NEW DELL 8600 with 128mb ati 9600 PRO turbo

Hmm...

Almost bought this computer tonight. Between the dell rebates about to expire and my personal rebate, I had it at a very reasonable 2508. Decided to pass....for now

some bencheys and a user review would be cool. i was looking to get the 8600 among others thanks

Should I buy it

I was just looking at this today too. Configured one through dell premier for $2645.56 after tax for a 1.7 M, WUXGA, 1 DIMM 512MB RAM, 128MB ATI 9600, 4xDVD+RW, 60gb 7200 rpm HD, 802.11b/g, 3yr at home warranty.

Seems reasonable to me. I have an inspiron 8200 now I have been happy with so I wanted to stick with dell but the 5650 nvidia card prevented it before. I really love the no dead pixel great resolution screens dell uses.

I plan on purchasing another 512mb ram and another 60gb 7200 rpm drive or an 80gb 5400 rpm drive for it but didn't want to go through dell as they rip you off. Any suggestions on where to get these at a good price is appreciated.

I am not really really into gaming but I like desert combat and will be getting into call of duty and others in the future so I want to get the best bang for the buck system that will last me a while.

1. Is this a good gaming system now with the ati9600 card in it?

2. Am I going to notice it being much slower with the 333mhz ram and the 1.7M processor than a full out gaming system.

3. Is there anything coming out soon that is worth waiting for? I have seen the links to the eurocom 256mb ram ati 9700 card and such but is it expected that these will be much better and near the same price? I would require a WUXGA monitor so my options aren't many. I don't want to spend more than $3500 I would say.

Your suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

As notebooks with actual mobile chips go, it is the best gaming notebook out there right now I believe with the new graphics card. It will be sufficient for gaming for 95% of the people out there. It wont seem slower for the majority of people. To your 3rd question, new stuff is always coming out. No one can really tell you when or if it will be that much better. My personally feeling is that for the majority of people, no difference in general performance will be noticed in a top of the line computer right now than in 3 months. Obviously, new processors and graphic chips etc... come out but few people actually need or use the increased power.