Take CAD and 3D Modeling Power with You

Dear Desktop Engineering Reader:

I lugged one of the first laptops on the road with me when I visited clients. The unit and its power transformer probably weighed 20 lbs. Graphics meant greenish letters on a black screen. Times have changed. You'll find Exhibit A to that point on the other side of today's Check it Out link.

MSI Computer Corp. has introduced two new mobile series with desktop engineering workstation power and graphics, the WS60 and the WT72. Both series include two models: One with Intel’s 6th Generation Core i7 CPU (Skylake) and one with a Xeon processor. All have NVIDIA’s latest Maxwell Architecture Quadro mobile series GPUs (graphics processing units).

The Core i7 CPU and the Quadro GPUs sip energy. The pairing also means that these mobile workstations can handle just about anything for CAD and 3D modeling. They support multiple external monitors, so you can replace your desktop with them. Both workstations are software certified by Autodesk, PTC, SOLIDWORKS/Dassault and Adobe.

Common series features include a port connector for transferring files at up to 40GB/s, up to 64GB of error-correcting DDR4 memory, LAN and wireless networking, and Windows 10 Pro. Both leverage MSI's True Color Technology to calibrate then deliver colors with crisp detail. They have SSDs (solid-state drives) for quick booting and terabyte-sized hard disks for lots of storage.

Among the differences between the WS60 and the WT72, the biggest are screen size and weight. The WS60 is ultra-portable and thin. It has a 15.6-in. full HD (high definition) screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution or an optional 4K UHD (ultra HD) display with 3840 x 2160 resolution. With its six-cell battery, it weighs 4.36 lbs. The WT72 offers similar resolution in a 17.3-in. full HD anti-glare display. It has a nine-cell battery and weighs 8.4 lbs, which is quite portable in my book.

The new WT72 mobile workstation can be equipped with Intel’s 6th Generation Core i7 or Xeon processors and NVIDIA Quadro M5000M professional graphics. Image courtesy of MSI Computer Corp.

That said, the coolest part of these workstations is that MSI looks at mobile engineering workstations a bit differently because it is also a leading manufacturer of gaming hardware. That means these workstations incorporate enhanced multimedia features like audiophile-grade speakers with subwoofer. They also have nice touches like a full-color backlit keyboard that make them seem like fun to have around.

MSI's WS60 and WT72 mobile workstations seem like something that will be productive to work with and take around town. You can learn more about them by clicking on today's Check it Out link.

Thanks, Pal. – Lockwood

Anthony J. Lockwood

Editor at Large, Desktop Engineering

Learn about the WS60 and WT72 here.