Need your opinion NOW!

I would like to ask you guys for some expert advice. I had my eye on a dell E1705 for a while now, and this week the price has dropped pretty steep and I would like to ask is it the right time to buy. My budget is below $2000 and this laptop is for college (but like hell is only going to be used for school work only, there’s also a BIG factor of gaming lol- especially my flight sims like Lock On, Falcon 4.0, MS2004, Il-2…etc and more to come in the future). If any of you boys are aware, these games demands for a pretty good rig, and that’s kinda hard to get on a laptop with a good price. But finally I met the E1705 with decent specs and price. This is what I’m getting:

IntelDuo Processor T2500 (2GHz/667MHz FSB)
17in UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA display with TrueLife
1 GB shared dual channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667 MHz
256MB Go 7800
100 gig HD 5400RPM
8x CD/DVD burner
Integrated Audio (should I upgrade this?)
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Total cost (plus shipping, tax, coupon)= $1,642.57

So what do you boys think, do you think the price will drop the next few weeks or should I seize this opportunity to get it. I been waiting 3 years to get this new comp and certainly not waiting for another year for vista or dx10 to come out so the price will drop, so…to buy or not to buy?

 

Buy when you need it...there will always be another deal from Dell.

 

I would call them and try to get the 1Gb of ram in one channel (for future upgrade purposes). Also with dell you want a warranty!

 

yea its 1 year warranty, i don't plan to smash this to the ground anytime soon. I know 1 year is low, but the cost of pushing that over to 2-4 years is a lot. I just have to take care of it.

On the side note: I'm a high school senior so this laptop will be for college use, but I would like to do some gaming over the summer. I know the price might fluctuate between now and June or September so I want to know should I seize this opportunity? Or gamble and wait for 1 month (day I graduate) that the price will be lower. I'm also trying to get the 12% discount for EPP, is that possible for this laptop and I'm not a college student yet? Or could some kind soul out there give me a code?

 

If you are carrying this to class everyday, 17" might be a little big.

 

Personally i could care less about weight and size. I would carry arounda 50 lb laptop if it provides me the gaming i need, i just see it as a good workout

 

Just my opinion, but if I was lugging that bad boy to class every day, I would buck up for the complete care coverage. You may not be clumsy, but I've seen other ppl knock over and spill stuff on other people's laptops in class. And I'm not even going to get into what happens during extra-curricular time at university

Other than that, if this config is what you've been waiting all this time for, make the leap and buy it! Chances are the price won't drop very dramatically over the summer, and Dell's coupons and deals seem more or less equal to each other in all their different manifestations. You can keep waiting and waiting, and the price will come down eventually, but then you may want to consider the cost of your time waiting without a laptop, time you could have been spending sitting on the toilet playing video games!

 

I would buy it right now but i keep hearing about this stackable coupons that i can't find. Some of these coupons could seriously drop the price down to 1100-1400 and i would like to have that. If anyone could help me, please do because time is running out.

 

Another reason i'm kinda hesitating to buy is because rumors are coming in that dell bought alienware and that might change the price. I wanted an athlon in my system but dell can't provide that for me. But alienware does but it comes in a heavy price.