well santa rosa wont be out for abit.. .but when it does come out expect A8Js and core duo systems to drop in price fast. so if you can hold out for a few months regardless of what system you choose you'll be better off.
however after saying that i think i should mention i JUST bought an A8JS, for the size/power and cost it cant be beat. I paid $1200 shipped for a 3month used one. Be careful when buying used because theirs two versions of the A8JS (not to mention all the A8F, A8M and so on w/ integrated video and geforce 7400's)
Anyways the first release of the A8J used a core duo T2500, and a 7600 which when the new version was released w/ the C2D T7200 and a 7700 ASUS said it was a 50% increase in speed. But i remember looking at 3DMark06 score the first revision (t2500, 7600) was 2300 and the score for the next revision (t7200, 7700) was 2700. so the increase didnt seem to be 50% but maybe %25.
just keep an eye out, maybe the first revison would be good for you if you can score it on eGay for $900 or less then just sell it for a $1-300 loss 5-6 months down the road after the santa rosa has established itself. Thats the other thing you never want to get the first models of a new series... most of these have horrible battery life and are still working out the major glitches.... its not just a new CPU and GPU theyre introducing theyre trying to add more to laptops like HDMI, and more future tech... so that will be much better fleshed out in the 2nd and third release of laptops that use santa rosa and 8000 series notebooks.
THE C90 only lasts 15minutes when playing games on battery!! and if you shut everything off the best you'll get is a little less then an hour of use.... new version will be better.
