By Rieva Lesonsky
Everyone loves mobile. The rise of smartphones and tablets has changed business forever. It’s amazing when you step into a creative office these days—all the keyboards and monitors have disappeared. People are producing new and exciting things from their smartphones. Novels, 3D animation, game designs, architectural prints are all created using two thumbs on a touch-keyboard.
That’s as realistic as an episode the “The Jetsons”. In reality, creative endeavors are still being imagined and created on desktops. The characters and worlds consumers read on portable devices are woven by thoughtful artists using desktop workstations. So it’s a good thing Dell has continued to push the limits of power and price with its new Precision T1700 Workstation.
Yes the “fiction” that started this blog was a bit overblown, but it serves as a necessary reminder that the best hardware to create a digital masterpiece is still found at your desk, not in your hand.
The T1700 Workstation is compatible with independent software vendor (ISV)-certified programs, which means you can focus on your ideas because the applications are able to work at peak performance. So whether you need to use Autodesk, Adobe or Avid, the only processor you need to worry about is the one in your head.
Speaking of processors, the Precision T1700 Workstation comes in a variety of models and can be fitted with an i5/i7 4th Gen Intel Processor or a Next Gen Intel Xeon Processor—all are quad core. Boost your working speed with 4, 8 or 16GB of RAM, plus you’ll never have to worry about hard drive space when you select the 500GB model or the 1TB version. Of course, when you’re working in 3D modeling you’ll need a powerful graphics card such as the AMD FirePro or NVIDIA Quadro.
To make all of this hardware sing in harmony with the professional software you love, this workstation utilizes Dell’s Precision Performance Optimizer, which ensures the software automatically runs at peak performance. All this power comes in two sizes: a mini tower (14.17″ height x 6.89″ width x 17.13″ depth) and a small form factor (11.42″ x 3.65″ x 12.28″)—at just over a foot tall these aren’t your standard bulky towers taking up half your office space.
Put all of this on top of the new Windows 8 Pro operating system—designed for touch, as well as keyboard and mouse navigation—and you have creative ingenuity staring back at you. Aside from a slick interface, Windows 8 Pro also includes some great built-in apps like SkyDrive, a cloud storage solution that allows you to access your work wherever and whenever the creative juices start to flow. If you still need to access the power of the T1700, Remote Desktop Connection is one of the benefits of the operating system’s Pro version. Another Pro advantage is the built-in BitLocker and BitLocker To Go encryption software that keeps your ideas safe. (The To Go encryption protects removable storage devices).
Artists have vision, and sometimes it takes three vibrant monitors to see everything that’s going on—a standard option of the T1700 Workstation. Historically, great artists needed a wooden palette to mix their colors on; today’s digital artists need a powerful workstation.
This is a paid post in conjunction with IDG and Dell.
