Dell Exchanges M1710 for M1730

After going through 3 GPU's, heat sinks, fans, motherboards, processors, etc... Dell is finally going to replace my M1710. On the e-chat Dell said the replacement would be an Alienware M17x but now it looks like its going to be a XPS M1730. Is that a fair replacement? Should I still try for the Alienware M17x or just be happy with the M1730. It looks like a lot of people are having problems with the 8800 GTX SLI GPU's, the same issue I was having with my M1710. Also, my warranty runs out at the end of this month, should I extend it. Below are the specs, I have no idea what they mean.

M1710
1 NK819 Processor, T7600G, 2.33, 4MB, NapaRefresh Merom, Burn 2
1 NG409 Kit, Cable, S-VID, Component, SonyPhillips Digital Interface Format, West
1 MN331 KIT..., SOFTWARE..., DELL MEDIA DIRECT..., 3, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE...
1 X9366 Assembly, Adapter, Alternating Current, 130W, Lead Free, LTON World Wide
1 K2490 Cord, Power, 110V, 6F, AlternatingCurrent, 3W, PROPOSITION 65..., United States
1 WG343 Keyboard, 87, United States ENG, SINGLE POINTING..., M1710
1 CF456 ASSEMBLY..., BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP)..., GIGABIT..., M1710
1 GU067 Card, Graphics, 512MB, IUPGA4B Mid-Life Kicker
1 RJ421 Card, Wireless, Lead Free, Internal, Bluetooth, 355
1 UT879 Kit, Software, Overpack, WXPPSP2 Compact Diskette W/documentation, English
1 RC449 Hard Drive, 100G, 9.5, 7.2, SerialAta, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, Moraga Plus
1 DY654 Kit, Software, Works, 8.5, Office TRIAL, English
1 NC293 Card, Network, Minicard, 3945ULD Dell Americas Organization
1 YC640 Assembly, Dvd+/-rw, 8X, Sony Sullivan/tobago
1 HH258 Liquid Crystal Display, 17, WU Video Elec. Stds. Assoc., GlareWide Viewing Angle, LG PHILIPS LCD..., V2
1 XU670 Assembly, Cable, Coaxial, Liquid Crystal Display, 17 Zanzibar/rikers/suva, V2
2 Y9530 Dual In-line Memory Module 1GB, 667, 128X64, 8K, 200
1 XP115 Battery, Primary, 11.1V, 9C Lithium, Sony, 2
1 CF199 Assembly, Bezel, Liquid Crystal Display, Notebook, 9400/M1710
1 CK047 Heatsink, Central Processor Unit, Notebook, M1710/M90
1 PD608 PLACEMAT..., GETTING STARTED..., EXTREME PERFORMANCE SYSTEM..., M1710, DAO/EMEA
1 RG723 Assembly, Cover, Liquid Crystal Display, Black, Notebook, M1710
1 CF426 Assembly, Cover, Hinge, Plastic M1710
0 01323 INFORMATION..., NO ITEM
6 J7841 Bumper, Liquid Crystal Display Rubber, Small, Notebook
4 2864D Screw, M3X3, K SCREW HEAD..., MICROSOFT..., BLACK OXIDE...
1 X4474 Guide, Product, Information Portable, AMF/BCC
1 CW851 TECHNICAL SHEET..., MICROSOFT..., MESSAGE..., VISC, PERSONAL COMPUTER..., WORLD WIDE...
1 RD117 Guide, Owner, Extreme Performance System, M1710 England/english

M1730
1 G461C Base,Notebook,CPEN,T9300,M1730 $336.16
1 0293D Module,Cord,Power,120V,6 Ft $.00
1 0797C Customer Kit,Documentation, Airborne $1.99
1 5T445 Module,Cable,Video, Digital Video Interface, Video Graphics Adapter, Dimension $2.94
1 C912C Module,Label,Intel,Notebook Core Merom,Core Penryn $.00
1 CW774 Service Install Module Software,Inspiron,M1730 $.00
1 CY416 Module,Software,Dell Media Direct,3.5,Operating System $4.97
1 DP434 Module,Card(Circuit),Network DW1395,Inspiron,Dell Americas Organization $7.58
1 DR146 Module,Software,VU32,Inspiron English,Dell Americas Organization,No Docs/diskettes $.31
1 FK244 Module,Software,DT-ICLNR Dell Americas Organization $.00
1 FT348 Module,Assembly,Base,M1730 $165.87
1 GT655 Module,Liquid Crystal Display 17WU,W/CMRA,M1730,SHAR $261.41
1 GW010 Module,Cable,Video,Digital Video Interface,HDMI,INSP $3.25
1 GX251 Module,Insert,Plastic,WHITE Liquid Crystal Display,M1730 $6.08
1 HU144 Module,Card,Graphics Physics Processing Unit,128MB,Notebook $127.00
1 J206C Module,Software,Dell Connect 2.1,Dell Americas OrganizationEMEA,Brazil Customer Center $.00
1 JN197 Ship Group,Notebook,United States,M1730,DAO-MDS $5.24
1 K174C Module,Dual In-line Memory Module,4GB,800MHZ,DDR2,2X2G $82.80
1 KJ999 MOD,INFO,MSOFT,VAL $.00
1 KX954 Module,Card,Graphics,IUPGA5C G92,Scalable Link Interface $800.00
1 N537F Module,Software,VU32SP1 Digital Video Disk Drive,MUL5 Dao/bcc $.44
1 NW220 Module,Dvd+/-rw,8X,Ide (integrated Drive Electronics),M1730,TSST $36.50
1 PR117 Module,Card,Network Bluetooth 355,Windows Vista Os $2.80
1 T013C Module,Software,Works,9 English $9.95
1 UW429 Module,Keyboard,101,United States,M1730,Dell Americas Organization $23.70
1 UY392 Module,Information,Liquid Crystal Display,Cover,WCMRA Corsica/Gilligan/Sapporo/Yebis $.00
1 W001F Module,Hard Drive,320,7.2,FreeFall Sensor,SGT-CAS,INS $64.00
1 W871N Module,Software,WINDOWS-LIVE Consumer $.00
1 WJ380 Module,Information,NO RAID Inspiron $.00
1 WP008 Module,Accessory,Binder,M1730 England/english,Dell Americas Organization $14.82
1 WW439 Module,Label,Microsoft,WindowsVista Os,Premium,Small $.02
1 WX695 Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,230W,Delta - Ac Adapt World Wide $34.00
1 XG487 Module,Battery,Primary,80WHR 9C,SANYO $50.05
1 XM544 Module,Software,PC-RESTORE Transactional Line Of Business $.00
1 XP118 Ship Group,Notebook,United States,English,1521,DAO-MDS $3.12
1 Y573C Module,Software,Roxio,10.2 Dell Edition $.45
1 YJ372 Module,Cable,S-VID,Sony Phillips Digital Interface Format,Mobile 2007,West $1.62

 

I think I found some info on the specs but I don't know if its right.

M1710
Core 2 Duo T7600G @ 2.33 GHz, 4mb, 677 MHz.p
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX
100G Hard Drive
1GB Memory

M1730
Core 2 Duo T9300 @ 2.5 GHz, 6mb, 800 MHz.m
8800GTX SLI
320G Hard Drive
4GB Memory

 

A very good trade! You're getting a new Dell XPS M1730 in exchange for an old 1710. The M17x would have been better, but probably a little unreasonable to be asking for it. Still, might be worth a shot. If you kicked up enough of a stink about how bad your previous machine was, you might get it?

 

My concern is the warranty runs out at the end out the month and it will be $400 to extend it another two years. With all of the problems with the 8800GTX SLI GPU am I just asking for trouble? From what I understand the GPU has a high failure rate and they are not making them anymore.