Dell XPS 1640 Configuration (help plz)

I just recently bought a XPS 1640, and I am wondering if I have chosen the right hardware for the laptop. I'm a college freshman, so I need a long lasting laptop with good battery life and hard drive space. I'm also a bit of a gamer too. Here are the specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo P8700(2.53GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3M L2 Cache)
4GB, DDR3, 1067 MHz 2 Dimm for XPS 1640
15.6 inch Wide Screen 16:9 900p HD+ WLED LCD W/2.0MP, XPS 1640
ATI Mobility RADEON M96XT - 1GB
320GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Intel 5100 Wireless-N (1x2) Half Mini-Card
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion P Primary Battery

Is this a good combination of hardware? I know a TAD bit about computers, but not any in depth stuff. Please give me any recommendations as to what I should upgrade to make this laptop perfect. Thanks in advance!

PS: This laptop costed me $1,517.00. (I love savings accounts lol)

 

well decent CPU for battery life though i would get the 9 cell batt ppl say they get close to 5 hours on it with the 6 cell i get a little over 2 and a half hours but i have a t990 6 gigs of memory and a 5300 wireless card and a SSD plus the most amazing screen ever 16" RGBLED this batt life is of course with brightness at 0 and bluetooth and verizon mobile broadband card off if you havent done so you should upgrade to the 4 year warranty well worth it IMO also the RGB LED screen is just phenom worth the extra amount

 

That's pretty expensive IMO. You could get the i7 version for cheaper with better components across the board (unless there are other upgrades you did that you haven't listed).

 

you can get a good one for $800 from dell outlet.

 

You serious?? My friend has another friend who works for Dell in the Business Computers dept. So he offered me a really generous discount. The $1500 is the original price, but I don't know exactly how much he has taken off as of yet. But there were a bunch of upgrades that were pushing the limit of my budget. So yeah, there were some more upgrades listed, but the price would have been stupendous.

 

I concur, if you choose the basic 1400$ from the i7 section you get 9-cell, 500GB and the 1GB ATI as well. If you want, you could upgrade to Full-HD and get to $1500 or get the RGBLED screen for $250-200 extra.

 

That's really expensive.
I got mine

Intel Core 2 Duo P8600(2.4GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3M L2 Cache)
4GB, DDR3, 1067 MHz 2 Dimm for XPS 1640
15.6 inch Wide Screen 16:9 900p HD+ WLED LCD W/2.0MP, XPS 1640
ATI Mobility RADEON M96XT - 1GB
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Intel 5100 Wireless-N (1x2) Half Mini-Card
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion P Primary Battery
Bluetooth

for $1179 inclusive of tax & shipping, handling.

 

make sure you use your student discount. I got 7% off by being a student. Mine came out to $2100. I too am a full-time student and this laptop is great. Your setup seems good. It should do everything you need of it. Casual gaming and all the school work you have to do.

 

I follow nomoredell for the outlet advice - As a student i would do that, get a better config, add a few bucks for a no brainer warranty (pridce will vary) that last the time of my college and get an additional battery (+$99), you can do all that for less than a thousand. Save some cash, schools are expensive enough, treat yourself or your relative with the savings.
Only temporary issue, the outlet is pretty empty in term of 1640 because of the ongoing coupons. $1500 for this config is way too expensive. The config in my sig cost me $758 + taxes from the outlet with free overnight shipping means, no wait to get your computer.

 

It is a good configuration for what you need to do with it but I can't say if the price is good or not. You left out a few things....for instance, what type of optical drive you got and also did you get extended warranties or any other extras? Some people listed a portion of what they got and provided the total so that isn't a good gauge in terms of pricing.

 

Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus At-Home Service, Extended Year(s)
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus At-Home Service, Initial Year
Next Business Day In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis , 1 Year Extended
Next Business Day In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis , Initial Year
Warranty Support,1 Year Extended
Warranty Support,Initial Year
CompleteCare Accidental DamageService, Inspiron, 2Years
Bluetooth
McAfee Sapphire MUI, 24-Month
Intel 5100 Wireless-N (1x2) Half Mini-Card
8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive
Facial Recognition

I guess all of this also ran up the price.

 

Those extended warranties can tack on a couple hundred bucks for sure. Overall, I wouldn't say the pricing is too bad. If you're patient enough, you can usually find better but it is a gamble. They may give $300 off of something and you wait for the next best thing which is on occasion worse.
Or, what I have seen Dell do is offer more off but slightly change the unit values of components. The discount amount may be bigger but in the end you pay about the same.