Saving Some Cash on Your Dell Notebook
Oct 03 '00
Dell is one of the more respected computer maker in the market today and because its name is now associated with a high degree of respect and reliability, you pay quite a bit of cash for a computer from Dell. In fact, Dell notebooks can cost a few hundred more than other manufacturer's notebooks. I have always been a steady supporter of Dell products and have purchased 4 computers from them over the last 6 years. However, I just recently bought a Dell Inspirion 4000 and 5000e notebook and found several ways to save money of the notebook configurations I wanted.
1. Know what you want
This is the first and foremost way to save money. If you go into any computer sale site with no idea what you really want and no idea of the capabilities you want in the notebook/laptop, you will most likely spend extra cash on accessories and features you don't need and maybe don't even understand. If you only need the computer for word processor work, then you don't need a high end processor and you don't need a high end screen. If you want to play DVDs on your laptop, then the screen does matter to some extent. The Ultra XGA screen (super high resolutions 1280x1024 capable I believe) is $300 more than the Suger XGA. The Super XGA screen is $100-150 more than the XGA+ screen (800x600). If you don't need the CD-RW on the internal bay, don't add $349 to your price adding to your system. The DVD adds on $149 to your price tag.
2. Don't buy accessories from Dell
Have you compared prices of buying accessories direct from Dell versus other internet sites... Compare the prices from dell direct versus Dell's other site, Gigabuys.com. The Defcon 1 security system costs $49.95 direct from Dell and you add S&H. At buy.com, the Defcon 1 costs $34.95 and if there are coupons available, the price is even lower... (I paid under $30 with the S&H included). The notebook surge protector has similar savings ($39.95 versus $28.95). Another example is the HP 5300C scanner which sells directly from Dell at $299, Onvia.com sells the scanner for $225-$235 and buy.com sells at ~$250. In fact, onvia.com sells the updated version of the 5300C, the 5370C, for $255 and shipping and handling is free. A savings of $45 + S&H costs. Accessories direct for Dell = bigger hole in your pocket than before.
3. Add standard computer parts after buying the notebook
Check out how much memory upgrades cost when you buy a dell notebook. The base memory configurations start at 32 to 64 MB. To upgrade from 32MB to 64MB is $100! To upgrade from 64MB to 128MB is $200 more! Buy the lowest memory configuration and purchase the additional memory you need elsewhere. At buy.com, an additional 128MB board is less than $150 before S&H. That is more than $250 savings since you are adding 128MB to whatever memory you had on your notebook. Base 32MB plus $150 128MB board equals 160MB RAM. Base 64MB plus $150 128MB board equals 192MB on your notebook! Compare this to 196MB upgrade from 64MB costs $400-500 dollars! At the very least, you will save $50 to $150 over 128MB of RAM. You can use the memory configurators at the various web retailers.
Look at the price of external CD-RW drives if you need the occassional CD-RW use. A CD-RW for your notebook is $349 for a 4x/4x/24x drive. For less than this price, you can get a USB 4x/4x/32x CD-RW drive. A SCSI 4x/4x/24x-32x CD-RW drive with a cheap CardBus or PCcard SCSI connection will cost you about $349 as well.
4. Check out the Recommended Systems and modify
Simply put, there are extra savings put into the price of recommended bundles. You can save $50 to $100 by starting with a recommended system.
5. Check out the Small Business Section
The Small Business Section can save you up to $150 more if you don't need the free year of AOL service. However, if you need the free year of AOL service then buy the notebook from the Home section since it is a better value.
6. Look for special deals at the Dell.com site and be patient
Prices for notebooks are always falling every few months. If you need the notebook fairly soon, you can spend several days browsing the site. Dell will often add special offers like $100 or $150 off Inspirion notebooks from their Home site or their Small Business site. Sometimes you'll see a free scanner or printer. Another common deal is a free 2nd battery. Note if they are offering a free item that you pay the S&H charges for it!
7. Use outside programs to save money
Use ebates, asmartshop, and even mypoints.com to gain 1% rebates and points on top of whatever you're saving from buying your notebook. There are links to ebates on my home page and my savings page (the link to these are on my profile page). When using ebates, register with a referral from a known user to increase the savings!
Conclusions
You can save a bundle of cash if you spend the time to shop correctly. You should get the most from your money and it shouldn't cost you an enormous amount of extra time. Hopefully, you'll save as much as I did when buying a Dell notebook.
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Member: Rich Go
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Losing Sleep and Lacking Time... sigh...
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