New laptop

Im looking at a new laptop at the moment, im thinking about this for the spec
im going to be running Linux on it.

WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Webcam
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT
Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
8GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 4096MB
Intel Turbo Cache Memory 1GB – Accelerate Data Transfer Speed
Single Drive Configuration - 160GB 7200 RPM SATA with Free Fall Protection
160GB 5400RPM Hybrid Drive w/ 256MB flash memory Smart Bay
8x Dual Layer Writer (DVD±RW, CD-RW) with LightScribe Technology
Additional Battery - 9-cell Lithium-Ion Additional Battery

what would you change spec wise, etc and why

I wouldn't bother with turbo cache.
I'd go SSD instead of 160GB 7200rpm or go for a faster single platter 250GB 7200rpm drive instead (unless that is a short stroked 160GB from a 250GB platter)
Never mind the hybrid drive, they aren't any better than regular, get a 500GB 5400rpm WD blue.

i agree with the above. for such an uber laptop the storage subsystem would be the only thing holding you back. good call on the extra battery too.

i agree with know nuttin...

and what brand is this laptop? is it a custom build with like dell or something ?

i agree with know nuttin...

and what brand is this laptop? is it a custom build with like dell or something ?

Know Nuttin said:

I wouldn't bother with turbo cache.
I'd go SSD instead of 160GB 7200rpm or go for a faster single platter 250GB 7200rpm drive instead (unless that is a short stroked 160GB from a 250GB platter)
Never mind the hybrid drive, they aren't any better than regular, get a 500GB 5400rpm WD blue.

Click to expand...

Ive got a Dell XPS 1530 with a Intel X25 SSD and was really disapointed with the drive considering the costs involved, I load my entire OS into memory once the system has loaded, kind of like a Live CD running in RAM as such once my system has booted the only time the disk is used is to write files such as documents or downloads to the drive, and this is why I feel I never saw the improvements from the SSD in the past I simply do not have a lot of disk IO after booting.
Thanks for the comments though, I could always swap the drive over.

xtkxhom3r said:

i agree with know nuttin...

and what brand is this laptop? is it a custom build with like dell or something ?

Click to expand...

Its an Dell brand (Alienware) wanted one for a while but the shipping costs and other terms were offensive, they have now become reasonable. I just trying to finalise the spec im going to get, they offer SSD drives but will not state the chipset or make of them to me