Questions Dell 8600

Ok, ive been back and forth about buying/not buying a dell. Now im thinking of going with a refurb.. dont know if thats the way to go? but considering the other night when i checked they had 20 machines available and now they have 50 (using the same search criteria). Im wondering if i should go with dell or even the refurb route..

But if i do....

First of all on most of the ones that i selected from the list, say they have either a 40 or 60 gig hard drive if you look at the details for the machine it says the drives are(5400 rpm).
If you go to dells site and configure a notebook and click on the help me decide link (next to the hard drive options) it tells you that notebooks come with a 4200 drive -- what gives-- and what are you getting?

Second all the ones that i selected say they have a Gf4 Go video card in them(which i im guessing stands for GeForce4 4200 Go). if you click on the system identifier link, which gives you more detail for that system
they say they have a GEFORCE,FX GO5200 Video Card in them.
-- what gives-- and what are you getting?

Looking at the latitude section of their website (newmodels) if you configure one it says you get a.. NVIDIA® GeForce4 4200 Go™

So im confused is one getting a Gf4 (as stated from the search screen in the outlet) or are you getting 5200 card. Since these are refurbs maybe its the luck of the draw?

Third Network cards... Im lost, as i dont yet have a wireless system and dont know much about it...So these will probably sound like stupid questions....

You need a intel 2100 to make it a centrino but its only a "b" card. But i can get a truemobile 1300 which is "b" and "g", but then i dont have centrino?
g runs faster than b.
If I want to use the computer/card with the internet my cablemodem is faster than what a b card can even handle?
So then a g card would only come in useful when transfering data from machine to machine?
If so...Then If i had a 4mb file. What time difference are we talking about between the two? 'b and g'

Are these cards in the machine or do i need to plug them into the slot on the side of the notebook when i want to use it.
are they turned on off with a switch or are the software operated?
would i need to reboot the computer if i had to use the card?

fourth why doesnt dell offer us a 15inch laptop with centrino and a nonintegrated video card.

Thanks....
Phazor

Ok i might just buy new tonight before the deal is gone, although i was only going to get 256k and upgrade later, I dont know if the next deal is going to be any cheaper.

I checked the refurbs and new units. I added a warranty to the refurb and the new, for a year with mail in service and the difference was only like 110 bucks between the two. Thats assuming that refurb unit is still there.
However i would get a new machine with 30 day return vs a 14 day return on the refurb. What do you guys think?

If i buy new or used...

Which Screen Manfaucturer is the one to get.. Can i request a particular one?

Know the 8500 and 8600 at one time or still does have keyboard issues.. Has this problem been resolved?
do i need to ask for a keyboard update.?

Fatwallet had a coupon, can i use this on top of the discount they are already giving you.?

Touchpad, I think their were 2 differnt ones. Alps and Sypnotics (sp?) Is one better then the other? Should i ask for a particular one?



[quote]You have to understand theres always some sort of mistake on the refurb site but most of it is usually on par with specs.[quote]

Yeah the specs say a 5400 rpm drive, but if you configure new and click on the "help me decide" next to hard drive options it tells you that there is no 5400 drive option ?
I dont want to get stuck with a 4200 rpm drive..

Thanks for the help

Is there much difference in a 1.5 vs 1.6? worth the extra $100.00?
Would i be able to upgrade the chip down the road or im i stuck with it?

What about warranties with dell, whats your feeling. Ive never been one to buy
that stuff, but i dont know with a laptop?

Also is complete care worth it?

No takers on these questions yet.....

thanks