so... laptop pricing advice?

I know, I know, I love scouting this stuff, and  I'm usually the one dishing out advice/opinions (even when unsolicited).  however, lately I haven't really paid attention to reviews/prices/etc  as I've simply been too busy, uninterested, and not really even considering a buy.  Unforunately, with the old one breaking down and about to go out of warranty, now I'm in the mood to at least seriously consider buying a new one... I've seen some pretty good deals.

can anyone chime in whether they think this price will seriously be beat (by more than 10-15% or by a significantly better model) by the end of this year?

dell xps m1530
core 2 duo 2400 (2.4GHZ, 800FSB, 3MB cache)
4GB ram, 667 MHZ
250 GB 5400 rpm hard drive
geforce 8600 mobile video card (256 MB)
dvdrw/cd drive
wireless card
15.4" 1540x900 screen (i'm actually gonna call and argue for the 1920x1080 screen which they're running another promotion on...)
3 year warranty, including repair work done @ home/work

$1285 with tax and shipping. can also get it with the whole 12 month no interest deal... which is nice. wait till month 10 and pay off remaining 50-60% of it when 600$ is the price of a loaf of bread    LOL

unfortunately it comes with vista  (which i can pick the upgrade version I want at work for free, or maybe it's $5, i can't remember). oh well, gotta learn to use that turd someday. also a useless 12 month subscription to crapafee internet security.

of course, I'd love the solid state drive or at least the 300GB 7200rpm hard drive, but they're both just TOO overpriced right now for the applications I need/use (far more intensive on processing power, multitasking, and graphics rendering)

also considering upgrade to the core2duo8500 which is 2500 GHZ with a 6MB cache.  anyone ever used a processor on a desktop or laptop with a L1 cache that large before?--- if so, did you realistically see that much better performance in high-cpu throughput applications ?



 

i use it about 65% as a desktop replacement, 35% notebook/travel  (at home I use it in place of having a desktop, but like to take it room to room, and I also routinely pack it and take it to work, etc).. there is SOME potential I might need to start taking it with me EVERY day.

i know it's not the lightest thing out there, but it is close to 5# (and I'm used to carrying around a 8lb monster).....  I do need the 4GB (ok, maybe 3GB would do, but that's hard to do with 2 slots) and 256MB video whatever I end up with, i don't see a lot of ultraportables offering that kind of memory/graphics card in close to this price range right now

BTW, I think the display options on that Dell are either 1440x900 or 1920x1200. 

If your timeframe is between now and the end of the year, I think you'll be able to beat this price.

You could wait for the crazy, ultra-stackable Dell coupon codes in late July, early August for all the students buying computers going back to school.  They also have a lot of absurd deals in late November to get the jump on the Black Friday deals.

It depends if you want to wait for a month and spend the time following the deal sites.

i should* be able to get the 1900x  resolution display for the SAME price since the promo is for the same base price on all other hardware/config.  unfortunately i can't find a way to add it to the dell EPP site cart/basket.  i'll call them.    so gleek thinks its a good deal  dystopia doesnt think so (that a better deal will come out) ....  i still could use it ASAP so I might just get it anways

anyone care to comment on the 3MB/6MB L1 cache for $125 more?

While I don't have any experience with it, having more L1 cache does help. $125 worth of help? I don't know. I tried to look to see what speed diff you might see but I couldn't. If I were to take a guess (and this is closer to a wild guess) I would think you would get about a 3% to 5% speed boost with the higher ram.

As far as the 3M or 4M of RAM, more ram is always better even if you don't use it all. Although I would suspect with the stuff you do you would probably come close.

My $.02 that's not even worth a crumb of bread.

gave in to temptation
 
upgrade to the full hd 1920x1200 screen set me back an extra $100 but I got him to throw in some software stuff on the side.

lol, you can buy a perfectly good pc, and put ubuntu on it (my new toy will go dual boot)  ubuntu pwns mac osx!