Questions on 1420 configuration

After weeks of searching and thinking I finally made a decision on the 1420. I am choosing the Best of the 1420 with the Dellcare plan- 3 years. Need the computer to last. I did fill out the FAQ a while back and now I choose the computer. Basically my daughter needs the computer for college, basic general stuff. Surfing, emailing, word processing, chating and definitely music. No gaming. Now I have a couple of questions before placing the order, which will be placed over the phone cuz I want all the discounts that I am entitled to, EPP and the 200 discount. Since 2 days ago the price has changed so I need to call. I did not feel as though the Dell repres are qualified though when it comes to answering questions about the hardware. So for my questions:
1. It comes with T5450, should I upgrade to 7300 for $116?
2. It comes with 120gb-5400, should I upgrade to 160gb-5400 for $70 or
160gb-7200 for $116?
3. Should I upgrade 1,2 neither or both?
4. It comes with 802.11g card. Should I upgrade for the a/g or the N card?
Right now at home I have the Linksys Wireless G router and don't know if
the N card with work with this router. I do not want to change it,
basically cuz I don't know how!

The graphics card it fine, no gaming. Well that about sums it up, I think.

 

1. no, instead go for the T7100
2. if she has ALOT of music get the 160
3. no, yes
4. The N really isn't out and big yet, but it supports g, so choose either.

 

Thanks, for the 7100 advice. Now for the 160gb, should it be 5400 or 7200. To me she has alot of music like say 1000 songs. Well is N will work with G router then that is good.

 

If music is all that she does, 5400rpm drive is fine. Besides, the 7200 rpm drive eats battery life, and produces more heat.

Actually, the N-draft speed is not officially released yet, so it won't be supported by many people, although there are N-type routers out there. But I heard/read one of the benefit of an N-type card is that it will achieve better speed with a G-router, better than a g-to-g card-to-router. But I might have been wrong/read it wrong. I would get at least the a/g card. I think g will support both b/g, but a is at different frequency.

 

On the processor, if your daughter is not doing anything intensive, the 5450 should be good enough. It saves you a lot of money. But the 7100 should make it future proof, although it has only 2mb cache compare to the 7300 with 4mb cache. So I would disagree with crimsonman and choose 7300 w/ 4mb cache if I want to future-proof the machine. Otherwise I would stick with 5450.

 

Thanks everyone for all your advice. This does get confusing. Funny though, we have 3 computers and I don't know how any one of them is configured! I probably will go with the 7300 for future proof, just like the N router one day.

 

Well, I finally called to order the system, called twice! First time the figures were almost 200 more than the internet price. He couldn't understand how I got a 12 percent off and he wouldn't honor the 200 coupon. Second time I called rep. FINALLY figured it out to the same price as internet and said she could take some more money off. It came to $5.01 off! That is using the dell preferred account which I think I read you get 4% off. I got so frustrated that I didn't purchase. I told them that the 200 coupon worked a couple of days ago, Tuesday night and they wanted to know then why didnit I order it then!!! The price I have is so close the the Macbook Pro deal, I am not sure what to do. Ok thanks for letting me say all that, I feel better now, LOL.

 

in case you still do end up getting the dell

i don't think its necessary to get the 7100/7300 processor
i think for a college student, you should include the 'n' wireless card, it'll be available in a couple years and it'll be useful
120gb hard drive should be fine. if she doesn't play video games, theres no way you can pack up 120gb with normal homework and applications.

 

Yeah, even 1000 songs would only be like 5GB, assuming they're of regular length mp3s. That's really just a drop in the bucket even if it's a 120GB drive. The thing you need to be worried about is movies + TV shows. Those really add up quick.

 

Thanks once again. Not sure if I should even buy it now, Dell just got me soooo mad.... I read so many posts that say to call and they can do better. AT the beginning they didn't even understand their own price quotes that I get online!!! But thank you again at least I know now what specs to get in the computer

 

Don't worry about it - I went through much the same experience the past couple days. They ended up not budging at all (three reps...) so I just ordered it online since the 15% coupon ended up being better than my EPP discount, which they couldn't combine. Ah well. You win some you lose some.