Upgraded Vostro 2510?

Found a 35% off coupon for the Vostro 2510. This is the system I came up with:

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9500 (2.6GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista® Business SP115.4 in UltraSharp™ Widescreen WUXGA LCD Display w/TrueLife™
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMM
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS
250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with Free Fall Sensor
Fingerprint Reader and UPEK Protector Suite software
8X DVD+/-RW with double-layer DVD+/-R write
Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N Mini-card
Integrated 1.3 mega pixel Web Camera and Digital Microphone
9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
3 Year ProSupport for End Users and 3 Year NBD On-site Service
Dell Wireless 360 Bluetooth Internal for Vista
Intel Centrino Label

The total came to about 1325. I think the baseline 2510 is pretty anemic, but would this configuration give me similar performance to the XPS studio line? I really like the features of the xps studio line, but this 35% coupon seemed like a really good deal.

I'll be using the laptop for school, but also want to be able to use it effectively as a home entertainment computer with a big screen LCD TV.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. I just discovered this forum and think its great. Thanks!

 

If you are going to be gaming with this computer, the 8400M GS will be your Achilles' Heel. However, if you are just using this for entertainment and watching movies, it is an over-the-top machine and will perform gloriously.

Good luck!

 

I would say go for the 1520 if you are going Vostro, which aren't bad for the money btw. Only reason being its based on the latest platform and doesn't have the defective nvidia 8XXX GPU. The 2510 uses older technology. The 1520 doesn't offer the WUXGA screen so if you are looking for that then forget everything I'm saying.