Please rate my 1530 configuration!

How's this config? The price is $1524 + 25%off coupon + $100tax = ~$1250

Some questions though:
1) Should I get the 8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB, 3MB Cache) or the 7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)? They are the same price. One has more cache, the other has more ghz.

2) Should I get the 2gb -> 3gb ram upgrade (+$50) or the 160gb hd 5400rpm -> 250gb hd 5400rpm upgrade (also +$50)? I definitely don't need the extra space on the harddrive but will a 250gb be much faster? What's the better bang for the buck?

3) I've heard that a lot of 1680 CCFLs have grainy screens. How is the quality on the 1440 LEDs? What is my chance of getting a bad one?

4) Also, will a 6 cell be good enough? I'm a entering college student. I will basically just be using this laptop in my dorm room and at the library, both locations have power outlets I think?

Please check if my other "accessory" items are ok as well. Thanks very much!


My Components
Tuxedo Black
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB, 3MB Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition
High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LED LCD (1440x900) & 2.0 M
3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
Size: 160GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
High Definition Audio 2.0
Finger Print Reader XPS M1530

My Software & Accessories
No Security
No Microsoft Office

My Service
1Yr In-Home Service, Parts Labor,24x7 Phone Support
Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr
No ISP requested

Also Includes
Windows Vista™ Premium
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
High Res, Black glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LED LCD (1440x900) & 2MP Ca

 

1) Get the 8300 if you care about saving battery life and your notebook running cooler.

Get the 7500 if you just want more power, but don't mind slight sacrifice in battery life.

2) Do NOT get any ram upgrades, stick with the standard 2GB and buy 1 2GB stick from Newegg for MUCH cheaper than what dell asks for for 4GB. You want to have 4GB to take advantage of symmetric dual channel. If you get 3GB, performance wont be as good because you will only have 2GB that is dual channel.

Get the hard drive upgrade over the RAM! 250gb will be faster because of its higher platter density.

3) There is always a chance of getting a grainy screens, but compared to all the other WSXGA and WUXGA screens, LED screens have been flawless. Only one reported case of some light bleed on the bottom of there screen, but other than that, no graininess or problems of the sort.

Your config looks good, but I highly recommend getting 2GB instead of 3GB for the reasons I mentioned. You may want to use the extra money to get an Intel Next gen N card as Dell cards have been known to have common occurrences of dropping connections mysteriously without cause or fix. Plus you get a nice Intel Centrino Sticker to boot.

You may also want to put a checkmark next to Integrated Bluetooth EDR just so that you have it, its only 20 bucks.

if you can get the T9300 2.5 ghz processor, it would be the best and to me, that would outweigh the hard drive upgrade just because you don't need all the storage, the bluetooth, and MAYBE the wireless just so that you have an excellent processor that is top of the line.

 

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