memory or service plan?

I am buying my first notebook. Looks like dell Inspirion 1100 is the best deal. Budget is no more than $1000.00 The question, should I go for the free memory upgrade to 512 or take the $100.00 rebate and get the 2 year service plan? I will use the notebook for general use, some games (nothing major), surfing the web, e-mail. I am also not sure if I need the P4 2.4ghz processor or would the celeron 2.4ghz be enough? I am used to a PIII 450 on my desktop which is old but runs well. Any help would be appreciated!

 

Forget to mention go with the 2 or 3 years service plan and get the mobile chip instead. By the way, my desk top is pentium 450 and i love my dell 600m. Not really a problem the left side is little warmer than the right side.

 

I would go with the Dell 600m instead of the Dell 1100. I do not care much about the IEEE 1394 Port (digital device). Notebook memory are expensive, i would go with 512k. If you are not in a hurry to get the notebook, wait till deal offer 512k meomory for free. The most important thing to keep in mind is know what you are using the notebook for.

 

In my opinion the Dell 1100 is worth a 2-year warranty, but not more than that. If you're on a budget, fine, but it's still worth protecting this purchase with an extended warranty. I would configure it with 256MB of RAM and then use crucial.com or dell.com to pickup an extra stick of 256MB memory either now or at a later time. You'll actually find you'll pay less when you buy the memory separate from the laptop than by configuring it with the laptop. There's often 10% off sales and free shipping offers on memory so you can often get that for a good deal through Dell.