Dell Precision T1650 Workstation Review: Ivy Bridge Xeons Bring Performance

Conclusion: A Great Value That Could Be More

When compared to HP's competing Z220 workstation, Dell's Precision T1650 comes out looking awfully compelling. It's true you can probably get roughly the same performance out of a comparably-equipped Z220, but that Z220 is going to cost you more money in the long term. Given my mixed feelings about and experiences with HP's much-ballyhooed Performance Advisor software, I'd definitely be willing to pocket the difference between the Z220 and the T1650's pricetags. HP has become fairly complacent, but with the Precision T1650 it looks like the same thing is threatening to happen to Dell. Why should they fight any harder when their chief competitor can't get it together? Dell's already undercutting them by hundreds of dollars while offering arguably better build quality, why offer more?

At the same time, as a reviewer it's my job to ask for more where I see that it can be offered. This chassis should be put out to pasture and a new one built to bring the entry-level Precision model in line with the rest of the family, complete with the accoutrements that make them so compelling. The default 65% efficiency power supply needs to be killed stone dead; if perception is important (and I believe it is), Dell should just get rid of that option and bump the default price of the T1650 as they still have plenty of headroom at the entry level. I'd also like to see the swappable power supply of the higher end Precisions brought down to this price point, along with their memory technology. Dell made it abundantly clear that we don't really need 5.25" bays the way we used to, so why does the T1650 still have two? Because they're recycling the underlying chassis, that's why.

Enterprise users are going to continue paying dearly for upgrades, though. Our processor has an OEM price of just $623, but Dell tacks another $400 on to that upgrade price. $50 for a decent power supply is nearly as ridiculous, and our 2x4GB of garden variety non-ECC DDR3 is more than five times the cost of a retail kit. The upgrade prices are bloated to the kinds of levels that would make Apple weep with envy, but then you have to ask yourself just how many machines you need to deploy and then how much it would cost to order the kits of RAM separately and have someone install them, and then theoretically how much it would cost to troubleshoot systems if one of those kits turns out bad.

Either way, the parade of embarassment for HP doesn't seem to stop. Lenovo theoretically has a dog in this race, but it's telling that Dell and HP will mention each other in press conferences while Lenovo doesn't come up. Dell is continuing to attack the lucrative enterprise market with compelling products at lower prices while HP seems to be sitting still, and even if the Precision T1650 isn't a marked improvement over the T1600 in terms of design, the performance is there and at a lower price. If HP doesn't pay attention they may end up having the desktop workstation market slip through their fingers.