Dell's Precision workstation laptops are fast, slim and super powerful

The next era
The next era

Mobile workstations get prettier and prettier every year. Dell's new lineup of Precision Mobile Workstations are pretty and light enough to attract consumers, but powerful enough to replace some business desktops.

This year's releases include the 15-inch Dell Precision 5510, which can be outfitted with an Intel Xeon E3 desktop processor, 32GB of RAM, an NVIDIA Quadro M1000M graphics card and up to 2TB of SSD storage. What's most exciting about the Precision 15 5000 is that Dell ditched the boxy, conventional mobile workstation design for something that looks almost exactly like the Dell XPS 15 and includes the Dell-patented InfinityEdge display, which features little-to-no border around the laptop's screen.

Dell Precision

The gorgeous Precision 5510 is only 0.66 inches (16.82mm) thick, it weighs only 3.93 pounds (1.78kg) and you can upgrade it to feature a 4K touchscreen monitor. The starting price for the 5510 will be $1,399 (about £870, AU$1,600), but that model will come with an Intel Core i5 Skylake processor and a full HD screen.

Other models

The more powerful of the new Dell mobile workstations is the 17-inch Dell Precision 7710. Although it doesn't feature an InfinityEdge display, the 7710 can do everything the 5510 does, but with more screen real estate and an even better desktop processor.

The 7710 that will be available this month only comes with an Intel Xeon E3 processor, but Dell is planning to bump that up to possibly an E5 or E7 before the end of the fourth quarter. It can also be outfitted to include an AMD FirePro W7170M graphics card.

As it stands, the 7710 can store up to 4TB of data, can be outfitted with an Intel Xeon processor, a 4K monitor and up to 64GB of RAM.

Unfortunately, the 7710 weighs a whopping 7.55 pounds (3.42kg) with an SSD included, so it lacks the on-the-go appeal of the 5510.

Of course, if you don't intend to transport the 17-inch workhorse 7710, you can always purchase the 15-inch 7510 or 3510. Both are lighter, thinner and less expensive than the $1,699 7710 (about £1,123, AU$2,043), at $1,199 (about £792, AU$1,323) and $999 (about £660, AU$1,071), respectively, but they won't give you the processor, storage and graphics upgrade possibilities available on the 7710.

Desktop workstations

Dell has also unveiled a new line of desktop workstations, the Tower 3000 series, which includes two models, the 3420 and 3620.

The 3420 is the smallest of Dell's workstations. Both come equipped with up to an Intel Xeon E3 Skylake processor, up to 64GB of RAM and Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, up to the most powerful Nvidia NVS 510 card.

Maximum storage capacity on the 3620 is 9TB. The 3420 can hold as much as 5TB. The 3620 starts at $729 (about £481, AU$871) and the 3420 starts at $679 (about £448, AU$783).

The workstations and mobile workstations will be available in before the end of the 2015. Dell would not provide a more concrete date.