Pulling the trigger on the m1330 - any must-have upgrades?

I just ordered an m1330, but I'm not very tech savvy, so I went with the basic configuration. I'm now starting to reconsider my choice of not upgrading any of the components.

Do you guys have any suggestions as to what you believe is a must-have upgrade for the m1330? I'm going to be lugging it around campus and will be using it mostly for word processing, web surfing and graphic/web design.

Here's my current config. I only upgraded to the LED display because the Dell rep told me it decreases the overall weight of the machine by 1lb, however I'd love to hear your personal experiences with it. Does it make that much of a difference and is it worth the extra $150? Thanks for your help!

Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5750 (2.0GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Memory: 3GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (1GB x 2GB)
LCD Screen & Camera: Slim and Light LED Display with VGA Webcam
Video Card: Intel® Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
Hard Drive: 250G 5400RPM SATA HDD
Operating System: Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium Edition SP1
Optical Drive: 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Card: High Definition Audio 2.0
Wireless Networking: Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card
Primary Battery: 6 Cell Battery

 

LED Doesnt decrease by 1lb....its like a few grams
but its well worth the price... LED Screen is great (bright, lighter, more energy efficient) i highly recommend it

how abotu upping the processot to a T8100 or T8300
Intel wireless-N card
reduce RAM to 2GB... should be enough for whatever u want to do

i guess u dont want the 8400 video card about so many problems

do u have access to Dell EPP?

 

Ummm... I definitely think you should upgrade that processor a little bit. And maybe even the videocard.... I'm not sure how intensive graphic design is on the GPU, but if it is, at all, I think you should upgrade the video card. The processor upgrade is just an all around good idea. Everything else seems fine to me.

Oh and the LED screen doesn't shave off a pound... I think it goes from like 4.07 pounds to 3.98 or something. I don't remember, but I don't think it's an entire pound. Though it is more energy efficient, brighter, and thinner!

 

keep the led screen. i believe it takes .5 pounds off of the lappie, the specs i've seen say it goes from 4.4lb to 3.97 approximately or something like that. if u can spare it i would upgrade the processor to a t8100, it is noticeably faster. u don't need anything faster than that unless u have spare cash. a must have upgrade is the intel wireless -n internet card. it has more range (dual antennas) and speed even if you are not using an -n router.

 

Upgrade to t8100 as said, and then cut down to 2gb of ram which is plenty for your uses.

 

If I wanted to upgrade my processor years down the line would I be able to?Sorry, I'm not computer savvy.

 

I keep hearing good things about the LED screen, so I guess I'll be keeping it. Is there a significant improvement in speed with the T8100 upgrade? I'm clueless when it comes to processors. All I know is that the higher the GHz the better, but I only saw a 0.1 increase in the T8100. Shows what I know, I guess, lol.

As much as I'd like to reduce the RAM, the site won't let me. I'm using this link to purchase the laptop.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to an EPP. Does Dell offer student discounts, though? That would be really useful (save me some money, lol).

 

Everybody's suggesting that I upgrade the processor and I guess it's doable, though my wallet isn't going to be happy about it. I'd do it if I could downgrade the RAM, however the website won't let me. I think I'll pass with regards to the video card because I don't do any gaming and the sort of design I do isn't too GPU intensive. Thank you for your advice!

 

How much I can spare really is the issue, I guess. With all these upgrades, what do you think is a reasonable price? I know that the new laptops are coming out soon, so do you think there'll be a price drop in the next few weeks?

 

u in canada...?

less discounts there... sorry, but i know a lot of stuff about USA, but not much about canada.....

there wont be another price drop soon.... my guess is dell's going to release the new m1530/m1330 refreshes soon, but who knows? its probably going to be more expensive with hte new models, but they probably wont have the GPU problems that haunt the XPS line currently....