Help me finalize my E6500 configuration

I am returning a studio 17 and will be purchasing a E6500 and would like some input on the final configuration.

My laptop use is in-home, while sitting in bed or in the recliner, little if any desktop use of this laptop as well as minimal travel (8 times per year car travel). I use the laptop for MS office applications, surfing the internet, photo viewing/editing, and occasional movie watching. No game playing.

What I like about the studio 17:
The huge screen real estate
The wonderful screen brightness, clarity, and uniform brightness

What I dislike about the studio 17:
The size is too big for prolonged laptop computing and moving around the house. I'm willing to give up the 17" screen for greater laptop computing comfort.
The mushy keyboard
The touchpad is jumpy and very irritating to use compared to previous HP's.
Concerned about build quality - my previous laptop was an old Latitude and I like the build quality.
1440x900 screen causes small fonts (I've played with the various settings but have found that nothing causes the fonts/menus etc to scale up equally). I will admit that after using the machine for a couple weeks my irritation in this department is easing just a bit.
I would prefer something that has a more robust warranty as I keep my computers for a long time. My previous latitide was made in 2001. I want some sort of warranty where I can talk to people who speak clear English.

Some of my questions:

How do I capture a screen shot of my configuration from the dell page to post it here? I can't seem to capture a clean shot that doesn't mess up the formatting.

My configured price is $1107 which includes an "instant savings" of $387. I assume this is some sort of sale? If so, I can't find out how long the sale is? I'm sure it is somewhere on dells site but darned if I can find it.

There seem to be a bunch of processor options but I just went with P8400 which is included in the price. Given my uses, is there any reason to go with a different processor?

The configuration has the vista license with XP downgrade deal. Will this work ok when I want to upgrade to win7 in the next couple of years?

I could have sworn when I configured this latitude a couple of weeks ago there was an option for a lower resolution screen but it looks like my lowest option now is the 1440x900?????

The only option provided was the nvidia 160m but I thought there was some sort of on-board option as well?

The configuration doesn't specify if the machine has an express card slot. Is this assumed?

Any input would be much appreciated.

Andy

 

When you Review and Add to Cart, just copy and paste "My System Details"? If you don't like doing that, you can always take a desktop screenshot and attach the file to your post...

Yes and no. Aside from their first couple weeks on the market, the machines have almost always had some sort of mark down like this; the end price is probably cheaper than what you would have been able to get at release, but not necessarily cheaper than what you could get a month ago or a month in the future. If I recally correctly, Dell updates their pricing every Thursday or something.

Nope, P8400 will suit you just fine.

The machine will run 7 fine, but you will need to buy yourself a legitimate copy of 7.

Where are you looking when you configure the machine? I have an option for a 1280 x 800 display and an option for the Intel integrated graphics solution... and I do believe the ExpressCard slot is assumed.

 

If you pick the base configuration to start customizing, you'll see the 1280x800 LED Backlit display as the default choice:

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...cs=04&kc=productdetails~laptop_latitude_e6500

Also, there is a free upgrade to the P8600 processor!

The people I dealt with at Dell Business support all speak good English. Much better service than that from the Home group, with the exception of XPS support.

 

Ok thanks. I was trying to copy and past from the print preview screen.

Edited: Thanks for the link. I must not have been configuring from the base unit.

Does opting for the 1280x800 have the potential for future trouble relative to viewing websites without having to scroll to the right? My understanding is you want to leave these lcd's at native resolution for the most part? Being the neanderthal that I am my desktop CRT display is set for 800x600 because that is the easiest to read, but more and more websites require scroll right. If that makes any sense.

I'm also confused about the first two warranty options.

Finally, either the XP downgrade upgrade to vista business later or the vista business OS's are included in the cost. If I can live with vista, is there any reason to not just go straight vista business vs. the xp downgrade route?

Thanks