Purchasing a Dell E1705..Clear my doubts plz

HI,
i m from India and planning to get a E1705 this May from the US.
The configuration would be-

Inspiron E1705 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7200 ( 2.00GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium with 1GB of memory
17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ TFT Display with TrueLife™(glossy)
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g
6-cell Primary Battery and 9-cell additional Lithium Ion Battery
1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
4-Port Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Pocket Hub & Travel Surge Protector Bundle

My question is ....Will i get it at a cheaper price if i make use of the DELL coupons??(If so ,i can get it shipped to a frnd of mine in the US and collect it from him) or going directly to some outlets in the city i will be visiting would be cheaper??

Thanks.

 

Yeah make use of the coupons and add at least the X1400 ATI card... people say talking on the phone can give u huge discounts.. but probably wont beat the coupons.. dont forget to ask the Vista CD... Have fun.. me gonna wait for the newer designs... probably hitting the markets in June

 

As for the shipping, dell ships pretty quickly and you should get it in a few days.

 

Should take 10-12 days

 

Ordered mine on the 25th.

Arrived 9am on the 30th.

That was freaking fast!

 

Never buy from Dell without a coupon.

 

Looking at the specs you've chosen I can see you want to get a fairly strong system for relatively cheap price. In my opinion though, you should have made a little different choices. First of all, I wouldn't put a T7200 on this system, its expensive, and you won't be able to utilize it a 100% on that system. So I'd go for a little cheaper core2duo cpu, which is still fast, but will save you something like $200, with those $200 I'd use a $100 of to get the x1400 instead of the intel 950, why? Because you'll be gaining alot on performance (more than taking a T7200 with integrated graphics), and you're keeping the option of upgrading your GPU in the future (systems with integrated gpu are not upgradeable..). I'd take the other $100 and get 2GB of RAM with it, that's another huge boost in performance. All the rest you can upgrade later on if you have the money/need to.
One more thing, I know DELL says it takes up to three weeks to ship new system, but mine shipped and delivered in five.

 

I agree with Balistic's recommendations.

 

just my opinion, its kinda pointless to get the e1705 without a video card. i mean if you op for a smaller laptop, you would get more battery life, and it would be much more portable.

right now my e1705 with a 7900gs is giving me 2 hours of battery life at max. not having a video card would prolly add to the battery life but im not entirely too sure how much more it would add.

but on another note, i do enjoy the 17 inch screen and the 1920x1200 resolution because i can open and use several programs at once. but thats about the only perk that i have with the e1705 if i didnt have a video card.