I’ve made some big progress on our search (from yesterday), and I heard from Mike Crum over at Dell, who really helped narrow my search down big time. Here’s what Mike wrote:
“XPS is a great performer for the price conscience Photoshop user, but when it comes to a professional, the M65 gives a higher level of service and support. It also is certified by Adobe for their Production Premium Suite which Photoshop is a part of. The M65 uses the fastest components available to the mobile world for memory, (including ECC, “error correcting” memory), Faster 7200RPM disk drives, and onboard 1394 (Firewire) support.
There are a lot of features the M65 has that a Photoshop user won’t take advantage of like 3D professional graphics, but if a user is using Photoshop in conjunction with other applications like Softimage XSI, Autodesk’s Maya, or 3DStudio Max and professional video editing apps etc.. Then the benefit of certification of those applications and the performance components that go into an M65 really shine.”
Well, that’s pretty much right from “the horse’s mouth,” and that’s good enough for me. So, the M65 it is (here’s the direct link). Thanks to everyone who posted comments, sent me your hands-on experience, emailed me, and help me find "Scott’s Pick for The Ultimate PC Laptop for Photoshop users: The Dell Precision M65".
