WSXGA Asus 1.8 or WSXGA Dell 8600 2.0 - convince me.

This is an unusual situation for me. I live in Australia, but travel to the States every few months. Because things are so expensive here in Oz, I buy a laptop there, bring it back and use it for a while, then sell it on eBay Australia. I usually make enough to upgrade to a better, faster lappy on my next trip to the US of A.

Anyways, I am flying out to the US in about a week and ordered a Dell 8600 with 2.0 Dothan and ATI 9600 128 which is now waiting for me at my girlfriend's place. However, Dells are kind of ugly.

So today I took a look at the Asus M6ne. In Australia we get the WSXGA version and it looks awfully nice. Much prettier than the Dell. And since I am going overseas I can get it tax free - a 1.8 Dothan, 1Gb memory, DVDR, 60Gb for about $2900 AUD or US$2K with a two year global warranty. This is about the same as I paid for the Dell, once I add in the upgraded memory and drive I'll need to chuck in the 8600.

So I am now tempted to get the Asus, and either return the 8600 to Dell or simply bring it back here to Australia and flog it on eBay alongside my current D800.

Would you agree with this thinking? And do you think there would be any major performance hits from the 1.8 ATI 9700 64Mb versus the 2.0 ATI 9600 128Mb?

Cheers

Steve

Thanks for any and all responses.

Hmmm, there appears to be a consensus emerging.

Well, if I get one and bring it to the States and then decide I don't like it for some reason there may be one available.

Who am I to resist the will of the American people? The votes are in 6-0 and not a hanging chad in sight.

So I now have a box sitting next to me in office containing a brand spanking new Asus M6ne with the WSXGA screen. I ended up with a 1.7 Dothan cos the premium for the 1.8 or 2.0 was just too much.

I'll do a quick review when I get home with some comparisons against my D800 which has bsaically the same specs except for the video card.

Cheers

Steve