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Pros

  • Great display
  • Scalable RAM--now up to 32GB

Cons

  • Weighs 8.5 pounds, not counting power brick
  • Speakers are a little soft and flat

At A Glance

The Dell Precision M6500 lives up to its reputation as one of the most powerful workstations on the market, and that's without even counting upgrades.

The Specs

Processor
Processor type Intel Core i7
Processor speed 2000.0 MHz
Cache size 8.0 KB
Processor count 4
Memory
Memory size 4000.0 MB
Memory type DDR3
Memory speed 1333.0 MHz
Memory max 32.0 GB
Display
Display size 17.1 inches
Display type Matte LCD with LED Backlight
Resolution 1900 x 1200 pixels
Storage
Drives included 2.0
Raid type RAID 0
Drive size 1000.0 GB
Hard Drive Speed 7200 RPM
Other storage
  • SD/MMC Card
  • SDHC Card
  • xD-Picture Card
Drive type Hard Disk Drive
Ports and Connections
SD/MMC Card 1
Ethernet Type 10/100/1000 Mbps
Firewire 1
MultiMedia Card (MMC) or MultiMediaCard (MMC) Yes
Express Card 54 or ExpressCard/54 1
Available Interfaces eSATA
SDHC Card or Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) 1
Wireless connection 802.11 n/b/g
Video Interfaces
  • DisplayPort
  • VGA
Slots
  • SD/MMC Card
  • SDHC Card
  • xD-Picture Card
Green
Energy Star compliant 1.0
Dimensions
Width 15.5 inches
Depth 11.2 inches
Height 1.6 inches
Weight with Accessories 11.2 pounds
Weight 9.0 pounds
Sound
Speakers Stereo
Storage Media
XD picture card 1
Included Software
Included Software CyberLink PowerDVD DX; Roxio Creator DE
Operating System Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
Other Features
Docking Station Port Yes
Devices
  • Built-In Microphone
  • Built-In Webcam
  • Fingerprint Reader
Input devices
  • Keyboard (backlit)
  • Touchpad (multitouch)
  • TrackPoint/Eraserhead

Performance

Overall Performance
WorldBench 6 Score 118
Battery
Battery Life 2:04  (hh:mm)
Office Productivity
Web Browsing 265  seconds (lower is better)
Office Suite Use 347  seconds (lower is better)
File Compression 177  seconds (lower is better)
Power Usage
Idle power usage 38.2  Watts
Sleep power usage 2.3  Watt hours
Off power usage 1.3  Watt hours
Content Creation
Image Editing 360  seconds (lower is better)
GPU Graphics Rendering 316  seconds (lower is better)
CPU Graphics Rendering 312  seconds (lower is better)
Video Encoding 195  seconds (lower is better)
DVD Burning 289  seconds (lower is better)
Video Editing 181  seconds (lower is better)
Multitasking
World Bench 6 Multitasking 320
Gaming
Unreal Tournament 3, Medium, 800 by 600 184.01  Frames per second (higher is better)
Unreal Tournament 3, Medium, 1024 by 768 180.98  Frames per second (higher is better)
Unreal Tournament 3, Medium, 1680 by 1050 162.44  Frames per second (higher is better)
Unreal Tournament 3, Highest, 800 by 600 109.09  Frames per second (higher is better)
Unreal Tournament 3, Highest, 1024 by 768 107.45  Frames per second (higher is better)
Unreal Tournament 3, Highest, 1680 by 1050 107.38  Frames per second (higher is better)
Far Cry 2, High Quality, 800x600 54.3  Frames per second (higher is better)
Far Cry 2, High Quality, 1024x768 48.7  Frames per second (higher is better)
Far Cry 2, High Quality, 1920x1080 33.1  Frames per second (higher is better)
Far Cry 2, Low Quality, 800x600 97.9  Frames per second (higher is better)
Far Cry 2, Low Quality, 1024x768 91.5  Frames per second (higher is better)
Far Cry 2, Low Quality, 1920x1080 68.4  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 2, High Quality, 800x600 97.4  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 2, High Quality, 1024x768 91.3  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 2, High Quality, 1920x1080 61.3  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 2, Low Quality, 800x600 123.2  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 2, Low Quality, 1024x768 119.8  Frames per second (higher is better)
Dirt 2, Low Quality, 1920x1080 73  Frames per second (higher is better)