Dell Precision 3530 mobile workstation
It's been a little over a year since Dell updated its Precision mobile workstation line[1], which is notable for its inclusion of the Ubuntu flavor of Linux as an operating system option alongside Windows 10. But last week, the company refreshed the laptop lineup without much fanfare, starting with the entry-level Precision 3530[2].
Priced from $942.59, the base 3530 configuration ships with Ubuntu Linux 16.04, with the option to upgrade to Windows 10 adding a little over $100 to the cost. It ships with an eighth-generation Coffee Lake Intel Core i5-8400H processor with more powerful Coffee Lake chips available as options. Other specs on the base model include 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, and 15.6-inch 1,366x768 display.
Of course, that's pretty bare-boned for a workstation, which makes that sub-$1,000 price point a bit misleading. For instance, you may not be satisfied using Intel's integrated graphics, which means you'll need to tack on another $89.25 for the Nvidia Quadro P600 graphics card. Likewise, 500 gigs of storage is wholly inadequate for almost any laptop, much less one geared to content creation, so you'll have to spend another $60.07 for a terabyte drive and $77.48 for a 2TB one.
It does include built-in 802.11ac dual band Wi-Fi, along with the Dell Precision Optimizer software to perform one-click application performance enhancing. Upgrading to a Core i7 processor gives you Thunderbolt support, which is useful if you want to spring for Dell's Business Thunderbolt Dock.
According to Barton George[3], a Dell Senior Architect in the office of CTO, the 3530 is just the first of four refreshed Precision workstation lines, with the remaining trio will be available soon, though an exact release date and pricing