That's one thing I miss. The older XPS systems with the tray load CD's were very easy to replace when they went bad. Progress is what is I guess, but CD's don't live forever.
I'd wait for January. Even IF you decide to go with the older system, it will be even cheaper. However Sandy Bridge has a nice long list of improvements, and you'll be able to pick 4xxM's or 6xxxM chips from whichever graphics vendor...
And by January when the new chipsets come out you may not get more than 1500 for this machine. As it stands now I think Djembe has the price about right. Definitely don't believe you'd get more than 2k for this machine, and his...
Intel and Apple aren't "enthused" because they want to delay the game long enough to get Lightpeak going, which is higher bandwidth (but just like ESATA has no power over the cable which will complicate the connections and doom...
I pray folks reading this remember that the warranty is really important. The theory that anything that can go wrong will go wrong in the first year and it will be fine after that is false. I had those same stripes on an older machine...
For me, if it's not Sandy Bridge based, I'll pass.
And if it is Sandy Bridge, where are the 470M's or the long rumoured 485M? Maybe they are saving the new chip to compete with the 6xxx series, but the 470M is available now.
Anyway,...
Dell M6500 or HP 8740.
You'd get ok graphics if you ever had the need, even very good graphics, but more of what you'd get is a durable workstation grade machine. Both will get you to your budget easy if you add a bunch of features,...
Wow...
22k on a notebook. Wasn't long ago that would be an impressive score for a desktop. I'm not ready to leap yet, but I'm close behind you. M17x is one beast of a machine. Congrats
