dm4t, dm6tse, or just control my self and wait for an ENVY 14 deal

This deal on the Pavilion laptops ($400 off once you hit $1300) is killing me.
First off I would be completely fine with this envy 14:
-Core i5 450
-4GB ram
-320GB HDD

I would love the 1600x900 radiance display. However, I can't say that I would need it. I have VAIO FZ160E with a 1280x800 display. I'm assuming the 1366x768 will be similar to it.

I think I would be happy with the Core i5 450 but having an extra $400 to spend makes me really tempted to get a dm4t for the Core i7 620M.

This would be the dm4t I would be getting:
-Core i7 620M
-4GB ram
-500GB HDD
-Bluetooth + wireless
-512MB Radeon 5450 swithchable
-high capacity 6cell battery

If I got the DV6tSE I would get:
-Core i5 540
-6GB ram
-500GB HDD
-Bluetooth + wireless
-Backlit keyboard
-1GB 5650 switchable
-High capacity 6cell battery

What I will be doing with the laptop:

Its for grad school. I will very likely never run any high caliber game on this laptop. I will like to attach the laptop to a 720p HDTV and run videos smoothly (I think even the integrated GPU should be able to handle this?!). I will be doing photo editing (photoshop). Very little video encoding. I will want to run some engineering programs like Autocad and Solidworks, Fluent and Gambit. I will also be using MATLAB.

So here are my questions:

1. First off, is today the last day on the $400 off offer for pavilions?

2. How much weaker would a 5450 be compared to a 5650? Is it worth $100 to get a 1Gb over a 512MB 5450? Will I need the extra 512MB?
I'm not really familiar with the ATI lineup but the 5450 makes me feel a little nervous about choosing the dm4t.

3. I've heard that the DV6tSE has a good build quality (similar to the ENVY 14). Is this also true about the dm4t?

4. Is the 620M much more powerful than the 540 and 450? Is it quad core?

5. Are the high-capacity 6cell batteries much different?

6. I'll want to be able to have good wireless connections at the university. Will an Intel wireless be much (or any) different than non-intel wireless?

7. How bad is the touchpad on the dm4t? is it similar to the ENVY or have they improved the ENVY's touchpad?
BTW, I never use the left click button. I just tap.

8. Am I nuts? Should I just wait for an ENVY deal?
I will need a laptop by Sep. I can wait. I'll be moving to Oregon in September so if I order it from OR I wont have to pay tax. I don't usually follow laptop deals closely. Is it likely for me to get something like a minimum of $250 off deal for the ENVY 14 by then? I am out of the country now so even if I order now I'll have to send it to a friend and I wont actually have my laptop till September.

 

1. No clue

2. The 5450 is ALOT weaker than a 5650. I'd say the 5650 is almost twice as powerful. It's not worth the extra $100 for the 1 GB. The extra VRAM would be useful if the screen had a higher resolution. I think CAD programs MIGHT benefit but I really am not sure and besides performance would be negligible.

3. yes

4. A good deal more powerful than the 450, not so much the 540 (about 5%-10% faster). It's not quad core but it does consume more power than the i5s. If you still want good battery life I'd stick with a high range i5 processor.

5. yes. They have about a 15% more capacity

6. Get the Intel one, has better reception and range

7. I've heard it takes getting used to, especially if you click. Since you just tap, I don't think it will be too much of an issue.

8. yes To which question, I'll never tell. As for waiting for a deal on the Envy, it could be awhile. The Envy 14 seems to be selling like hotcakes.

But I have a couple questions for you. Are you going to play ANY games at all? If so can you tell which ones? If it's nothing too demanding I seriously think you should look at some Lenovo laptops, especially the T510 or W510.

 

I don't think that the coupon has an expiration date, I could be wrong though, so it code end any time.

The 5450 is roughly half as good as the 5650 and if you do end up getting the dm4 then do not spend the extra money for the 1GB. The performance increase of the 512MB will be little to none. The 5450 is a lower mid range card that can play most games out right now at low settings at the least while the 5650 is a higher mid range card that can max out a lot of games. From your description of what you will be doing I feel like the 5450 would be enough for you, though.

Both the dv6 and dm4 have exceptional build quality.

It is not quad core and I definitely don't consider it worth the $100 over the 540M

Like levi said, they have about 15% more capacity (62Wh to 55Wh) so they offer about 15% more battery.

The Intel ones supposedly have better range and reception but if you are living on campus then I would save money and go with the standard one, universities usually have excellent wireless networks.

You should be fine, then, as long as you don't rest your thumb or finger on the clickpad I find that the touchpad is great.

If you want to order now then the dm4t is the best of the bunch for portability, the dv6 the best for price/performance ratio, and the Envy is the combination of portability and performance at a higher price.

 

It expires after 1350 uses so could be any time that it expires (as in now or five days from now).

 

Well, I will have to spend over $1300 to make use of the coupon. If I don't use it on the CPU, I can use it on the extra 512MB VRAM (which I think would be less worth while). Or I could get an SSD. I'm not sure about getting an SSD though. Truth be told I suck at getting backups from my files and I'm afraid something will go wrong and I'll lose all my files. Also, 128GB is too little. I have 200GB on my current laptop and I feel like I have no breathing room. I do photography as a hobby and I have to deal with a lot of large files at times which tend to just sit on my HDD for a while (RAW pictures can be 20MB each). I think I would need at least 320GB, but 500GB makes me feel safer.

Another issue is, when deciding how I should configure an ENVY 14 I reached the conclusion that I would get the 450M over the 520M because I wouldn't need any if the extra features the 520M has. I feel the 540M has a slight edge over the 520M, but I still wouldn't get it even if it was available on the ENVY.

The CPU is basically one of the only advantages the dm4t has over the ENVY in my opinion, and I'm not sure I can justify it if I go with the 540M.

I'm not considering the dv6 much because I was looking for getting a lightweight laptop this time around. I take my laptop everywhere and I always carry it around. This is basically what got my FZ 160 destroyed. It had poor build quality and it was heavier because it was a 15 inch laptop. Also my girlfriend keeps on complaining that I should get a light weight laptop because she says I'll damage my knees carrying a heavy laptop around all day. Anyway, does the weight difference between the dm4t and the ENVY 14 feel much?

 

I held a dv6t at best buy. It was pretty light for a 15.6 incher.

 

The 160gb SSD would be much more durable if you are going to be carrying it around all day.

Sorry, this is funny and I had to quote it.

 

+1, if anyone damage their knees for carrying around a 2.5 kg laptop.....

 

)
She says I damage them because I'm always running down stairs with the laptop on my back. Of course the bag ways closer to 5 Kg with all the crap I jam into it. At first I laughed at her when she told me this but now I think I should start laughing at myself since I have unconsciously stopped considering the dv6