XPS m1530: Need help on pulling on the trigger

Hey guys.. faced with a dilemma here. I've been holding out for Penryn on an xps m1530 but I just got a 20% off coupon and I was able to configure the exact system I want but with a T7250 for $1350 including taxes. A similarly equipped system with a T7700 comes out to $1900 with taxes.

My question is for the warranty. Price wise it's a no brainer to grab this system and buy a penryn cpu in a few months for less than $200. How much of the warranty is voided by popping in a new cpu? Would it be a waste of money to get a 3 year complete care warranty if I'm going to upgrade the cpu myself? Thanks...

 

I just don't get why people want that Penryn so badly as pretty much no benchmarks and comparisons have been established yet. I'm on the T7500 here and it runs just freaking great and fast. Battery wise, I have close to 5 hours of unplugged power with the 9 Cell, it's pretty huge imo.

If you have a good deal right now, just jump on it, this machine is a marvel.

 

good answer Merranza

amen!!

 

Do it! Do it! Do it!

The XPS laptops are obviously the finest dell can put together so by getting one for such a low price you'd be crazy not to if it's what you really want. It seems like you're debating whether or not the penryn option will be the same price as the santa rosa chip options. The answer is yes but only after that coupon expires so you don't really save any money anyways. At least, with my luck that is what would happen. Order the XPS now (and please remember to only get the bare minimum ram and upgrade ram on your own). Oh and keep the processor and any other original parts you replace handy in case you need to send your whole unit back for repairs. This might still be a technical void of warranty but at elast they'll get back what you ordered from them so really no damage is done

 

Your warranty will be VOID if you change the processor

 

The warranty on the entire system will be void? If I change the processor and the sound card blows up then they won't touch it?

 

Well, if that happens, just pop back in the original processor and send it back like that... problem solved!

 

You'll take the plunge eventually,
I took the plunge on december,
regrets?
no.

I remember I had a thread on this...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=209951

 

Hey Ben .. good links. I think I will pull the trigger today. I have in my hands an m1330 I received last week with the worst grainy screen.

2 out of the last 3 system I received from dell had poor screens. I'll give them one more shot before never buying a Dell again.

 

Here here...drop the hammer. What bits of info I've read on Penryn performance is that it is *evolutionarily* better, not *revolutionary*. Marginal performance improvements. If you've got a good deal on a configuration you want, go for it.

Standard grainy or "unevenly bright" screen caveat applies. Hate to beat that dead horse, but it is a factor.