Thinking about this config, need some insight...

I'm thinking about getting this configuration but need some insight on the SSD. Is it worth it or am I better off saving money and putting in a 7200RPM 500 GB main drive and a 640 GB data drive? I also plan to pick up fast RAM and maybe more RAM from newegg, as well as the QX9300 from another site in order to save money I hear the SSD doesn't have trim support but it should be out soon. Any
opinions or dates on that? Will it really make a big differance? The intel SSD's I know are better, but also very pricey. Also are there any coupon options available to the main public that I should know about? Or any other money saving ideas? Does Dell offer a military discount? I know if I go through AAFES (military exchange store), then I don't pay tax, but I don't get the configuration I want. The AAFES site takes you to a special Dell/AAFES site and I don't get the option for the dual ATI cards. Just dual 280's. Can I call and have a special order made? Any other people in the military try this? I'm trying to peice together a maxed out configuration for the lowest amount of money. Thanks for any help. Current configuration is below which is in my saved in my cart on the dell website.

FROM DELL

SYSTEM COLOR Space Black – Anodized Aluminum
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1 Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis - Important Information
Service blurb goes here.
VIDEO CARD ATI CrossFireX™ – Dual 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 4870
LCD PANEL 17-inch WideUXGA 1920x1200 (1200p)
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
HARD DRIVE 256GB Solid State Drive
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot-Load Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BD-R/RE, DVD±RW, CD-RW
Personalize
PERSONALIZED PLATE Personalized Nameplate (Daniel J. Tillman)
ALIENFX COLOR Astral Aqua
AVATAR Alienhead Chrome Blue
WALLPAPER Alienhead Chrome Blue
PRE-INSTALLED GAMES AND CLIENTS Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
ALIENRESPAWN DVD AlienRespawn Image Recovery DVD
My Accessories
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007-English
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee® VirusScan Plus – 36-Month Subscription
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
BLUETOOTH Internal Wireless Bluetooth® 2.1 with EDR
WIRELESS CARDS Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n Wireless with MIMO Technology
Adobe Software Adobe Acrobat Reader
TIME ZONE (GMT - 6.00) Central Time (US & Canada)
WINDOWS STYLE Windows Style, Default
AUTOMATIC UPDATES Automatic Updates ON
POWER PLAN Power Plan, High Performance
RSS FEEDS Alienware RSS Feed

PRICE FROM DELL SITE: $3,656
I'm not sure, but I don't think they put the tax on the site until your ordering the laptop
-----------------------------------------
AAFES BELOW

System Color Space Black – Anodized Aluminum
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Processor Intel® Core™2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
LCD 17-inch WideUXGA 1920x1200 (1200p)
Video Card Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M, 2GB – SLI® Enabled
Hard Drive 256GB Solid State Drive
Name Plate Personalized Nameplate [Daniel J. Tillman]
AlienFX Color Astral Aqua
Avatar Alienhead Chrome Blue
Wallpaper Alienhead Chrome Blue
Windows Style Windows Style, Default
Adobe Software Adobe Acrobat Reader
CD ROM/DVD ROM Slot-Load Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BD-R/RE, DVD±RW, CD-RW
Gadgets None
Wireless Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n Wireless with MIMO Technology
Automatic Updates Automatic Updates ON
Power Plan Power Plan, High Performance
Office Productivity Software Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007-English
Time Zone (GMT - 6.00) Central Time (US & Canada)
Software - Antivirus McAfee® VirusScan Plus – 36-Month Subscription
Service 1 Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis - Important Information
Complete Care CompleteCare Accidental Damage Protection, 1 Year
Bluetooth Internal Wireless Bluetooth® 2.1 with EDR
RSS Feed Alienware RSS Feed
Additional Non-System Options None

PRICE: $3,482.15

decisions, decisions
The reason I got complete care is because I'm in Iraq and while traveling care is not used when handling bags on C-130s
Also one last question. What is the differance in a system restore disc and the $50 respawn disc Dell charges for the M17X? I noticed AAFES didn't offer this.

Thanks for any input

Dan

 

the first configuration is better but go for the p8700 because p8600 is on backorder and don't worry about ram and ssd you can get that later and cheaper

 

Good to know thanks. Anyone else have some input?

 

Pretty much what he said. Don't worry about hard drives/SSDs or RAM, both are easily upgraded later. If you get only one hard drive though, you'll need to ask for the second hard drive mounting later.

 

moo ??

 

shh, major screwup. LOL

 

that's fine don't worry

 

I went with this configuration through the Employee Purchase program which gave me 10% off since I'm in the Army, and then on top of that, since it's going to Iraq, I don't have to pay tax. Which saves money that I can put towards that QX9300 and a 640GB second HDD, and faster/more ram. Maybe an SSD down the road. Best part is I got the black case i wanted, through the EPP website they only had the red available, and it only cost me $3,132! I'm pumped for it to get here in like two months lol

Can't beat it, No tax, 10% off, and no shipping. $3,132 total shipped.

224-5967 1 Black Metallic
317-0819 1 Intel Core2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
317-0856 1 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
320-8140 1 17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X
320-0759 1 CrossFireX - Dual 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870
341-0004 1 500GB 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
330-3924 1 Name Plate Engraving
421-0724 1 ALIENFX AQUA
421-1398 1 Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
421-0406 1 Avatar 3
421-0389 1 Window Style, DFT
410-1883 1 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE
313-8570 1 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BR-R, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
421-1304 1 CyberLink PowerDVD 8.0 Software
421-1305 1 Nero 9 Media Burning Software
430-3558 1 Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n 2x2 MIMO
421-0405 1 Automatic Updates ON
421-0398 1 Power Plan, BAL
421-0399 1 Time Zone, CENTRAL
410-0201 1 MCAF,36MTH,MUI,ANW
410-0181 1 Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007-Eng, QS
421-1724 1 Soft Contracts,Dell In Home,Alienware
994-7017 1 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus At-Home Service, Initial Year
994-3660 1 Next Business Day In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis , Initial Year
990-8029 1 1 Year Limited Warranty and Next Business Day,Desktop
994-3730 1 Warranty Support,Initial Year
988-7347 1 No Warranty beyond 1 year
430-0628 1 Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
421-0361 1 Wallpapers, C03W
421-1360 1 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
330-5087 1 RESPAWN DVD
421-0381 1 RSS Feeds,AW