display
• SATA hard drives or optional Solid State Disk
• Dual-channel DDR2 memory, 4GB max
• 802.11 wireless, optional Verizon Mobile Broadband
• Optional fingerprint reader

The Dell Precision M2300 Mobile Workstation starts at $1,439.

Read More/Product Link (Dell.com)

Whatever happened to the 'Dell dude'?

Have you ever wondered what happened to the Dell Dude, Ben Curtis? New York magazine tracked him down and found out he now works at Tortilla Flats, a New York restaurant. While Curtis waits on tables, he still is recognized for his acting work. A quote from the story in the magazine is as follows:

&quot;There was a group of women in their early forties, one of whom was bawling. I walk over and they said, 'Our friend just passed away. We thought you might be able to cheer [us] up, we know who you are and you're an incredible human and you've been through a lot and you're an incredible actor. We're all DEA agents, and we think you should smoke as much pot as you want to. And we love you.&quot;

Read More (NY Magazine)

See the first ever Dell Dude commercial


Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare reviewed

Forum member The Forerunner has done a thorough review of the latest first-person shooter to hit the market, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It is the latest intstallment in the Call of Duty series, however unlike previous games in the series, this is the first one that is not based on World War II and is not based on actual events. The full review can be found here in our forums.

 

Well, what did we all learn from the Dell guy article kids?

 

Poke Smot?

 

Dude, you're getting a tequila!

 

See, this is what pisses me off with dell... The M2300 starts at 1439 in america, but starts at 1988 in canada(which is ~2150usd). I dont understand how an american based company, can charge canadians ~25% more, when their money is worth ~10% more then american. Its ****ing insulting, and a clear example of greed and fleecing.

I'm not holding my breath on them re-adjusting their prices anytime soon...

 

That everything Dell touches crumbles away into nothing?

Oh. Wait. I own an Alienware...

*cough*

Maybe the Dell Dude should have opted for the extended warranty.

 

from what i've read, the Quadro 360M is just a GeForce 8400GS (but isn't the Quadro 140M also a GeForce 8400GS ??)

 

Is the feather next to the Precision notebook supposed to represent that it is lightweight?

 

Dell Precision M2300: What a joke. There's a reason that there aren't very many 14.1" Mobile workstations out there. They can't handle the heat from more powerful graphics cards, so they have to settle for a relatively weak card. This new dell is a prime example of this. For a similar price, you can get a 15.4" notebook that is far more powerful, while only being slightly bulker and maybe a pound heaver max.

Then again, the 15.4" precision M4300 uses the exact same card, so you really aren't any better off with that model, either. If I had was choose between the M2300 and the M4300, I would go with the M2300, simply because I can get the same power in a smaller package. But then again, we also have the ThinkPad T61p and the Compaq 8510w, which are FAR superior to either of the Dell Models.

Dell Dude: I remember when he got busted for pot. I've kind of wondered what he was doing now. I'm surprised people still recognize him.

Call of Duty 4: I've seen the commercials, and while I could immediately tell it was a game, I couldn't believe how realistic the graphics were! I figure in the next 5-10 years, it will be impossible to distinguish between real-life scenes and computer-generated graphics. Scary, but fascinating, too.

 

I liked the Dell dude ads way better then the boring crap Dell uses now.

 

It's ironic that there's a bunch of great games coming out for this time of year yet I'm only purchasing UT3. Maybe I'll get the others in a few weeks or months, but for now I'll be playing around with UT3 and all the custom content aspects. Call of Duty 4 does look nice though. I'm really tired of the WW2 games.

If there wasn't a purpose to that feather then it wouldn't be there. They're either trying to make it look like a lightweight or make it look elegant. =P

Yeah, I'd agree with that. Those ads had more personality! What's with the commercial that came out earlier this year with a guy that's on a moving recliner that goes places while he buys a computer from someone at Dell who actually speaks good English? Talk about misleading advertising!

 

What card is the FX360M? Is it based on the 8400GT, or what? Cause the 140M is the 8400G, and the 570M is the 8600GT, I'd assume that the 360 split the difference between the two.

 

Amen. I always liked how they used Western names when you called. Guess they grew tired of us mispronouncing their real ones. And I'm also quite tired of WW2 games. But FPS games in general bore me nowadays.

 

Cam_86,

You are luck that Dell just charges 25% more.

In Brazil, an XPS1330 starting cost is US$ 4000.00!!!!!

It is cheaper to take an airplane, go to US, buy it and bring it back.


Endurance

 

Similar problem here in Indonesia as well. Customs likes to place an absurd tax on anything received from overseas via shipping. I had an old laptop (about 5 years old) shipped to me a few months ago, cost me about $100 to have it shipped, and they said the customs tax would be $300!!!

Thats more then what the laptop was even worth!

 

the gpu for the m4300 is already weak.. this one will be half of that....

 

Thats messed up, though i'm sure the market in brazil is DRASTICALLY different then that of north america. Thing is, there is no difference between the canadian and american market(esp. for mail order stuff which is manufactured in china)

Its the audacity of charging 25% more, for something as arbitrary of which side of the boarder you're on, that gets me. Anyone who knows about shopping can get a middle party to purchase the laptop in america. Its the avg. consumer who gets played for the fool, as s/he has to deal with it(or pay the extra) because of one companies greed or arrogance.

 

In Brazil, a laptop is seen as a "rich kid" thing, we do not have the american vision that a computer is something personal, usually people have 1 desktop per home only.

But it is changing now, we now have some cheap laptops, arround US$ 800, but they are celerons, 512mb and 40gb 15 inches, anything above that is extremely expensive. a Macbook can cost from US$6000,00


Regards

 

That's my biggest concern when I buy a new FPS game. I really find the "detour" gameplay to be boring. Recent FPS games have mostly all relied on detour gameplay where some sort of obstacle comes up and you have to go around it or do something about it. It gets really boring. =(

 

It might cost more to provide next business day onsite service in Canada than the US. The base config in Canada also includes a combo optical drive and two primary batteries compared to the the cd-rom drive and single primary battery in the US. It also appears to have 64-bit OS support, which as far as I know is not available anymore in the US.

 

they should have put a fx 570m into their m4300 and the 360m for the m2300. Makes more sense. Because of this i ended up with the 8510w. Best thing that ever happeend to me. brilliant machine the 8510w.

anyway a 14" screen is too small to do any serious work if you asked me. I suppose the 4300 and the 2300 is not meant as a desktop workstation replacement.

 

You're right. Never thought about that.

The CD/DVD drive is worth maybe $5 more(though it costs $50+), and the extra battery is $80 on america's site. As for the OS, i'm sure if you just called and asked they would put that in, in place of the 32bit XP.

I still think its safe to assume dell is looking to make windfall profits by fleecing canadians. At the end of the day, the actual cost difference that Dell is paying, between those 2 similarly speced machines cant be more then $20(without taking into account the 3rd party service fees, which prob. arnt any higher then american ones, since they also outsource that to private firms) yet ones being sold for 25%+ more.

 

it's a Latitude d630 with a fx360m, right?

just like m4300 is a d830 with a fx360m

is dell going to do the same on d430 ;p

 

that would be sweet, but i doubt that the d430 will have a worth mentioning cpu. It's sad how the m60 and m70's both have better gpu's than the m4300 and the m65...