New x200 queries

[tifosi]

Hello all, thanks for being such a nice and vibrant community for Thinkpad owners and uhh, i have finally sprung for a new x200 7455-33A. Unfortunately, being in Singapore where online purchases are rarely made and with the lenovo's pricing at like US$200 more than retail, i got my new x200 7455-33A from a shop at roughly US$1650 with the external USB burner and an upgrade to 3GB RAM.

on analyzing the tabook.pdf which one of the members helpfully posted a link, my model/part number is no where to be seen?

i need some help on a few queries

1. the retailer told me that this laptop is WWAN upgradable and the laptop does come with a SIM card slot in the battery compartment. but the lenovo website has no mention about my model, 7455-33A being wwan upgradeable when the other model for sale, 7455A41 (but i didnt spring for that) was touted as wwan upgradeable on the site. Did i made a poor choice picking the 7455-33A? Is it safe to assume the presence of a SIM card points to WWAN upgradability?

2. which brands of HSPDA modems you recommend? Ericsson or Sierra Wireless? Opinions will be very much appreciated.

3. does Turbo Memory come with all models/variants of the x200? The retailer was telling me that my model is a higher spec'd one as it comes with 2GB of Turbo Memory. Is this feature very expensive and useful to warrant that kind of price?

4. i am tempted to use a SanDisk Extreme III 4GB SDHC card i have lying around as a ReadyBoost cache. Is this useful? I was thinking of dedicating the intel turbo memory to ready drive activities while the sd card could be used as a readyboost cache. may i know your opinions?

5. finally, when i checked my warranty online. it seems that the warranty start date is actually the date of manufacture of the laptop. how does it work out? shouldnt warranty start from the date you actually receive the notebook? its quite worrying for me for this x200 was manufactured sometime in october 2008. which means i effectively lose 5 months of my warranty.

my specs are:
P8600(2.4GHz), 3GB RAM, 250GB 5400rpm HD, 12.1in 1280x800 LCD, Intel 4500MHD, Intel 802.11agn 5300 wireless, Bluetooth, Modem, 5-in-1 Memory-card reader, 1Gb Ethernet, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, Camera, 2GB Intel Turbo Memory, 6c Li-Ion, WinVista Business 32 + Win XP Recovery CD, Super Multiburner w Lightscribe, 3 yr Intl Warranty

for 1650 USD. Is it a reasonable price? I understand buying from retail will cost me slightly more but it gives peace of mind and moreover Singapore is too far away for the laptop to be shipped over.

Thanks so much everyone and i appreciate your time and kindness in helping a noob.