Vostro 1400 Questions Prepurchase

Hi guys, i recently missed out on the e1405 of deal, so im looking at the vostro 1400 and have a couple questions for those that own it or know about it

my no. 1 priority is battery life

1. there was a ~600 coupon off the e1405, dell must offer this again soon right i mean theres no way that they expect people to buy it for 1200 when they can get it for 600, do you think its worth waiting for this coupon seeing how the e1405 can get 5-8 hours on a 9 cell battery
2. what is the battery life like on a vostro with the integrated graphics and a 9 cell battery [if you have an answer please indicate what settings the laptop was on when you got the readings]
3. what kind of heat and noise does the vostro give off... in comparison to the e1405 if possible, am i going to experience fans turning on and off just doing light browsing, instant messaging, and note taking in class?
4. whats the native resolution of the truelife screen being offered with the vostros
5. if i load xp onto a vostro will i get better battery life? note that ill probably upgrade to 2 gigs of ram soon enough
6. whats the build quality of the vostro, if im usually pretty good to my electronics and am lugging it to classes in a sleeve in my backpack will i notice a lot of wear and tear, like paint peeling and what not
7. any other advice for me would be much appreciated, ive been trying to find a laptop in the price range with decent performance and great battery life for a while

 

almost 50 views, and not a single response?

 

1. battery life on my e1505, Vostro 1400, Inspiron 1501 is about the same. The Inspiron 1501 and Vostro 1400 are using Vista and 1505 is on XP. the 1505 and 1501 might be better battery wise(integrated graphics), but its nothing major.

2. no idea, i have vostro 1400 with 8400M GS. normal web surfing I get 4-5 hours on a 9-cell. brightness is 2 notch below max.

3. my vostro is definitely cooler than my Inspiron 1501. the fan on my vostro is always on, but its pretty quiet. I can use the Vostro on my lap and 30-40 minutes of web surfing later, the bottom is still cool to the touch.

4. native resolution depends on your choice

5. other ppl claim XP have better battery life, I haven't experienced that yet.

6. the laptop feels and looks solid, going to class shouldn't be a problem.

7. why is battery life such a concern for you anyways. I never understood why some ppl take their laptops to class to take notes,,,, I never take notes. If you study in the library(another phenomenon I never understood) there should be wall sockets every where.