Acer TM4402WLMi available in US -- opinions?

A couple of days ago I noticed that ZipZoomFly now shows the Travelmate 4402 in stock for $1299. The specs seem similar to the AS5024 except that it uses a Turion ML-30 instead of ML-34 processor, only has 512MB of RAM, and lacks the Crystalbrite screen. But, for only $1299 and actually available in the US, it seems like a good buy.

So, just looking for opinions -- I'm a college student who will be lugging whichever notebook I get around campus, as well as frequent travel. I'd also like a system that will last me through one more year of college and then three years of law school. I've read some negative things about the AS5020 series and build quality, especially with the slot-load DVD drive. I'm thinking the DVD drive and overall design of the TM4400 series looks to be fairly solid, but I'd like some opinions of people who've used other TM series notebooks.

Does this seam like a good unit to buy? Should I hold out for the better specs of the 5024 and hope it makes it stateside? Or should I be looking at other systems/brands altogether?

Thanks in advance.

 

This one has alot of value looking at the specs... Turion 64 + X700 for $1299, not bad! Still, I wish it had 128MB VRAM instead of 64MB, as a gamer personally, this makes me have to think twice about it... Not sure how much of a diffrence it makes in most games though.

 

^^^my thoughts exactly