Questions about XPS m1530

Hello, I recently purchased a Dell XPS m1530 for college from their website with the following specifications:

Black, 15.4" screen, 1440x900 CCFL (would have liked the LED option, but that would've delayed the ship date by an extra 2 weeks )
Intel C2D T8100 @ 2.1ghz 800mhz FSB, 3mb L2cache
Windows Vista Premium 32bit (will probably upgrade it myself to 64bit and or Ultimate)
4gb ram @ 667mhz
320gb 5400rpm Hard Drive
Nvidia 256mb 8600gt
Standard Dell Wireless
No Bluetooth (assumed it came standard, and didn't see the $20 upgrade option, but don't really have a need for it anyway)

Price $1200 before taxes, special offer
Unfortunatly, the coupon available on this site deducted 20% away from the starting price of $1900 instead of the special offer price. I think that I might have gotten a better deal if I had configured a standard unit to $1500 and then applied the 25% coupon, but I don't have time to cancel the order and reorder it since I need it in 1.5 weeks and the current estimated ship date is the end of August (8/23 I believe).

Ok, on to the point :
1) Based on this configuration, how would you expect my performance to be for standard computer use (word, internet, etc) and light gaming? Based on my research, I know that these notebooks perform very well, but it never hurts to here some actuall user's experience, especially since the review configs were different than the one I selected.

2) I've read about the Nvidia controversy, and while the unit comes with a 3yr warentee, I would still like to know if there is anything I can do to ensure that my GPU dosen't fry (if thats even possible). I'm hoping that if Dell is still selling notebooks with the G84/86 GPUs, they believe that they are reliable enough to use.

3) Considering this will be my main computer for 3-4 years, I went with the largest, reasonably priced, hard drive available. Will the 5400rpm hard drive significantly impact my performance versus a 7200rpm hard drive?

4) I read about the guide to undervolting the CPU, and was wondering what people's experience has been with undervolting that have a T8100 or similar processor. Is it safe and easy to do on the m1530, and can you do the same thing with the GPU?

5) How long does Dell shipping usually take, and does it usually ship before the expected ship date. When I ordered the notebook, the preliminary ship date stated 8/12, but when I check my status on the Dell website, it now says 8/21. I really, if at all possible, need it before that date, so I'm really hoping that it arrives early.

Thanks in advance!

 

That stinks how you missed the 25%... oh well, its still a good price.

1) Gamingwise you will be able to handle CoD4 at close to max settings, Assasins Creed will also be high settings as well. Half Life 2 you can max out easily. Its a shame you couldnt get the LED display, but oh well, you are fighting against time.

2) Just read this post and hopefully it will resolve your concerns as well as any others that come across this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3727335&postcount=17

3) It will cause slower startup times, file transfer rates, etc. If you are doing Video editing or anything that involves large files, there will obviously be somewhat of a slowdown or large numbers of files, though really you should have no problems. Startup time will be a bit slower, but hey, it should still be other one minute.

4) Yes it is safe to undervolt CPU, but no can do with the GPU. RivaTuner does not support it and no you cannot undervolt the GPU you need to edit the bios of the card, if you had a ATI card you could use ATI Tools. But seeing that the bios is just software on the lower level if you knew what you were doing and was able to access driver level or below maybe you could do it in software just not with rivatuner.

Lowering the amount of Voltage on GPUS also risks damage to performance.

 

well, maybe not too bad... maybe u should've looked a laptops in july instead of august... and gotten the LED screen(its worth it)

 

^^ Thanks for the help! I figured that undervolting a GPU wouldn't be possible/practical, but it never hurts to ask. The guide about undervolting the CPU was definetly interesting, and seems like a great way to squeeze some more power out of a notebook for free (not to mention the lower heat output).

^ Yeah, its definetly my fault that I didn't order sooner. I'm used to ordering items online from sites like newegg where they are shipped within a matter of days, so I vastly underestimated Dell's shipping times. Plus, I've been waiting for a good deal to appear on their site, which seriously has the most confusing pricing ever. The same computer configuration can cost 3 or 4 different amounts depending on where you buy it from on their site, and it only gets more confusing once you factor in the coupons (man, I wish I discovered those sooner).