Predicament, Free notebook! Maybe?

Ok, As short an explination as possible. I purchased an M1710 the week it came out. Extended service plan, accidental damage. 7900GTX, 1gb of ram (aftermarket to 2), 80gb HD, Core Duo, XP, black cover through the Business Dept.

I'm a tech always on the go which is the reason for the accidental plan. It's almost at it's 2 years, so I decided to send it in for fixing. Nic is bad (plugged in a bad RJ45 and bent the pins), Memory card reader is broken, numerous bad pixels, cracked front cover, non working speaker lights, crackely speakers.

I sent the laptop in for repairs and they told me that they would just send me a altogether replacement. I said that was fine, but I wanted my 2gb out since it was aftermarket. They said OK, we will send you a new one and your old one, take out your 2gb and put in 1gb and send us your old one back. Ok, good with me. This convo went down about 3 weeks ago.

Last wednesday they sent me (what I thought was) the replacement laptop. A red XPS M1710, decked out 7950, 320gb, 2gb ram, bluetooth, Core 2 duo, Vista Ultimate, Wireless N, etc... Awesome! I thought, nicer than I had by a decent margin, a few hundred in upgrades. I was happy.

Today I get another package, My old black 1710 I though. Opened it up and saw a huge-ass powersupply. Doesn't look like mine. Dug through a little more, a brand-new-from-the-factory Dell XPS M1730. Core 2 duo, SLI 8700GT, 2GB ram, addl 80WH battery, Vista Premium.

Now I have 2 laptops that are better than what I had, and I know I will probably have to send at least one back. Which one do I send back? If I have to send the 1730 back they will have to pry it from my cold dead fingers, but It seems like the 1730 would be the errenous shipment and not the decked out red 1710. I want them both though Anyone had any similar experience? Can I have them both?!

Exactly right. I want to keep them both, but know I can't. I'm wondering which is the mistake mainly though.

1. The 1730 is a mistake, it was supposed to me my black 1710
2. the red 1710 was supposed to be my black 1710.

It's probably one of those options. I'm hoping for number 2, because I have no heartache over sending back the red 1710. It was dead sexy when I got it, but compared to the 1730, well you know

Should I call dell and ask? The person helping me through this whole ordeal has been difficult to understand and speak with to say the least. Or should I send back the red 1710 and hope not to find a $2500 bill on my doorstep.

The old m1710 is already returned, That's the one that was supposed to come back to me to nab my ram but never showed up.

I think I will keep the 1730 and return the red 1710, the 1730 with the sli'd 8600's trash the 7950 a decent amount in most games anyways, and now I know what to do with my spare 320gb (raid 320s yeah!)

Perhaps, but this has a keypad, allows me to stuff both my 320's in there, and while I probably won't upgrade to the 8800s unless it's killer performance, I would buy 9800's the day they come out.

Now I have no basis that 9800's will be out for this form factor, but it is a new factor and has atleast 2 years left to it in which time we will most definately see the 9800's out. The 6800's were upgradeable to 79xx so I have high hopes for the future.

And, Actually, I haven't been here in so long I'm not really sure that the 79xx and 87xx are different form factor, are they? I assume they are different.