Road warrior power trip: Mobile workstations worthy of the workstation name [Video]

The beefy Dell Precision M6400 and polished HP EliteBook 8730w squeeze high-end graphics and serious horsepower into large but luggable chassis

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Among desktop computers, the term “workstation” refers to a high-end PC specially equipped for demanding tasks such as CAD/CAM/engineering, software development, audio and video processing, and heavy-duty number-crunching or data mining. But “workstation” typically loses its meaning when you attach the word “mobile.”

Among laptops, so-called workstations are generally just beefed-up desktop-replacement models, separated from their more pedestrian, business-oriented siblings by the most tenuous of distinctions: a mobile version of a high-end graphics card, perhaps with custom video drivers certified for specific engineering packages. Basically, when you plunk down that extra cash for a mobile workstation, you’re paying for peace of mind — the knowledge that the thousands of dollars you spend on sophisticated software won’t go down in flames because of substandard hardware and drivers.

It’s been a …