Dell Precision M6600 vs. HP EliteBook 8760w: Workstation Battle Discussion

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Read the full content of this Article: Dell Precision M6600 vs. HP EliteBook 8760w: Workstation Battle

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• Dell Precision M4600 Review: Mobile Workstation Muscle
• HP EliteBook 8740w Review

 

How's audio quality between the two? Fan volume? Battery life? Those are three other categories of info I'd like to see in a comparison.

I appreciate the comments about the touchpad and the keyboard though. I'm seriously considering getting one of these within the year, and that's a big deal to me (and I can't exactly go and look at either in person).

 

During the 8x40w generation, most everyone got 28% off with varying amounts of difficulty. Normally we would pass along rep names who gave us the 28% discount, so most anyone who was watching the Owner's Thread could get it. I haven't paid much attention to the 8x60w generation discounts though. But clearly a little teamwork can save everyone money. And at 28%discount, the HP is slightly cheaper.

The thing that really sucks about the 8760w (and the upcoming 8770w) is that HP abandoned the high end Firepro card, so non-CUDA users can only configure their 17" workstation with AMD's 15" class Firepro GPU or be forced to pay the Green Tax. Clearly anyone looking for the most bang-for-the-buck workstation should go with Dell M6600 for now, and M6700 in the very near future.

When I bought my 8740w (with Firepro GPU) I compared it to the most similar Sager model I could find, spec for spec (with the gaming equivalent of the Firepro card) the 8740w came out cheaper and its 3yr warranty was on-site rather than mail in. YMMV on value.

$550 with 28% discount = $396...HP wins this one

IMHO:
Configurations with AMD graphics go to Dell.
Configurations with Nvidia GPUs and IPS screens probably go to HP, though you might be able to play pricing games with Dell too.

Thanks for the review, especially going through all the trouble of getting their specs matched. But where are the benchmarks? Who had a better cooling solution? Which was quieter? Will they blend?

 

i like dell precision design

 

I think it's time 17.3" workstations went beyond the 1920x1080 resolution. As far back as 2004, I could get a 1920x1200 display on a high-end notebook. There's no reason why display manufacturers today cannot deliver over 2k horizontal pixels, regardless of the 16:9 or 16:10 (or even 4:3) argument.

 

I agree. But I'm willing to bet Apple leads the way on this. HP and Dell probably want to keep their IPS panels as-they-are for as long as possible. As as long as the $400 IPS upgrade is 1080p, they will not offer a higher resolution TN panel. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

Agreed and it's one of the reasons I moved my laptop purchase up a few months. I got the previous-gen 8740w at a nice price and it has the 1920x1200 res instead of the gimped (IMO) 1080p res. The difference can be felt especially when you're working with documents that have a lot of vertical scrolling - Excel, Word, web surfing, etc.

Understood. For comparisons' sake it's hard for me to go off that since it's not an advertised price. I alluded to getting a better price by calling/emailing in the article, which is the best I can do.

It's a shame about the M6600 because the keyboards on the new Dell Latitudes are sooo nice. I don't understand why they botched it. The keyboard/touchpad are more than usable but ... ah, they should be better. No compromises at this price point please.

I would liked to have address the other items you posted about; only so much room in the article.
Speakers - the M6600 is better, the 8760w's are horrible just like they are in my 8740w.
Battery life REALLY depends on the config. The batteries are almost identical in power output so I'd expect the same assuming identical (or near identical) configurations.

 

It must just be the consumer models that I detest so much, because those workstations don't look half bad to me.

 

That's fair. I just wanted to make sure other readers knew that pricing is much closer than it appears, and in fact some might even do better on price with HP.

But why didn't you do any benchmarking? I would expect them to perform very close to one another given the identical configurations, but I'd still be interested in seeing the results. And regardless of benchmarks, there should be some differences in cooling (doesn't the M6600 have dual fans, while the 8760w has only 1?)

 

Hello, the two topics was not dealt are:

• the authentication features
• support system

It is worth not to forget that elitebook offers many biometric authentications methods: the fingerprint one and the face recognition; last but not least the smart card authentication!

I owned a second hand elitebook 8540w which was not stable: it shut down randomly and overheating! After some month of feedback and technical chat I got a new elitebook 8560w and no problem now.

The US chat support, I'm from Italy, was able to help me even if overseas!
I do not know if Dell offers something similar!
I remember was comparing a Dell and HP notebook workstations before buying my actual elitebook; the Dell nearer to 8540w had graphc card with only 0,5 GB that was smaller than the one of the elitebook: 1 GB!

Thank you.

The comparison is not applicable here. Any pre configured model is always cheaper than any assemled/built-to-customer one!!

Thank you.

 

Did you have a quad-core? There was a defect in early production units of 8740w and 8540w with 4 ram slots (the quad cores). The only fix was to replace the motherboard, but HP usually did a full system replacement for the customers who were patient enough to go through the many levels of tech support (but I think they lot of customers to Dell before they figured this problem out).

This is not true. HP prices their CTO Elitebooks way over the pre-configured models, but then turns around and offers up to 28% off them just by asking your rep for a discount, but the reps cannot adjust pricing on prefigs (unles maybe you are ordering a bunch of them). In many cases, you could get a CTO version of a pre-config for less after discount...my laptop being one example.

 

May you give us a reference link or an article about it?

Not everybody may have the lucky to know a Rep available to give you that discount rate! So what I said previously its true. I admit there are some days of the years HP gives some deals with that kind of discount!

Another way to get a great deal from HP is to buy a refurbished elitebook you may find here: Refurbished business products

Try to see the notebook category and sort the list by price; you'll notice even elitebook 8560w at great prices!

Here in Italy HP does no permit (it does not ship to Italy) to buy on its US web site where most of the deals are available! No web site like the US one is available in Europe or Italy yet!

I keep on looking for a service, there in US, able to buy something for you and ship it to Italy to your address! I guess is something about some sort of courier additional service.



Thank you.

 

You don't have to be lucky to get a good rep. I got mine from another 8740w owner in the owner's lounge here on NBR. I passed that info to others and others passed along other good reps who they found just by calling in.

Now I understand that outside the US, things are much more difficult. Even in Canada, it is hard to get a decent deal on an Elitebook.

Oh, and I think HP's business outlet sucks. Prices are terrible compared to Dell business outlet, plus HP takes away the 3yr NBD on-site warranty (while Dell keeps it). Plus, Dell sometimes even offers coupons on their outlet, there have been several times this year where you could get a M4600 for as low as $650. M6600 has been as low as $850.

 

I'll check if Dell ship to Italy too when coupons are available.

 

For the record I got a 25% discount on my EliteBook 8740w by calling and ordering. HP doesn't seem to like custom configuration - it's difficult to find the customization link in the first place and the drop-downs for the laptop's options are often cryptic.

 

You should have asked for a rep in the owner's lounge, we would have hooked you up.

I got a rep from the owner's lounge, emailed him my configuration with a note about who recommended him to me, and got the 28% discount without even having to negotiate a thing. I only spoke over the phone when he called to get my credit card info.

I emailed a Dell rep too. She quoted me a price higher than what I could get by configuring on-line. I was only considering the Dell because Dell was supposed to be cheaper...only they weren't.

 

I wonder if the HP parts, at least the ones of the on line Italy store, may be subject to the same discount?

 

Forgive me for asking what may be a dumb question, i'm new to these boards... Im in the market for the HP in the next 30 days or less. Do we just post in the owners lounge for a lead on a rep or is there some secret handshake

Getting near 30% off would be fantastic. The price is the deciding factor for me between these two now. Moving from a macbook pro.

 

Just go the owner's lounge and ask if anyone will PM you the contact info for a rep that gave out the 28% discount. I'd give it to you now, but my rep got promoted, and the guy he left me with got promoted too.

Good luck. And report back here to let us know if that 28% is still attainable. I'd think you could push for even more given the fact that the 8770w should be announced shortly. Also, keep in mind that the discount is for Configure to Order laptops and it applies to their retail price.

Also, just FYI, someone is selling a DreamColor equipped model over at [H]ard Forums. Can't vouch for the seller myself though.

 

Knight thanks for that, much appreciated. If i can get an ssd installed as well thatd be great, but i also need a good amount of storage as well. Just trying to find that balance.

 

Dell Business Outlet has a 20% coupon for Precisions. Check this out, this demonstrates how Dell just kills HP in the value shopping department.

All that for $863 (after coupon price) and it still includes the 3yr NBD on-site warranty.

 

Wow that's a great deal. I'm wanting an i7, but thats fantastic.

 

There are plenty of i7 models. The pricing is always a bit weird. It is worth your while to go through most of the inventory. Sometimes you'll see two configs that differ drastically for the same price. The painful part is the screen since they don't list it in the quick specs (so you have to click through to see it).

Note that the coupon expires on the 28th, but by then the stock will probably be mostly depleted.

 

Wow that is an absolutely amazing deal. Thanks for posting. I knew they were cheap in the Outlet but under $1,000 ...

Side note regarding the i7 - I have the dual-core i5 in my EliteBook and wish I sprung for the i7 quad. Not that I'd use the extra power 97% of the time, but that 3% when I'm rendering video and working in Photoshop, it'd be convenient. Just couldn't swing the extra few hundred at the time ...

 

If it makes you feel any better, there are occasions when my laptop is running hotter than I'd like even when doing basic tasks. At those times I wish I had an Arrandale. I'd be especially jealous if HP had done switchable graphics (that work) with the Arrandale chips.

 

Are Dell Outlet models scratch-and-dent returns, refurbs, used, or just overstock? That price seems too good to be true.

 

All of the above. It states next to the laptop what it is (return, refurb, etc).

 

I had same issues with my previous elitebook 8540w; you'll see them disappear with the 8x60w!
It would be a great thing if HP will realize a new upgrade program or "deal": I mean to give the owners of an old elitebook the possibility to upgrade to the next generation of elitebook giving back the old notebook at a reasonable price; considering that the old one is still competitive in terms of configuration if compared with the actual notebooks will be available at the time the elitebook will be upgraded (as always happens for elitebook).
Even if the potential customers of that "upgrade program" (the same users of this forum may be) are not su much; they indeed have the "power" to play the opinion leader role driving more not so advanced users to HP!

 

Yeah, the 5000M is a power hog (not sure about the applications you use it for, but the alternative M7820 has a half of its TDP for a similar performance level, though no CUDA). Did you try using the Nvidia Inspector's Multi Disply Power Saver - in case you don't, it forces the GPU to the lowest power states when doing everyday tasks..

I have a similar problem with my M6400 so I'm considering to upgrade to M6700 in near future - the thing is, I really want the switchable graphics for the battery life and lower heat and noise, but I'd like the IPS screen as well. Intel is really lagging with its 10-bit color support, but I'm convinced that Dell could have ordered some custom 8-bit to 10-bit adapter chip for the integrated graphics - it would emulate the 10-bit space, but I don't think it would be noticeable in everyday use. The standard users could thus have IPS and graphics switching and the graphics guys could switch to the dedicated card for their color sensitive work, while getting the benefit of increased battery life. And I'm not mentioning HP because they don't even bother to implement the graphics switching for those with non-DC screens.