Heavily considering m1530, did they change the config recently?

I am seriously considering buying an m1530 at this time. I have been for a few weeks and haven't made a final decision because the current deal lasts until Jan 31. I'm wondring if anyone has noticed a change in their configuration options for the 1530?

It seems that if you pick the most expensive featured notebook, it now comes with only the 1440 and 1680 screens available. In addition, the 250 gb 5400 rpm hard drive is standard, and the only way to change it to a 7200 rpm HD is to pay another 100 bucks.

I think it used to be that you could change to a smaller 7200 rpm HD without a change in cost. I'm worried because I plan to play a decent amount of games and don't want to get caught up with the slower hard drive.

My current config specs are the t7500 (cheapest with 4 MB cache), 1440 screen, 250 gb 5400 rpm hard drive, 9 cell battery. The total is $1700. For some reason I remember it not being quite this expensive last week with the same stuff but the most basic hard drive. Any insight would be great!

Edit: I also added the 4 year warranty with the $70 gift card and the lo jack for 4 years, so that increases the price by $180.

 

I ordered an M1530 last Tuesday with the t7500, 3GB RAM, 120Gb 7.2K HD, 1440 screen, 6 cell battery, Bluetooth, Vista Business, Intel N wireless, and it was $1,459 (when you take away MS Office). Their offerings seem to change on a daily basis which is a good reason to peruse flamenko's post on how to negotiate the best deal you can (see his signature for link).

 

I had a 5400rpm HD on my 1520, I have a 7200 rpm on my 1530.....I DON'T NOTICE A DIFFERENCE. I know some my disagree, but if tere is one, Its so minor, its barely noticable.

If you can use an EPP/MPP id number...you'll save another $200 dollars with %12 off.

 

Yea I have an MPP I can use, so that helps a lot. What is all this I hear about penryn's and such? How can I tell one processor from another when customizing. I know they aren't "really" available yet except for that product red one, but when they do come out how can I tell?

 

I think there was a price increase last week even though the $1399 special was not supposed to expire until the end of the month. I also had an EPP "discount" but I was told the "discount" applied only to the full retail price not the "special" price. I ordered my 1530 last Thursday - tried negotiating but I basically got the online price:

223-35271XPS M1530, Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB 2M L2 Cache)
313-58141Tuxedo Black Casing XPS M1530
311-782213GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm, for XPS M1530
320-6078115.4 inch Wide Screen WXGA+ TrueLife LCD with 2.0 MO Camera for XPS M1530
420-77151Camera Software XPS M1530 2.0MP
320-60821256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
341-62371120G 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive Free Fall Sensor
420-68131Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, English
420-75901Media Direct 3.3
420-69951DELL SUPPORT 3.4,DIM/INSP
420-57691Internet Search and Portal
420-59241Icon Consolidation Application
420-64361Vista, PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
463-22821Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access
310-97641DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP, XPSM1530
412-09461Dell Travel ExpressCard Remote Control, IR
420-74681ADOBE ACROBAT READER 8.1 DIM/INSP
313-582018X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive for XPSM1530
420-64641Roxio Creator Basic
313-47831Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0
430-26761Intel 3945 WLAN (802.11a/g) Mini Card, for XPS M1530
412-09591Norton Internet Security 2007 15 Month
312-0638156 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion P Primary Battery, for XPS M1530
365-12341Readyware Installation Fee
412-13971No Productivity Software requested
988-56271Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Initial Year
984-23801Type 3 Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, Initial Year
988-56281Dell Hardware Warranty PlusOnsite Service, Extended Year(s)
983-59521Type 3 Contract - Next Business Day Parts and Labor On-Site Response, 2YR Extended
960-87101Warranty Support,Initial Year
960-36521Warranty Support,2 Year Extended
412-03591Soft Contracts - Qualxserve
310-86281You have chosen a Windows Vista Premium System
310-93481Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
310-89771S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forBSD Systems Boxes
430-25661Dell Wirless 355 Bluetooth Module (2.0+EDR)
410-11961Adobe Pepe,English
420-74681ADOBE ACROBAT READER 8.1 DIM/INSP
Subtotal:$1,479.99
Shipping and Handling:$0.00

Sales Tax:$123.99
Total:$1,603.98

 

when I bought mine only the most expensive one had the discount, and some items such as you mentioned did not have lower options. Sometimes you can go head and order, or configure and save your cart, then call in and get them to change what you want while keeping the discount.

 

For laptops, the dual-core Penryn's that are becoming available are:

X9000 2.8 GHz 6MB
T9500 2.6 GHz 6MB
T9300 2.5 GHz 6MB
T8300 2.4 GHz 3MB
T8100 2.1 GHz 3MB​

http://newsadmin.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTE5OTU5Mzc0MXJrZ2duMTlEUllfMV84X2wuanBnLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0