Dell Precision M60

In line with the rest of Dell's notebook PC range, which has recently undergone a complete revamp, its Precision workstation notebook model has also been updated, with the M50 being joined by the new M60. Using the latest Intel technology, the M60 offers more features and better performance than its older sibling, despite having less raw megahertz of CPU power.

Instead of the 2.4GHz Pentium 4-M and Intel 845 chipset of the M50, the M60 uses a combination of a 1.7GHz Pentium-M and an Intel 855 chipset, supporting a 400MHz front side bus and offering better power efficiency and performance. Although the M60 uses the same PC2100 memory as the M50, it supports a maximum of 2GB of system RAM as opposed to 1GB in the old model. The M60 comes with 256MB of memory as standard, although the review system we looked at came with 1GB installed.

Using Dell's own Tri-Metal chassis, which uses aluminium, magnesium alloy and steel in its construction, the M60 has the appearance of being slimmer than its stablemate. However, this is a little deceptive, as they are both 27.6cm deep and while the M60 may be a shade thinner - 3.9 compared to 4.45cm - it's 3cm wider due to its wide aspect ratio screen.

Unfortunately, the M60 loses the Media Bay of the M50 and while this reduces the weight of the notebook to 3.20kg, it does limit what you can do to expand the M60 with its single bay. For example, with the M50 you could supplement the fixed CD-RW drive with another optical drive, but this is impossible with the M60.

As the M60 is aimed purely at the workstation market, you'd expect the graphics chip to reflect this and Dell hasn't disappointed. Using 128MB of DDR memory, the nVidia Quadro FX Go700 is one of the company's latest mobile chips and is perfect for this environment with its hardware Open GL support. The screen is pretty special as well - a 15.4in. wide aspect ratio (WUXGA) TFT with a native resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 pixels.

While the M60 loses some of the physical ports of the M50 (there are no PS/2 or audio line inputs and only a single PC Card slot), it gains in having Wi-Fi as standard. You can choose to have either Intel's own or one of Dell's TrueMobile cards. The system reviewed had a Dell TrueMobile 1300 WLAN card fitted. In addition, there's Gigabit Ethernet support, an integrated V.92 modem and a total of four USB 2.0 ports.

For extra security, the Precision M60 features an integrated Smart Card reader, which can be configured to use primary, administrator or hard disk password access. The one area where this new technology really shines is in the notebook's battery life and performance. Taking its massive 6486mAh cell into account, a battery life of a shade under four hours using the MobileMark 2002 productivity workload benchmark is impressive in this class of notebook and, needless to say, it trounces the M50.

Dell offers a choice of pre-installed operating systems - Window XP Home Edition, Professional or Windows 2000 (SP3) - and provides a three-year, on-site warranty.

It may be a bit pricey, but fully featured workstation notebooks are rare beasts. The M60 is an ideal tool for mobile designers or architects, as long as you're not bothered by the lack of a second Media Bay. It's a great successor to the M50 model and most users will be glad of the extra processing power on tap.

Contact: Dell (0870) 907 4155
www.euro.dell.com

Specifications:

• Dimensions (DxWxH)
• 27.6x36.1x3.9cm
• Weight 3.20kg
• CPU 1.7GHz Intel Pentium-M
• Memory 1GB of PC2100 (max. 2GB)
• Graphics 128MB nVidia Quadro FX Go700
• Hard disk 60GB Hitachi Travelstar 7K60 Ultra ATA/100
• Optical drive Samsung SN-3224B DVD/CD-RW
• Display 15.4in. WUXGA TFT; 1,920 x 1,200 pixels
• I/O ports 10/100/1000Base-T, RJ-11 modem, four USB 2.0, VGA, serial, parallel, S-Video output, FireWire, Type II PC Card, Smart Card slot, microphone and headphone
• Warranty Three-year, NBD, on-site

See also:

Evesham Axis 64 FX-51

If you want the best, this PC is at the cutting edge of technology.  20 Nov 2003

Hi-Grade Xperion 1700-2660

A home entertainment PC that can play movies instantly without the need for Windows.  17 Nov 2003

Cybernet Elite-4 Zero Footprint PC

This PC is the ultimate space saver.  13 Nov 2003

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