Configuring a laptop, is it better to max it now or leave for upgrades?

as it says... the thread about the CPU got me thinking...

i know the price of CPU's are not too expensive these days and it goes down later on...

i'm really excited about the M6400 and i'm wondering... is it

this config comes out to $2696, which is very doable...

• 
  [*]Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (2.40GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1067MHZ) Dual Core
• Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate SP1, With media
• 17" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WUXGA (1920x1200) LCD Display
• 3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site Service
  [*]NVIDIA Quadro FX 2700M, 512MB Discrete
  [*]1.0GB, DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM, 1 DIMM
• All Hard Drives, Non-RAID, 1 or 2 drive total configuration
  [*]80GB Hard Drive, 5400RPM
• 8X DVD with Cyberlink Power DVD™
• 9 Cell Battery
• Intel® WiFi Link 5100 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
• Internal English Backlit Keyboard
• Internal Swipe Fingerprint Reader
• Integrated 2.0 MP webcam with dual digital array microphone
• Resource DVD - Contains Diagnostics and Drivers
• No Modem edit

now the blue parts i know i can upgrade easily later on... and may be smarter to do aftermarket upgrade to get more bang for the buck...

but the red parts, namely the CPU and GPU, easily upgradable?
wise to leave to upgrade?

 

No GPU is not upgradable at all and CPU upgrading will void your warranty

 

Well...for one you won't have the Dell NBD service if anything happens. I'd rather try getting a good deal than upgrading CPU and GPU later on myself....gladly pay more now for not having to go through all that

 

Ok... the hurdle just got a wee bit taller... lol

then as said on the CPU thread... better spend the money on the GPU rather than CPU, eh?

 

Exactly.

Max GPU, and possible CPU, as much as you can afford now. Upgrade RAM and harddrive yourself. You can then upgrade the processor yourself once the warranty is expired.

 

Yeah but that'll take 3 years with this model....kind of a long wait for an upgrade i think...i'd be looking for my next laptop by that time. Though the m6400 can ofcourse last longer, if configured high now

 

I've never seen an economical advantage to upgrading a processor in a laptop- especially Intel. By the time a significantly faster CPU is available in a mobile package, the physical package has changed (socket/pin count) or the chipset requirement has changed. Once you have the 1066 FSB and 6MB cache, the differences are incremental rather than earth-shattering. I honestly doubt you could tell the difference between a 2.53 and 3.06GHz processor in normal use. If you are performing long renders, transcoding/encoding video or other time-sensitive tasks go for the faster CPU- it will pay off in shorter work times. If you buy the cheapest processor available and try to buy a faster one when prices come down, I think you'll be disappointed and won't save much money. Buy a T-series processor you can afford, and be happy with it. Upgrading optical drives is a mixed bag- You can, but swapping trim pieces is a royal pain. Graphics Cards are a toss-up- odds are Dell will come out with upgraded graphics cards for the platform. There used to be talk of garanteeing 1 generation of upgrade compatibility, but I dunno how that panned out. Simple fact is Latitude E and Precision are at the start of a new long-life platform and I don't expect to see the same cards in them when they move to Latitude F.
Hard Drive and Memory are where you can save your money and go wild- Dell's upgrade prices are outrageous. Crucial offers top-quality memory with a lifetime warranty- no hassle. You can get the 320GB HDD from NewEgg for $120 delivered to your door, or join me in holding out for the 500GB 7200.4.
Internal cards are another possible upgrade route, but I doubt you'd save much money over Dell's prices. Get what you need now and upgrade as needed down the road.

All of these opinions are mine and carry no special weight beyond personal experience. YMMV.

 

I would personally get the highest GPU.

 

You're one day too late. Until yesterday you could get a 25-30% off coupon off eBay, these forums, or places like SlickDeals and FatWallet. I advise waiting a little while longer until they do a similar deal, or apply those discounts right to the M6400.

It would be silly to buy right after a discount like that, and you'd probably kick yourself if they ran a similar promotion in a couple weeks. Then you can configure the GPU and CPU you want.

Also, Christmas is around the corner, and retail sales are beyond bad, so we're going to see crazy deals on just about everything over the next couple months. Do NOT pay retail in this market! It's one of the only perks in a recession. The consumer has power.

 

well, the biggest hurdle is to convince the missus that i need another lappy despite my new RED and OBVIOUS studio 17... lol...

i see all the options they have for the CPU... but again... i'm sitting here thinking... yea, it'd be nice to have the "QX9999999999" series CPU but it would be technology wasted on me...

seriously... anodized aluminum... hmmm... they do have anodizing services out there... that is, after the 3 years... lol...

now about the missus...