Dell Precision M2800

The Dell Precision M2800 ($ 1,629, as tested) is a mobile workstation best suited to middle managers and supervisors. It has a powerful quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and AMD FirePro workstation-class graphics for ISV-certified apps like AutoCAD and power-user programs such as Adobe Creative Suite. The M2800 is a great laptop for people who need to evaluate the work that others do, but other mobile workstation better choice for people who actually need to carry heavy-lift on the projects. Although it is a bit pricier, the HP zBook 14 remains our recommendation because of its portability, serviceability, and a touch screen.

Design and Features
£ 6.22 and 1.3 by 15 by 11 inches (HWD), the M2800 will need a huge backpack for portability beyond the office. The most old-school style. The lid, with an aluminum finish, with sliding latch to keep it closed, something we have not seen in a mainstream laptop in years. The system has a traditional, non-backlit keyboard and dual pointing devices (pointing stick and touchpad). Make physical mouse buttons more familiar with the system to veteran users, and the numeric keypad is a plus for number-crunching.

There is a DVD drive, an Ethernet port, an Express Card slot, an HDMI port, an SD card reader, a smart card slot, one USB 2.0 port, and three USB 3.0 ports. Because all of the USB port is the same black color (as opposed to having blue USB 3.0 port as they are in many other systems), you will note that one of the back USB 2.0 port. They are marked with industry standard icons, but they are tiny and hard to pick. The system has 802.11ac Wi-Fi to supplement the gigabit Ethernet port.

The 128GB solid-state drive (SSD) is a small capacity, which is a tradeoff to get better speed than a traditional hard-drive-based system. It was not much of a problem for a supervisor or field agent needs only to open the files, such as architectural plans. If you are the creator of the content, however, 128GB is not enough if you use multi-gigabyte libraries for your program. The M2800 can be upgraded, but you will need to use a screwdriver to get into the chassis. The HP zBook 14 is much easier to get into, with a tool-less lid pops off for servicing.

The 15.6-inch, 1920-by-1,080-resolution screen is one of the reasons why the laptop is so big. It is pleasant to look at and has an anti-glare coating, so you can view images in direct sunlight. However, in full light, critical viewers will be able to see a screen-door effect, where you can see the individual pixels on the grids. This becomes clearer when you look at solid colors and color gradients, as we saw when using DisplayMate color and pattern of gray-scale. It takes a critical eye to see the pixels, but then again using the critical eye is the main target of the high-end systems.

Our review unit came with Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, which is the primary choice of operating system. Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit is supported, but Windows 8 is not. Dell includes smart card reader that supports TPM 1.2 security partners, but no fingerprint reader. The system has a 3-year warranty, with on-site service (after remote diagnosis) included.