Building laptop opinions
 

I am currently in the process of configuring either an Inspiron 1720 or Vostro 1700 and would like some of your opinions on as to what I should get, as well as to keep the price as low as possible. The computer I currently have is 4 years old, 1.5gb RAM, 80gb HDD, single core, etc... Needless to say, I am tired of it going so slow when running 12 tables + PT and PAHUD.

I will mainly be using the laptop for:
-multiple AHK apps
-PT and PAHUD
-multiple poker sites, 12 tabling
-surfing internet
-MS office
-and gaming

What I must have in laptop:
-17" WUXGA 1920x1200
-dual monitor compatibility
-256mb GeForce 8600M GT video card (would 128mb 8400M GS be ok when running an extra monitor?)
-2gb ram
-9 cell battery

Components I am not sure about and would like opinons on:

-How fast of processor and what size cache would suffice? Intel Core 2 Duo 1.66GHz? 2.0GHz? 2.2GHz? 2MB cache? 4MB cache?

-What speed hard drive do you suggest? Would 7200 be overkill?
120gb 5400rpm or 160gb 7200rpm

-What brand and type of wireless card?

Dell G, Intel a/g, or Dell-N? (I realize N is the fastest, but by how much?)

All together, I would like to keep the price of this laptop to under $1700.

Thanks for all your help!

Re: Building laptop opinions
 

My official opinion is that your old computer is fast enough.

If you're set on getting a new systems...Get the 7200rpm hard drive and the fastest processor you can afford after that.

You won't notice a difference in speed between G and N wireless unless you're doing a lot of wireless transfers over your network.