Inspiron 1720 questions + future estimates/guesses?

Hi guys. I was just about to purchase a 1720 for school (was hoping Id be able to get it around the first or second week of September). Looking at these boards, I dont think that will happen. In addition, last weeks "multimedia master" deal included a 2.0ghz processor, webcam included, with MS Office Student for about 1399. But now they went down to a 1.8ghz, webcam not included, and took out MS Office student. I didnt think they would step back that much for the same price.

The upgrades I wanted to put into it were 256mb video, bluetooth, wireless N network card, and a 9 cell battery..

Do you guys think the "deal" got less appealing because of the current logjam for all of the orders? From past experiences, would you suspect the deals will become more appealing in late September once the "back to school" craze is on the downslope?

I've never bought from Dell, nor payed attention to their patterns before. Any insight will be appreciated!

 

Also, is the wireless N card really worth it if all I have at home is a wireless G (i think) ?

 

Then the wireless N would be useless. I wouldn't buy it now, wait until after 8/27 when the XPS 1730 comes out, then it might get a price drop. And the delay should be fixed by then.

 

I ordered my 1720 just 2 nights ago, and it says it should ship by September 4. My girlfriend ordered hers on August 7th, and estimated ship date was August 28. We got it yesterday on August 17. There are a lot of delays, but some people actually are getting them done fast. I have noticed that color and video card come into play pretty big. Black and white will ship sooner, but also video card matters. Change from the integrated card to one of the other two cards and the ship date goes down as much as a week sometimes.