Vostro 1310- buy now or later?

I bought my best friend a DELL Inspiron 1520 as a gift back in 10/07. It replaced his desktop as his only personal compter. He also has a ThinkPad T61, but for work use only. About nine months ago, his job changed and he is now on the road 4-5 days per week. The 1520 is to bulky to be easily portable, especially since he has a 15.4" ThinkPad in tow at the same time. So...

The Vostro 1310 seems like a much better travel companion (4.5lbs vs. 6.7lbs, thinner and 13.3" vs. 15.4" display). Dell is currently offering the Vostro 1310 with XP, 3GB RAM, 250GB 7200rpm HD, 1.8GHz T5670, 9-cell Battery and 3-year NBD On-Site Warranty for $649! At that price, I don't see how I could go wrong.

I just have a few questions-

-The 1.8GHz T5670 (800MHz FSB, 2mb L2 cache) seems perfectly adequate, especially with XP Pro and 3GB RAM. His current Inspiron has a 1.66GHz T5450, so the T5670 is a bit faster. Any reason to consider the T5870 for $75 more?

-The 13.3" WXGA display is available in Anti-Glare and TrueLife versions. Since this won't be used in an office or outdoors environment, the TrueLife option seems like the better choice. Any reason to reconsider the Anti-Glare?

-I'm not sure what the exterior actually looks like. I know it's black but the photos don't show the finish or texture. Is it a fairly durable finish (resitant to scratches and chips)?

Thanks for your help!

 

that is a good price. unless he's doing something really processor intensive, there's not going to be a noticeable difference in speed. So possibly not worth the 75 bucks as its a significant percentage of the total price.

personally i like truelife (glossy) but it annoys me too much when there are reflections. its a personal thing. he has to make up his mind which he prefers.

the exterior is ok. it dosent seem as rugged as the latitude E5x00 series or the thinkpad R series, but is more durable than the inspirons/studios i feel.

the finish is matte.