2GB -> 4GB and other extras!

hey, my new Dell XPS (black edition) has just arrived, here are the specs so far:

Dell XPS M1710 with T7600 2.33GHz Dual Core 2 Duo
2 gig 667MHz RAM
100 gig 7200RPM Harddrive
Nvidia Geforce 7950GTX 512MB
WUXGA Trulife 1920x1200

I still got a couple of bucks left, so I was wondering (ignore the warranty issue, please) what extras I could add..

a) I do a lot of 3D and video stuff, plus I am a heavy multi tasker and HATE waiting times, so do you think an upgrade from 2GB to 4GB would improve things? can vista handle it? can XP handle it? are there software/driver probs to be expected when playing games? Should I set up the additional 2GB as a ram disk for temporary files or is it better to let windows handle it all the way? Any good tool that does a good ram handling job?

b) I thought of getting an external harddrive for saving stuff such as movies, mp3, games... I was thinking of 300+ GB, can you recommend a nice/fast/not too expensive USB solution?

c) Is it possible to fit in a 160GB 7200RPM harddrive where my current 100GB harddrive is? I guess they are the same size, right? Are there any bigger / faster harddrives that I could put in and replace the "old" one with?

d) I browsed the forum for paint jobs, but only found paint jobs for Dell Latitude and Inspiron series.. can you post a link to some nice XPS paint/mod jobs? I won't paint it right away, but maybe in a couple of weeks when my other laptop has arrived. I'd especially be interested in black or red paint jobs.

e) I didn't get the BlueRay drive, if I can find it online somewhere, can I build it in where the current combo drive is? (is it same size/cables and so on?)

f) can you think of other mods to make this machine even more kickass?

Thanks guys!
P.S. The reason why I got the machine the way it is right now, is because it was an ebay deal where you could not modify the current stats..

 

No now, 2GB is enough for the time being.Plus if you wait you can save some money on 2GB sticks.Also remember, Windows Xp 32-bit cannot use the 4GB it instead uses ~3.2GB of the Ram and simply cannot use any more than that.

You have to options : (note there are no 300GB 2.5" HDD's available for now)
1) Use an internal 3.5" HDD and use an enclosure (it's cheaper this way but heavier)
2) Get some of those externally made like MyBook and OneTouch hard drives.

The HDD inside your laptop is 2.5", the harddrives used in laptops is 3.5".
You can change your hard drive as you wish but first make sure that this act doesn't void your warranty.

Sorry, I don't know but it's really expensive right now.You can wait a bit and see when the price will drop.

 

changing the hard drive will not void the warranty but if something goes wrong with it dell will not cover the hard drive

 

No, desktops use 3.5" hard drives, most laptops use 2.5" hard drives which the XPS M1210 does. Ultraportable laptops use 1.8" hard drives.