Buying advice

Hi ppl...
Im considering replacing my 3 year old HPDV6000 laptop with a dell studio ... since you guys are such experts in the whole dell thing could you'll advise me on the following?
1) My job involves using MS Office,reading pdf, Editing images and running SAP on a laptop, occasionally i watch movies. which is a better option a 14" or 15"?
2) how much is the bat life on a 6 cell and 12 cell bat (on the new studio with i5,4 gb ram,500gb hdd,512 graphics)?
3)is the 3 years accident warranty thing worth it?
4) Is it better to order from a dell outlet or from home?
5)How do we order dell spares like bat,adapter etc after the purchase?
6)Should i order now... or wait a while for a better config?
7)Will a 1 gb graphic card reduce bat life considerably?

Battery life is a key factor for me...

Thanks
Ashwin

 

For your uses, it does not seem like you need a video card at all?

i3 and i5 chips have integrated Interl HD on chip graphics and perform perfectly well for aero and all HD video. Not so well for gaming, but you did not indicate that you were looking to game on the laptop?

I would think integrated graphics will be best for maximum battery life.

 

I wanted a graphic card to make it kind of future proof at least for the next 3 years...

 

Whatever you decide to order, give the link in my sig a read. I've had a lot of positive feedback and many people have told me they saved a lot of money. It's come in handy for quite a few people. Hope it helps.