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Is Dell Worth it at 50% off???

P

Planner Dude

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 31, 2006
262
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First, I am not trying to offend anyone, flame, etc.

I have a hookup that will allow me to purchase anything by dell for 50% off.

I know a lot of people here dislike dell, but at 50% off their prices, would people reconsider?

I am on a budget, but would basically like a desktop replacement laptop. The maximum I could spend would be $700. I would need to run windows anyways because of certain applications.

So although I'd really like to get a mac, I can't afford to buy one that meets my needs...core duo, dedicated graphics, boot camp.

So if you guys or girls were in a situation like this, would you consider a dell at 50% off?
 
Nooo!!!!

I got my laptop from dell about 5 months ago at 40% off.

It was totally not worth it!

It was a great deal- but meh....
 
I know a lot of people on this board seem to have a hatred for anything Dell, but I personally have had a very good track record with Dell products. I have not owned a laptop (or any recent computer from Dell), but I did own a Dell Dimension desktop from 1999 that I bought new and never gave a second's trouble. I also have a Dell 2005fpw display and a Dell 3100cn laser printer that have worked great for me. And I certainly can't fault their service for the few times I have needed help.
 
Dell at 50% off yeah, if you get a Latitude or something it's pretty good quality too.

Waits for Sesshi to hit this thread in 3....2....1
 
yeah, if i had a hookup to get something from dell for 50% off, it'd be a monitor. hands down.

i'll never buy another PC, so no, 50% off dell's computer prices wouldn't be worth it to me.. I just love OSX too much.
 
Be sure of the 50% savings - Dell uses smoke and mirrors with this. Go on-line (Dell.com) and configure what you want. If you HAVE been on-line, delete you cookies first, as Dell does dynamic pricing. After you get your configuration and price, see if you can get 50% off that.

What will probably happen is, Dell will tell you that the on-line price already has the 50% discount, or you may get another 10% off because the on-line price was 40% off. They are very tricky that way. And I know because I am a targeted large company account.
 
Those couple of laptops that... Sharp? designed for Dell don't look half bad. I personally wouldn't buy any of the 8 pound bricks regardless of price... but those ones seem not so bad, if you're shopping on price.

EDIT: Just echo the "50%" comments... 50% of Dells' typical online sales prices would be a massive loss considering their profit margin. So I'm also inclined to think there's some smoke blowing in that figure.
 
it really depends on what you are looking for. I know you said a desktop replacement. But what else? High graphics? Big screen? Hard drive? What?

I'd say like a 1505 Dell is not to bad (my girlfriend has one) I mean its no Apple, but it gets to job done for what she wants. 2.0 ghz, 256 mb vcard. downside is it's heavy as hell, heavier than my 17 mac which has everything bigger in it except the vcard. it's also the size of an elephant. I swear it has to be at least 2 inches thick with screen open... But again if you are saving 50% you probably could get a great deal and might as well... Can't really get a desktop replacement from anyone on a budget... unless you are getting special treatment some how i.e. discount.
 
If I had to buy windows it would be a dell or ibm. Dells are nice, they just have an evil virus infecting parasite attached to them. I'd buy one at full price, then install linux.
 
The question doesn't REALLY make sense in that I've found (having switched from PC about a year ago) you really can't compare the two. I mean, the people that come to Mac didn't do so because of money.

So why would anyone go BACK because of money.

I think the two architectures and operating systems are different enough that it's really like asking would you rather rent an apartment at $900 a month or own a home at $1800 a month. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but in the long run the home owner is going to make out better.

I do wish, however, that I would have known about the Dell Monitor advice. I had a 24" UltraSharp that was spectacular. Flawless. I walked into the Mac store bought my iMac and said that I was going to use the Dell monitor of the iMac. The guy there SWORE up and down that I should send back the Dell and get an ACD 23"-- Apple makes the best monitors, etc, etc.

Long story short, I left with my iMac and went home to see if Dell would take back the monitor (that I paid $999 for by the way) along with the computer-- both recently bought (longer story in an earlier thread by me). They agreed. I shipped it back and went to the Apple store to get my ACD-- $300 more.

2 ACDs later and the one that I have STILL has blown pixels. They replaced it twice and then told me what I now have falls within their "acceptable" range. I forget what that range is but it's bologna anyway. I'll continue to buy Apple computers but they've lost my monitor business.
 
My gut reaction? Do you need a new PC? If you need a new machine, and you can really, truly get a new machine for 50% off, of course. Go for it.

If the 50% is only there to tempt you to buy something you don't actually need, then why waste $700? There's plenty you can do with that money, whether it's earning interest, spoiling a loved one or buying books for the library of your local alternative high school.

Or my local alternative high school. Whatever floats your boat.
 
Im assuming you want it to run GIS right? I bought a cheap dell to run ArcView on and it is horrible. It freezes and is so slow even on a new dell. On the ESRI forums they have discussed it running well with bootcamp. Good luck!
 
It depends on your needs and budget of course. My Father got a Desktop and Laptop together at a considerable discount, he's not had any problems with either.
 
A couple of posters have already mentioned this, but, the question is, 50% off of what? There's Dell prices, and there's the Dell hook-up prices that pretty much anyone can get.

I suggest you post what Dell you're considering getting, and the price you would get, and ask people here what price they would get when they go online for that same PC. See what the responses are; you might be surprised.
 
A good desktop replacement laptop, dell or not, will run $1700+ full retail. Even at 50% off, you're not going to be in your price range for a desktop replacement machine, especially with the port replicators and such that make it useable like a desktop system.

For $700 you'll be getting just a laptop, as $1400 buys a decent laptop but not a desktop replacement system.

For a dell business desktop replacement system you're looking at about $2100 full retail, $1k half off if it's really half off.
 
Dell

I have two Dell laptops - E1505 and E1405. Both have
proven to be excellent machines in the year + we have had
them. however, the service and support have been the absolute poorest I have ever experienced. I would never buy
from Dell again. That being said, if you can get one cheap AND don't mind peoviding your own support - go for it.
 
18 months ago I set a computer lab of 15 Dell 600M Laptops for a school as a favor for a friend, within the first school term 12 of the 15 had to be returned due to DVD-ROM failures, HDD failure, dead video cards, dead CPUs and burnt out mainboards. It wasn't so much the hardware failing but more the Dell attittude to honoring the warrenties they could not careless because they had the money in their grubby little hands.

From these experiences I would NEVER buy a Dell they are complete rubbish systems and an utter waste of money.
 
Thanks for all your replies!

The discount available to me is through a friend's employee discount.

Supposedly it is 50% of any computer with any config. I am supposed to let her know what I want and she will put in the order.

What worries me is how do I use tech support (for a hardware problem most likely) if she buys it.
Does anyone think that will be a problem for me? Are Dell's warranties transferable?

A lot of people talked about the cost of a desktop replacement...What I mean is a replacement for my current desktop.

I have a 2002 Gateway 500S that has worked for me (my wife bought it, not me...I hate gateway and have bad luck with them). It works decent for GIS and SketchUp (techies say it doesn't work on a macbook well). I figured that I need my computer to run this software decently, since I use it a lot for school and work. SO I need a laptop that is just as capable as my current desktop plus do video and music editing.

As for do I need it now? Well I REALLY want a laptop soon (next couple months) and I don't have one now, so I guess, I don't really need one now, but this seems like a good deal and since I am saving for a new house, I really can't afford to plunk down $1400 for a refurb macbook pro.

Any suggestions?
 
at 50% off, purchase the most expensive, high end system, with the largest, best, monitor you can afford.

then sell it for 90% of the retail price (keep it sealed etc), hey presto, profit.

maybe even enough to buy the mac you want ;)
 
I've had good experiances with dell desktops but sh*t experiances with dell laptops (The desktop was great...stable; one time the HDD died but they diagnosed the problem and sent out someone who came the next day and replaced it...all covered under warantee. The laptop eventually slowed down and basically does not run anymore. No matter how much anti-virus/spyware/adware prorgams I run it takes nearly 35 minutes to boot). I would say go for it, at 50% off ... you'll be hard pressed to find a better mac deal.

Or get a really nice one and sell it for enough profit to get yourself a mac :D
 
bigandy said:
at 50% off, purchase the most expensive, high end system, with the largest, best, monitor you can afford.

then sell it for 90% of the retail price (keep it sealed etc), hey presto, profit.

maybe even enough to buy the mac you want ;)
Click to expand...

Not worth it with a dell- everyone can get at least 30% off with a google search. I get more than that with an education discount.

This sell-on-ebay bit only works with computers that don't have completely arbitrary pricing schemes like dell does. You almost never pay dell's posted retail price for anything available through them.
 
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