Dell computer sale
Seems like many retailers are timing sales with tax day. If there is a store you love shopping at, today is a good day to check their Web site for sales. Dell is using tax day to kick off 10 days of deals, which change everyday.
An Inspiron 530 with an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor and 3GB memory, 500GB hard drive, and a19-inch glossy widescreen flat panel monitor is $699 after a $300 discount. An XPS 420 with an Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Processor at 2.4ghz, 3GB memory, a 500GB hard drive, and a 20-inch glossy widescreen is $1049 after $369 in savings.
Dell's final deal of the day is a Dell 22-inch widescreen flat panel monitor with webcam (model SP2208WFP) for $289 after $60 in savings. Note, these sales end today. Check back for the next nine days to see what else they put on sale.
Comments
The thing to remember about Dell is that you MUST compare the specs of a given Dell computer to those currently on sale at Office Depot and Circuit City. I also suggest trying online retailers Newegg.com and tigerdirect.com. One problem: Most of these will charge you sales tax in California. Newegg has great prices, but they are hq'd in California. I'm not sure whether or not Dell charges sales tax, but I think they do. On a $500 purchase, that's an extra $40.
But in terms of comparison shopping, remember that the good thing about Dell is that you can a) get the configuration you want (for the time being at least, since Dell is supposedly moving away from total customization) and b) Dell doesn't generally make you wait for mail-in rebates.
Places like Office Depot and Circuit City rely heavily on rebates to lower their prices. If you feel like you can apply for and then wait for the rebate(s) to come in, you can save quite a bit. And on a $500-$1,000 item, it might be worth waiting.
Pound for pound, spec for spec, Office Depot and Circuit City generally beat Dell on price.
Look at these things: brand (Compaq, HP, Dell, Lenovo, Toshiba and Sony are better; Acer and Gateway not so much) processor (try to match up comparable processors from AMD and Intel) memory (these days don't settle for anything less than 2GB), hard drive (go for at least 150GB) -- and figure out whether or not you need a new screen, keyboard and mouse. If you're OK using your old peripherals, you can save more money.
While I'm generally in favor of Dell, especially if you opt for the generally good but bloody expensive service agreements (which I don't recommend, but some people like and want them) ... I think that looking for a better-priced Compaq, HP or Toshiba might be the way to go. ... and Office Depot is most competitive on price, followed closely by Circuit City and not so closely by Best Buy (which generally doesn't have the "best buy").
The good thing about Dell is that they don't have any pesky salesmen to try and up-sell you ... it's just you and the Web site (which still tries to up-sell you, albeit in a less-offensive manner).
So watch the ads in the Sunday paper, look for what you need/want, and wait for a good price. And DON'T buy computers that aren't on sale. After reading the Sunday circulars for a few weeks, you'll get comfortable with the specs, the language and the best deals.
And ... in my opinion, it's better to buy two $500 computers over five years than one $1,000 computer in that same time period.
Posted by: Steven Rosenberg | April 15, 2008 12:07 PM