Product Notes: Dell OptiPlex 745c

In March 2007, Dell quietly introduced the OptiPlex 745c, a specialized version of the OptiPlex 745. The 745c features Intel's vPro suite of hardware management technologies and is only available in a tower configuration.

vPro is an Intel brand that includes (and requires) a Core 2 Duo processor, an Intel chipset with support for Active Management Technology (iAMT 2.1), and Intel's Gigabit Ethernet LAN solution.

Several notes when ordering an OptiPlex 745c:

1. The OptiPlex 745c is not available on Dell's Premier Page, because Dell does not want users to order this product by accident. Please contact Jonathan Hart, Dell's inside sales representative assigned to the University, to configure and order the 745c.
2. The OptiPlex 745c uses the same tower enclosure as the OptiPlex 745.
3. The 745c is only available with Intel's current Core 2 Duo processors, since only those processors are part of the vPro specification.
4. It costs about $70 more for 2.0 GB of 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM than 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM on the OptiPlex 745c, but 800 MHz RAM can more effectively utilize the bus. Purchase the 800 MHz RAM if possible.
5. As with the OptiPlex 745, Information Systems & Computing (ISC) continues to strongly suggest a discrete video card instead of the integrated video for the OptiPlex 745c.
6. The OptiPlex 745c does not support an internal floppy drive.
7. Dell's Energy Smart technology is an extension of previous Energy Star compliant settings. ISC believes that including these settings is a good idea for many Schools and Centers.
8. ISC does not believe that choosing Gold Technical Support for desktop systems is the correct choice for all Schools and Centers.

Analysis

ISC believes that Intel's vPro technology will eventually permeate most enterprise desktops, including upcoming 'standard' OptiPlexes. Dell is not first to market (cf. Lenovo's ThinkCentre M55p was released in September 2006) but the OptiPlex 745c does place them ahead of some other vendors. Dell sees the 745c as a "proof-of-concept" system — a chance to test these technologies before beginning potential widespread deployment some time in the next few years.

ISC believes that investigating and testing the OptiPlex 745c is a reasonable step for Local Support Providers (LSPs) in highly managed environments. The cost delta between an OptiPlex 745c and a similarly configured OptiPlex 745 is about $100.

--John Mulhern III, Senior Project Leader, ISC Technology Support Services (March 20, 2007)