Dell Precision M4600 Workstation: Core i5 2520M, 15.6" 1920x1080 LED, 2GB DDR3, ATi FirePro M5950, 320GB HDD, WiFi N, 9-Cell, Win 7 Pro $660 + Free Shipping

I don’t see much difference here price wise; I believe it was or even higher than the deals offered in November and December 2012. I've noticed that all Dell mobile workstations has been significantly reduced in prices about a year ago, while it was way more expensive before the launch of touchscreens and ultrabooks in the markets. Yes, ultrabooks and workstations are used for two totally different purposes, but just to keep it short; this is what I've noticed.

Bluetooth for an extra $19 seems pretty fair considering the price of some of the other upgrades

Quote from krazykrzysztof : What's the utility or significance of this specific laptop type?

It is business-/engineering-/development-oriented, with a decent amount of upgrade options.

I have this with the i7 2720qm and an msata drive that I got for $~700 last year. Runs any of the 1 year or older games at medium settings. The dual fan configuration keeps the laptop running very cool. You can easily overclock the 5950m to 850/1000 mhz and still have your gpu temps top out at only 60C. There are also beta drivers that enable the intel gpu (you have to manually switch them). But the best part is the 3 year next business day warranty that is transferable. Can't really get something like that anywhere else especially under $700.

Whoever buys this laptop is a newb..

That only reason why this laptop is good is if you wanted a semi-gaming laptop about 1.5 years ago..

This doesn't even get to that level. I mean.. 3rd gen intel graphics should give this "video card" a run for it's money. This laptop should be around $470-500 (retail) at clearance/closeout (only because of the screen).. you WILL have to upgrade ram, and yes, no computer should be without an SSD. If you don't have an SSD, you have an old computer. I'd rather have Phenom II with SSD than 3570k without.

and the kicker is 2GB of ram..

Backlit keyboard for $49 might be worth it too....

Quote from mellowg : Bluetooth for an extra $19 seems pretty fair considering the price of some of the other upgrades

Says the ignorant shopper.

Not calling names, just speaking the truth. Bluetooth dongles are unobtrusive/discreet and cheap and cheaper/better than $19. On slickdeals, these get to $5 or free after rebate. $10 I would say is a fair/good built-in price.

I have one of these. Picked it up on the outlet for 800 with the i7 quad.

Note, it supports two hard drives. One 2.5" and one mSATA

Oh, this processor gimps the whole system. The motherboard has four slots for memory. This makes upgrades cheaper than two slot upgrades and allows up to 32gb

Quote from poormanq45 : I have one of these. Picked it up on the outlet for 800 with the i7 quad. Note, it supports two hard drives. One 2.5" and one mSATA

Actually it supports 3 hard drives if your willing to buy a drive caddy and do away with your CD rom drive

Quote from justainchoe : Says the ignorant shopper. Not calling names, just speaking the truth. Bluetooth dongles are unobtrusive/discreet and cheap and cheaper/better than $19. On slickdeals, these get to $5 or free after rebate. $10 I would say is a fair/good built-in price.

I'd pay the $14 difference to not give up a USB right out of the gate.

Quote from HCW : Actually it supports 3 hard drives if your willing to buy a drive caddy and do away with your CD rom drive

Indeed it does. If I recall correctly, the factory adapter only accepts 7mm drives. Generic accept 12mm

Had the same laptop with 1366x768 screen which was horrendous. Had an issue with LED lines, fought dell for 6 months for a repair, they ignored me, but Amex came through and in the end I returned the laptop for full refund.

I would discourage anyone thinking about getting this for gaming. That was 50% of my usage, but workstation graphics drivers caused some odd problems with games sometimes, especially anything AA or AF. Otherwise the laptop looks good and is sturdy, for business use.