Should I buy this customized Inspiron 600m for college?

First off, it is laptop, not labtop as you have typed multiple times...

Now I have that monkey off my back, the configuration looks pretty good to me... but I do have a suggestion. Ordering a large amount of RAM straight from Dell (like 512MB in 1 DIMM) is very expensive. You may save quite a bit of money ordering the lowest possible amount of RAM configurable and then upgrading with RAM from a third party. A lot of people save considerably doing that, I'll leave you to reconfigure and do the calculations, but it is worth a look.

stu

Yes, as Stu said, it's LAPTOP, not labtop. Ditto on his RAM comment (I was able to get 256MB from Dell in exchange for another upgrade, otherwise I would've got RAM somewhere else).

Get the SXGA+ screen. You'll really appreciate the extra room when you do any CAD stuff (no matter which engineering discipline you do). I do Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and coding, PSpice, PCB design, etc would be really annoying on an XGA screen. Also useful for the photoshop stuff you mention. Also consider 64MB video RAM, I don't think the price difference is really that big.

Might want to consider getting the smallest HDD and replacing that with a 7200rpm Hitachi when you get the laptop. Well that's what I'm gonna do when my warranty runs out next year.

You might be able to get Windows XP Professional for free from your University, through MSDNAA (Microsoft-something-something-something-Academic-Alliance), so just get XP Home and format when you get the laptop.

Music will SUCK if you don't use headphones.

As for the battery, I was considering getting one too, but thought that the price difference between a second battery and another AC adaptor just didn't weigh up with the benefits. I can comfortably use my laptop for around 3 hours before needing to charge it, in which case I run down to my locker and get my spare AC adaptor.

Lastly, get it quick! It has been phased out in Australia and New Zealand, so will likely go from other territories soon.

There was one "laptob" in there too for the record...sry i didnt contribute at all to this discussion but its late and thats just funny ...lol

SkEp

Possibly a laptop used in a laboratory environment could actually be considered a labtop?
Dell dropped laptop in favor of the notebook terminology quite some time ago...more than likely after the first lawsuit when someone cooked themselves by running it on their lap. I wonder if it was the same mental genius who sued about the hot coffee being too hot.

Not too sure that whole coffee lawsuit wasn't a stroke of genius considering that person is probably on a yacht right now off the coast of florid....oh...damn...heh

No offense btw to anyone who is actually in florida right now...don't mean to make light of that at all :/

i paid $1650 cdn + tax for my config listed below, i think you can get a better deal

I wouldn't get anything more than the Basic configuration for the Memory, and HDD....you can upgrade from places like Newegg for much much cheaper.

20% discount

There is currently a 20% off discount at DELL HOME for a configuration above $1700 by using the coupon code: 00LQ4Z0V$RPRT8 It expires 9-9

You didn't post any of the software options. If you can, get Office (or what you would like to use) through your college as it will probably be cheaper. The other thing is -- do NOT upgrade any type of other software unless you want to upgrade it. For example, leave Jukebox and RecordNow and Dell Media Experience as they are. No need to get "Plus" or "Super" or "Upgrade."

hey you probably could spend less by getting an IMAC,
Pros: light weight, stylish, great display/ graphics, good battery life, did i say good attention getter.

Cons: the software for imacs are mucho expensive, might have problem using Pc games/ programs on imacs. If you want to do serious gaming the an imac is not for you.

The sony vaio notebooks aren't bad the only compliant i've heard from friends is that it has a poor battery life esp. when watching Dvd's. check www.compUsa.com website for deals and also www.epinions.com for consumer reviews.

So that's like $1.50 US right?

(Honestly, don't sell yourself short that is a fair deal.)

You'll run into lots of problems trying to run any engineering apps on Mac.

Plus it's a Mac!