m17xR3, ordering from Germany

Hey Guys, greetings from Germany.

I am about to order an m17x-r3, but i want to get the best possible price.
Also, i want to wait until the gtx560m is available.

But the Problem i have are the HUGE price differences between the german and the usa shop.

I give you an example with the specs id like to get:

--------German m17x-r3----------USA m17x-r3

CPU:---2720QM--------------------2720QM

GPU:---460M-----------------------460M

RAM:---8GB------------------------8GB

HDD:---750GB---------------------640GB RAID

LCD:----1600x900-----------------1600x900

WLAN:--6300 3x3------------------6300 3x3

rest:----unmodified----------------unmodified

price:---2,329€--------------------1,378€
---------3,342$--------------------1,979$


This is a solid 1000€ gap. I would accept a max 200€ difference because of Taxes etc. , but this?
Now im asking you for any tips/advice/experience to get a lower price here in germany.

Maybe talking to a rep at phone rather than using the website?

Thanks in advance.



(dont hestitate to ask if something is not understandable, english is my 3rd language

 

The different in price is unavoidable. Welcome to the EU's tax zone baby, so in the EU Dell can dictate their prices as they see fit. You can talk to the rep and maybe get -50EUR lower, but that would be all. If you want to buy in Germany, the best option is to focus on spending your money on CPU, GPU and the screen, so parts which you cannot replace yourself that easily if you are not experienced. You should save some 150-200EUR this way. The rest of parts you can but separately and install easily, e.g. RAM and a hdd.

Buy the lowest amount of RAM and the smallest disk. Then use geizhals.at to find the best prices out there. You can buy 8GB of RAM for ~60 EUR (if 1333) or ~80 (if 1600). Seagate Momentus XT 500GB costs some 82 EURO. 320GB is around 70. mindfactory.de is a good shop and their prices are reasonable.

You can always order your laptop from the States, but then you have to pay for porto and then cover the tax (that would be plus ~500-600 EUR), so in the end the cost will be high as well, and you have to worry about your package. Some may find that very uncomfortable.

If you are fine with not having an AW, check out Schenker Notebooks. They offer customized setups much cheapter. For around 2000 EUR you can have a very powerful notebook (for example 2820qm + gtx 485m).

If I happen to be wrong about the price bargaining with dell.de, please correct me. If there is a foolproof method to deal with them, I'd love to know as well.

delivery from the States and taxes:
http://www.finanzfrage.net/frage/muss-man-fuer-laptop-aus-den-usa-am-zoll-steuern-zahlen

 

Well, one of deeper Links says, that "some electronics (like shiny Macbooks)" are taxfree if you travel back with them in person. Needs further investigation i guess.

Also, german taxlaw ( http://www.zoll.de/b0_zoll_und_steuern/a3_einfuhrumsatzsteuer/index.html) says something like:
If you Import something (from the USA), you have top pay (Price - US-Taxes) + 19% .

That would still be an awsome deal (with 10% US-Salestax would be 1475€ , but im not realy sure about that.

Still, if someone has personal experience with this, please reply!

 

Why not buy it from an online 3rd party retailer?! i tried checking in from hidevolution and the tax only came out to be 132$

 

A little off topic but,
Are you interested in buying a used M17x R3???

(Nebula Red, CPU: 2720QM, GPU: 6970m, 16GB HyperX RAM, 128GB Crucial C300 SSD, 500GB WD Caviar Black, 1920x1080 screen, Blu-Ray reader, 3yr Adv Care warranty) I did all the upgrades myself

I'm an American living in the Rhineland-Pfalz temporarily. If you are nearby.

Did n't mean to hi-jack your thread with a sales offer but hey, thought you may be interested.

 

HIDevolution.com - Specializing in customized computers, electronics, and mobile devices for gamers and professionals sounds interesting. they sell the system above for about 2000$. But the question is, will the price translate to 1400€ if i order it here and what about the warranty?

@El Hondo: No offense, but i dont trust used computers Also, Pfalz is a bit far away. But thanks anyway.

 

No Offense taken

Hope you find a good deal, Good Luck

 

That's the thing. If you buy directly from AW everything's between you and AW. If you don't and rather buy from some reseller, things get more complicated. Note that many people in this forum reported replacing their m17x because of some issues. Think about the risks there. I'd say it's better to pay more but to get stuff directly from the producer first hand. If something is wrong, just call 'em up and you are set.

 

what would be the disadvantages to buy from a reseller, considering that he would transfer the warranty? Maybe if i ask, they would get a international warranty or something?

 

Why don't you open a chat window with AW Deutschland and ask 'em about the warranty issue. This is actually a very good question. I'd like to know the answer as well.

 

Buy from US website. Call and tell them you are using an international VISA. Use a mailforward service with an adress inside US. Use that adress when you order.

Case closed?

(And yes I have asked Dell about this and they are perfectly fine with it as long as you have an american adress)

 

I live in the Netherlands and bought mine from HID. total costs a little more then 1550 euro, thats almost 750 euro's cheaper then the same system in the Netherlands.

System: aprox. 1320.
Shipping: aprox. 100.
Tax: aprox. 140. Declared as 850, be warned I took a risk and got lucky.

With the money I saved I bought myself a 128GB SSD and some 8GB RAM.

The 1 year warrenty is valid world wide. Fill in the transfer form and you're done.

 

Well, thankyou all.
I will wait about 2 weeks in hopes for the 560, then im going to place my order at HidEvolution.
Im posting here again for statusupdates.

 

Hey I would be interested, also living in RheinlandPfalz. But I cant send you pm, you need one more post on this forum to enable pm.

 

Hey Guys, back again.

I would like to know about 3 specific things relating to the GPU:

Does the 6970m have HDMI Audio?
Does it fully support the WiDi feature of the Intel IGP/WiFi Combo?
How does the Powerconsumption look in relation to the 460m

Thanks in Advance

 

1. Yes
2. No idea
3. Wont matter a lot will it, i mean if you are concerned about battery life then since it has switchable GPUs the power consumption wont really matter. But the TDP of the 6970m should be abou 100Watt and that of the 460m should be 72W.

 

thanks hawk.

Although me being an nVidia fan, im really leaning more and more towards the 6970m, because of performance.

As you clarified point 1&2, i would still really like to know if WiDi (2.0) has all the features and compatibility with the 6970m instead of a nVidia.

Im still waiting for last bits of $$$ to place my order (and possibly for new GPU options).

_IF_ Dell offers something like the 485m or a SLI option (could the m17xR3 have SLI theoretically?) in time, im probably going for one of these.

 

Still eager to hear a comment on WiDi (2.0) with ATI cards, everything else is settled for me

bumb

 

another bumb, another question...

Does anybody have working Coupons for Hidevolution.com?

Many thanks to anybody replying

 

From my understanding the coupon system isnt functional yet.

 

@NormenKD

Use HID, is the best re-seller...

I orderd myself an M17x R3 and reached in Europe without a problem. Also if you declare the value as 850€ (risky) but in the end will be good!

HID will help you with packageing the laptop in order not to look like and alienware

 

im interested. Also in germany, too bad you cant pm.