I missed the E5470 and E5570 release; thanks for pointing that out. Rumor has the E7450/E7250/E6440/E6540 successors coming out in January, although I don't have a direct rep to confirm that with any more.

The combination of a big GPU, big CPU, lots of memory and a big screen will always need a lot of power (not everyone gets all of those -- but typically the manufacturers don't like making a model take different power bricks depending on which sku you get, so the machines are generally built to take power brick which will supply the biggest configuration) and it's pretty much a matter of physics that you need a big brick to supply a lot of power without overheating. They've improved the larger bricks a little generation-to-generation, but there's only so much they can do (and Dell's slim-line adapters they used for a generation or two back around 2010-2011 definitely got hotter, and didn't last as long as the blockier ones before or since.)

The small-GPU configurations of the W520/W530 actually ran fine with the (slightly) smaller 135W brick from the W510, which was a small mercy.

Sadly, the comparable Dell models, the M4600/M4700 wouldn't; they had a huge 180W brick -- worse than the W520/W530 -- and despite an actual power draw in a developer-friendly not-so-big-GPU configuration well under 130W -- barely over 100 at the plug -- they would throttle and refuse to run the CPU full speed on the 130W adapters.)

It could be worse -- there is a 240W adapter available from Dell, and it's the default option with the 17" (M6800/7710) -- I don't know if it's a strict requirement, and I haven't seen it in person, but from the pictures that thing must be even heavier than the same generation 170/180W.

It IS a pity that they don't build a machine that skips the big GPU options, and has the smaller brick; the closest I can think of were the Dell E6420/E6430 and the Lenovo T440p, all of which worked with a regular 90W brick and were available with a quad core CPU, and which had a pretty basic discrete business GPU.

If they build a comparable machine in this generation, it will go up to 32gb, which will be a big improvement on the 16GB max on the prior 5 generations.

--

Looked at the E5570 and E5470. Intriguing machines, especially the 14" one. Neither as light or as nicely designed as the E74x0 models, but much, much more powerful CPUs and pretty light for the power level (under 4lbs), and very nicely inexpensive for a machine that powerful -- the top of the line CPU in it is the i7-6820HQ which is the faster i7 option in the Dell and Lenovo workstation models (not quite as fast as the Xeons, but unless you need ECC memory the clock speed difference is a very small one. $1079 for a machine with that CPU bodes well for upcoming models, if nothing else

Well, the Lenovo P50 is officially available as of today. Cost for an 8GB RAM, 500GB HD (not SSD) model with the Xeon E3-1505M v5 Processor (which is only available with the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M 4GB Graphic Card), the 4K non-touch display and 2 of the 40A50230US docks comes to just over $2900.

And of course Lenovo just announced the P50s ...

Damn. It.

Odd; P50 has been order-able for at least a week or two from where I've been checking.

Not sure why you'd want the Xeon -- the only real advantage (although there's a trivial clock speed improvement) over the i7-6820HQ is the ability to use ECC RAM.

But yeah, at this stage in their lifecycle, the Workstation models from all the big manufacturers are barely discounted. That should change within some months, although that number might be closer to 6 than "a couple." Dell started off with better discounts than Lenovo, although we'll see how that shakes out.

Lenovo is also absolutely GOUGING for some of the upgrades right now; $400 of that is the screen upgrade.

Lenovo also tends to give better deals on preconfigured machines through other sales channels -- "TopSeller" models especially. Not sure it's any cheaper right now, mod configuration differences, but see for example,
https://www.cdw.com/shop/products/Le...4.aspx?pfm=srh

Pretty sure the P50s will be an ultrabook (dual core) CPU with a bigger GPU, just like the current W550s. Could be wrong, though -- might be more like the Dell M3800/5510 or the HP ZBook Studio.

I won't even start on the P40 Yoga...

The P50s was announced like Dec 1. http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-....155136.0.html specs are OK.

But, I am waiting another year for the Retro ThinkPad

Specs are great, if you don't care about the size/weight. Technically a little bit better than the similar Dell Precision 7510 (although I prefer the design and packaging of the Dell, and the prices-as-configured start about the same but go up faster on the Precision.)

I've given up on the idea of one of the workstation models, though. Pricing is so high that I could get a quad-core business notebook, AND a mid-range gaming notebook for what the configuration of the workstations that I'd need to do both jobs would cost. Plus the 130+ watt power brick precludes use on airplanes or in the car, whereas the 65W or 90W brick for a Dell Latitude 5470/5570 or the Lenovo T460p (presumably 90W?) works basically anywhere.

I upgrade often enough that I'm not waiting for that one. I'm just waiting for final pricing on the Lenovo T460p before I decide between that and one of the Latitudes.

Then you are probably not the target market but I am on a T420 until the Retro comes out as no usable laptops have been released in the last now close to five years.

Oh, I'd be very interested in getting one when they come out, if the specs are decent and the teased features actually pan out. I upgrade systems about ever 18 months, so if it's not out until next year there is no sense in waiting; if it's that good, I'll upgrade early. If not, I'll compare it to what Dell has later in the year when my next system hits the 18 month mark.

They also haven't released enough specs to be certain; the polls suggest it's going to be a relatively powerful 14" machine, but since nothing is official yet...

As for me, the T420 wasn't powerful enough to be really comfortable for my professional use even when new; the quad-core machines of that generation were the first laptops which had sufficiently caught up with desktops to be attractive as a primary machine, well, pretty much since CPUs started being measured in 100s of MHz rather than 10s. Lenovo chose not to offer any quad core options in a 14" model; Dell did (and then they swapped for Haswell, and now are both offering it for Skylake.)

Also, the T420 already (unfortunately) went to a 16:9 rather than 16:10 screen -- as did everything else of that generation I'm aware of except for Macs. Various companies have started experimenting with 3:2 screens on their hybrid tablets [and the Chromebook Pixel], and I really hope this catches on more broadly on full-size laptops, as it seems like a really good happy medium between 16:9 and 4:3.

If it's not powerful enough to do real work or play games on -- both of which require something pretty close to the latest and greatest -- I've still got an X201 which is fast enough for everything else... has a superb keyboard, 16:10 screen, and while it's ridiculously heavy for a machine that compact with the 9-cell battery, pretty close to all-day battery life even after nearly 6 years.

Per the spec sheet available at thinkworkstations.com, the standard power supply for the P50s is 65w.

Tried to find information on the Dell Latitudes you mentioned, but could only find dual-core ones offered. (No Thunderbolt 3 until Winter 2016 they state)

I would gather that power supply would only support a dual-core CPU - not a quad-core.

Looking for a quad-core (of any size smaller than 15") that has a (real) docking station connector and supports more than 32GB RAM with 2 HD capacity - not the new Thunderbolt type, which you have to plug-in, instead of just setting down the laptop on a docking station and it's done. Anyone?

Does anyone know if the XPS15 is upgradeable from 16GB to 32GB RAM? Dell say they can't do it off the shelf.

I am a simple guy and all I need is more RAM with the classic layout -- given how everything is 32GB these days I am reasonable sure it'll happen. I haven't been CPU constrained in a really long while and when on occasion I am I turn to a datacentre

Yes, the Dell XPS 15 is definitely upgradeable to 32GB , CPU http://ark.intel.com/products/89063/...Cache-2_70-GHz has 2 channels, tops at 64GB even, the machine has two slots and 32GB kits are in stock at some European retailers, it's a few weeks before they come to the US. Austria: http://www.mylemon.at/artikel/corsai...2133-32gb.html UK: http://www.morecomputers.com/product...rs&man=g.skill And Dell said they can't do it because they didn't get these sticks yet.

I was pricing out both on the public web site and a premier site I have access to, and I saw the quad-cores on both as of last night.

Assuming you are US-based, you have to scroll right on the public site to see them. Give this link a shot.

They are not currently offering fully configurable models via the web site, but I believe if you call sales they can configure options only available via Premier on the web.

Dell is not yet offering Thunderbolt on any of their current-generation professional systems. Unofficial discussions on notebookreviewforum suggest that It'll be orderable starting due right around the 29th of this month. I can't vouch for the quality of that information, but that's true even for the big workstations.

The 5470 can work with a quad-core CPU and a 65W supply -- but only if not equipped with a discrete GPU; models with both require a 90W... and that's with only a 14" screen. For my use, lacking a dGPU is actually a plus -- dual-GPU systems play poorly with Linux.

I'm fairly sure the P50s is not only dual-core-only, it's dual-core ULV (Ultrabook CPU, e.g. something like an i7-6600U.) That was the case with the W550s, at any rate. (Dual-core full-voltage/H-series processors seem to be becoming nearly extinct in the wild...)

Assuming "2 HD capacity" works for one 2.5" drive and one mini-card, it looks likely that the the announced-but-not-yet-shipping Lenovo T460p (should be orderable around the end of this month, according to various webbed sources) is likely to fit the bill -- the T440p did (although it is possible that they followed Dell in making the design either/or.)

The Dell 5470 doesn't officially support 32GB RAM (although they should work; RAM support on modern machines is entirely up to the CPU) and doesn't support two HDs -- it's M.2 card or 2.5" and the construction doesn't seem to have any way around that.

HP hasn't announced their Skylake upgrades to their dockable Elitebook systems yet; I don't think they had a 14" quad-core with their Haswell-generation ones, and I can't remember if they still have a real docking station.

Assuming you mean the new Skylake/Infinity display model, yes:
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compat...-15-%289550%29

Makes sense -- although there's always a possibility they'll completely misread requests and make an ultrabook version with only soldered memory.

(As an aside, I'm very curious how long it will take to get 32GB SO-DIMMs. I don't expect to need 64GB it in the lifetime of my next machine, but within the next few years...)

For my own needs, I'm a bit more particular -- and honest, I'm more concerned with the keyboard feel than the layout; the only machine I've found the layout unusable on was the X1 Carbon 2 which didn't have a function key row at all. It was also too slow to do my work on; ~20 minute build times, vs. ~6 with a real processor.

If I'm going to be coding really heavily on my laptop away from my desk at home/work, I can throw a portable mechanical keyboard into my bag -- the first of those two is really, really light and while the layout is non-traditional and the keys clicky, it's small and light enough to go in a carry-on.

As I said, if I'm not doing work or playing games, I can still live with the X201.

My last employer was of the opinion that developers should do build and test remotely in the data center.

I had to raise a stink to get a reasonably powerful non-Mac, as doing Java development on relatively large projects, being able to get the whole thing to load in an IDE and be reasonably responsive requires a relatively high-end processor and a lot of memory, and getting good build times locally also requires a fairly beefy processor.

For their Android developers, they "got" that (and the Macbook Pro 15" wasn't too bad of a choice for those folk); for server-side Java projects, they didn't. It's one of many annoyances at their culture that lead to my making it a relatively short-term employer.

The employer before that (where I was at for 8+ years) I was the one of the squeakiest wheels about build times (etc), and ended up being the liaison between engineering and the IT folks for what configurations they should buy for heavily technical folks.

16GB individual sticks, and 32GB kits are, and have been, in stock on and off from a number of US retailers since before systems that would take them were commonly available -- including direct from Crucial. (I don't recommend the kit from them as there's zero savings -- they'll actually charge you a penny extra for the privilege.)

Even some of the faster 2400mhz stuff, although I'd recommend sticking to a better known brand.

Dell directly does seem to have some memory supply issues, and it's still often more cost effective to buy machines with a minimal amount of memory and then upgrade.

If I want a portable mechanical keyboard, well, I just (literally, less than an hour ago) got a Matias Ergo Pro. Showman @ Geekhack have mounted it vertically on two Manfrotto 709B tripods https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic...837#msg2004837. Those are incoming this week. Yay for ditching the Kinesis Ascent, it's too heavy.

Links for non ECC 16GB DDR4 SODIMM stick or kit in stock?

I know many people who love split keyboards. I am not one of them.

Although for travel, that does make it easier to pack.

Included in the post above, but to call out specifically:
http://amzn.to/1Pg1aE5 (G-skill, 2400mhz, 2x 16 kit)
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compat...-15-%289550%29
(2x 16gb kit or 1x 16gb stick of 2133mhz in stock, 2400mhz out of stock.)

Prices look better still on NewEgg, and appear to be in stock:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-971-_-Product
or if G-Skill is too sketch, how about Corsair?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-971-_-Product

At some point in the last few days, the new Iris Pro versions of the Skylake chips were formally announced. There's no formal street date yet, and I've seen estimates ranging from a couple weeks to a couple months.

The i5-6350HQ and i7-6770/6870HQ will be the ones of most interest to this crowd (it's unlikely many machines will offer a choice of which of the two i7 models you can get, although the slightly larger cache on the 6870 is preferable if you do get the choice); the i5-6350HQ if it follows the Intel SRP looks like a heck of a deal.

The advantages of these are two-fold:

First, if you need GPU power -- or think you might later -- unless you need a really big GPU, this is a big win. The GPU performance is about 3x what it is with the regular Intel integrated GPUs, and looks likely to be much better than low-end gaming/professional laptop graphics, and at least comparable to the last generation midrange chips. At the same time, it doesn't require the board space and separate cooling, or higher power use, of a discrete GPU. Plus in many cases the ~$50 price increase of the better iGPU is going to be no higher than a low-end or midrange dGPU.

Second, if you don't need GPU power at all, these chips have a 128MB eDRAM cache. It's mainly there to speed up the GPU, but it absolutely shows a measurable performance improvement on memory bound benchmarks. This is likely to be especially helpful for software developers and people running VMs (and to help a lot more than the loss of the smaller cache on the i5-63x0 and i7-67x0, where I'd usually be saying the extra 2MB of cache on the i7-68x0 was worth the potentially fairly large cost bump.)

Oh, and for Linux users (I realize this is very niche) the Linux support for Intel graphics is on a whole different and better level than the Linux support for NVidia switchable. (I haven't used AMD in such a long time that I can't comment.)

I was on the fence about how soon to order my new machine, but at this point I'm going to wait to see what my options with one of these are.