AW/DELL Ordering Advice - How to save $$$

If I buy from Dell US and change the ownership over to my address in Australia does the warranty that was purchased/came with the product transfer over too?

Just asking as I found that getting an m11x +from Dell US + an OCZ 240gb SSD from newegg.com for a total of $1900 AUD compared to just the m11x from Dell Australia on it's own for $1799 AUD.

 

Dell US will say yes, but get in contact with Dell AU and confirm it.

 

I've spoken to Dell Australia on this issue and yes, the warranty is valid after i do the ownership transfer. Because Dell US doesn't ship outside of the US (they have other locales to do that) i will need to go through a third party and ask them if they can help with the ownership transfer.

EDIT: I spoke with the mail redirect people that i have used before and they'll do the ownership transfer on their end so yay for that.

 

Good. Let us know how its going.

 

the other problem in Australia is getting tax and an import duty because it is over the $1000 AUD threshold: which i have done a guestimate and found i won't be saving a whole lot - only $100 AUD.

EDIT: any retail outlets in the US that sell the i7 version of the m11x?

 

if you've someone in the us then ask them to bring it with them.. that's the only way to save on laptop shopping from the us.

btw, how much do u think i should set as a target for an m15x that shows 1399 at the site

 

wish i could but i don't know anyone in the US.

 

could some one gimme a pointer as to how much of a discount i can expect from the m15x going at 1399 at the US aw site. the first consultant i chatted with said that he can't give me any more since therems a 300$ discount already applied..

 

I contacted a sales rep today, and all I could get was $50 off (plus the advertised discount of $225 and 2% off EPP).

Has anyone been able to get a better deal?

 

If this has already been asked, I'm sorry I lost the huge thread about it... anybody get anything good on the MX17-R3? I was looking at the 120hz screen (3d) 460m combo for $1699. I spoke to three different sales reps and couldn't get anybody to budge on anything - the price of the system, a discount on a RAM upgrade, nothing at all. I seem to recall mention of a $50 off coupon, but can't remember what the number was or if it was still even good anymore. When mentioning this to my latest sales rep, he said he didn't know that it existed.

I'm a student, and the Dell U website has it on sale for $1665, which is a little better, but it's still $1750+ after tax. If I could get that last $50 off I'd love to. The guy didn't even budge on the $75 carrying case - this is brutal! I feel like a failure.

*EDIT*

Also, yay I just found out my financial aid should be disbursed early next week. I've been waiting for a laptop to replace this G50 for a year or more.

 

Could you please PM me. Thanks

 

A Note to all the newcomers: Please keep in mind, that in order to have access to Private Messages, you need at least 5 quality posts.

Here is a link to the moderator post on the rule.

 

Unfortunately I ended up missing the -20% coupon from the Dell Outlet (primarily b/c of a pay clerk error from work).

I was wondering if outlet coupons similar to that one are offered regularly?

Do they wait days/weeks/months between big discount coupons before re-offering a similar version?

I never really followed the coupons/outlet until a week ago - that's why I ask.

 

You might get 25% off coupons.
Just a guess and its not regularly until they got pile of refub systems and want to get rid of.

 

Not to get off topic but does anyone know if this works for purchasing a HP laptop?

 

You can also google dell outlet coupons, there are a few offered by different vendors.

 

my car insurer offers 10% off all alienware notebooks and desktops in Australia.

in Australia it's $1798.50 AUD and with the discount it drops to $1618.85 AUD

that got me sold!

 

After being unable to order an M17x R3 I looked for alternatives (the M17xR2 was a bit out of my price range) and found the M15x. Calling up and getting a Philippines agent I was able to get them to drop the price on the top end M15x (if you navigate to it from the main M15x page - the one on the far right). With a GeForce 460m, 1080p screen, Core i7, 6GB RAM, etc it listed online as $1812 after discounts, and I talked them down to $1549 with free NBD shipping.

What's interesting is the Philippines guy I spoke to initially (Tuesday night) he quoted me the $1549, then I called in Wednesday to order it, couldn't get him, got an American agent, they didn't see any discounts applied to the quote he made, got her manager, 2 hours later they went from (it's $1799 sir, the best I can do is $100 off" to getting a hold of the Philippines guy and verifying he agreed to it at $1549 with $250 off. I have the SKU number if that helps anybody in the future:

1 464-7523 Special Offer - $250 off

 

You are so lucky =)

could you pm me his email id?

 

Thanks Matt. 1+ rep

 

Hey guys, after a lot of prevaricating about an m11x, I finally decided to push for an m15x.

I phoned, as per the advice and got a quote for i7 Processor 620M GTX 460m 360gb hdd bluetooth etc, for £1398 down from £1468...

I was hoping to get it down to £1200, as I think that's fairer considering the age of the processor and the GPU.

She wouldn't budge on her quote though and when I politely asked as to whether she could apply the epp as my uncle works for Boeing, she said EPP was for military personel only!

I would buy it today if she could get it down to £1200

Any thoughts?

 

Call the EPP line, she clearly has no idea what she is doing, especially if she didn't know to transfer you. Maybe you can call the US EPP? Not sure if the have one in the UK, but they should I would think.

 

Great thanks, I'll look up their number and see if I can get a better deal. It can't be that hard to make a tidy commission! I mean I'm a sure bet to buy if I get my price!

 

I've looked through this thread looking for help in getting the best deal for an M11x R2. The last mention of any info about ordering a M11x-R2 was back in Sept. 2010. I know that Dell is trying to get rid of their R1's right now and I'm tempted to get one as well. However, I really want to get the i7 R2. What do you guys think the going rate on discounts are for a new i7 R2 with 4gb and 160GB HD?

 

I don't know if this counts as a savings but if you sign up for mypoints.com and use they're tool bar (I find some times using there links does not credit points) you get 2 points per dollar spent at dell, so a $2000 order gets you $25 gift card worth of points. newegg.com and tigerdirect.com are 1 point per dollar.
also they have other ways to earn points besides shopping.

 

nevermind.

 

I would think you could get that for a decent price - this is what it's listed at on the Dell University website ("discounted" price less 2%):

Starting Price $1,799.00
Student Discount $231.98
Subtotal $1,567.02

Note that's with a 320GB hard drive - over the phone they can substitute a smaller drive and save you some cash. Part of how I got my 740QM/460m/6GB/1080p M15x for $1549 is by having them replace the 320GB online with a 250GB over the phone. I have a Seagate Momentus XT 500GB in my office on my desk waiting for my laptop to arrive, so I can swap the drives right away. Might as well save on something you're going to remove anyway.

 

What you can also do is place the order with your discounted price, and then call a few days later and threaten to cancel, and they've been known to knock $50-100 USD off the price to get you to keep the order.

I haven't tried this yet, but with my recent issue (long story short, I got a call out of the blue Sunday of last weekend saying my laptop was "about to ship out and I should get it in a couple days" I've spoken to Dell literally every day this week for 30-45 minutes trying to find out where my order is - Chinese New Year delayed it) I called in and was offered a free carrying case, which is valued at about $75 USD. The least they can do for wasting 3+ hours of my time. =\

 

My first attempt ended in dismal failure, when we were talking price he changed gears on me towards the XPS models. boo hiss!

 

What would be the tactic of threatening to cancel/return? What happens if they cancel without a fight? lol

 

How many percent does dell offer for AAA members?

 

Be very careful doing this. I actually tried to cancel not because I wanted a further reduction but because I was up all night having major doubts about just dropping over a grand 300 on a laptop. I did some googling for how much Indian based dell reps actially make as a basic wage not counting commission and I found that they get between £1000-2000 per year!!! I was so torn up about the ethics of blowing a YEAR'S wage on a comp that I phoned up the next morning and cancelled!!!

It went through straight away and they didn't offer me anything to keep it!

Then after ANOTHER sleepless night of regret that I'd just lost a great deal which probably won't cone around in the UK for a VERY long time, I contacted my rep to reverse the cancellation! LMAO!! soooo lame I know but I do have guilt about the real cost of these things!
At the moment my status is still in production, fingers crossed it will move on to 'shipped' soon.
Just a warning to those who try and cancel to get a further reduction lol.

Ps sorry spelling and punctuation. Typing on phone

 

Some of the posters here are getting around $600-700 discounts, I was wondering if i can grab an M15x with the gtx 460m and core i7 740qm @ $1300-1400 range since the G53JW-XN1 with similar cpu/gpu is at $1200

Let me know

 

Has anyone tried using Paypal to order and got a good deal? I don't have a CC at the moment (just moved), not sure how you would pay via Paypal over the phone.

 

Just a quick link to this M15x thread some prospective buyers might find useful, especially European customers:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x/553973-m15x-following-spec-opinions-3.html

 

I'm almost doubting some of these discounts people are getting. Dell/Alienware are unique in that if someone threatens to cancel, or tries to negotiate a lower deal...there's always another person willing to shell out full price.

It's like the airlines, you may have a free ticket - but that'll also increase your chances of getting bumped. Why? There's always someone who will pay $500 for a ticket.

My second attempt ended up with them just trying to downgrade the processor - bleh.

 

Hamster, honestly I wouldn't lie about this. The reason I got such a huge reduction primarily is because online was offering a £200+ discount! I then negotiated another chunk off using the OP's advice. I did spend a good amount of time on these forums gathering evidence and courage before going for it. But I am not making this stuff up!

 

Well, there's also something to be said for the monetary conversion rate - I'm not as familiar with European economics, so a 20% reduction may be commonplace.

For continental US, I'm not used to seeing such voluntary discounts, ever - at least outside of a car sale. The Dell reps I've been stuck with basically say, "If you can't afford the Alienware price, don't buy one." I'm getting most unlucky.

 

Much lke Baerius stated, you've got to keep trying. The post has been fairly successful for quite a few people , but the thing to remember is most Dell reps won't just say, "Hey sure I'll drop the price for you!" Remember, many of them are working for commission so there is a game of tug-of-war of sorts going on. It definately takes perseverance. Just got to stick with it for a while, and when you get a decent quote, even not so decent, get a quote emailed to you. Then you have a bartering chip.

 

guys, this is fantastic! first off, thanks for so much time YOU guys put into helping us peeps out. now, i do have a question on being able to knock down a price for this m15x, subtotal online is 1844.00:


SYSTEM COLOR Alienware M15x, Cosmic Black edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7 740QM Quad Core Processor, 1.73GHz (2.93GHz Turbo Mode, 6M Cache edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
MEMORY 6GB Memory (1x 2GB, 1x 4GB DDR3) edit
VIDEO CARD 1.5GB GDDR5 65W NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460M edit
HARD DRIVE 320GB SATAII 7,200RPM edit
LCD PANEL 15.6-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 (1080p) WLED edit
WIRELESS CARDS Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11AGN Half Mini Card edit
BATTERY OPTIONS Primary - 6-cell (56Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

basically, think i can get it down do 1300? i dunno! maybe im doubting myself rightnow, maybe i just need some encouragement, but all i want is someone to tell me their opinion if it can be done. also, if someone has a good sales rep, mind giving a email or such? but again thanks ALOT for all of those who contributed.

 

- Total is $1900, sir. But I can give you a discount of xxx.
- Can you make it $1300 because................ blah blah......
- You want me to lose my job?

IMO, 1300 is hard to get. Some people might have $600 discount but that INCLUDED the discount on the website which every1 can get - plus, those people usually buy a powerful machine ($2500, 3000 or even more) so you should expect <20% discount. That is already very good. In this case, 1844 + tax ~1900, if you could take it down to 1650 (that mean $250 discount, plus $300 original discount) I would say that's pretty good. $1300 just seems not very reasonable
And, I think you might wanna add the accidental warranty 1 year for $69 - ask them to include that for free. LOL.

 

Ouch, I'm on my 5th sales rep and all I've gotten is insults. One did offer $50 off but in the end, the quote he sent me didn't even have that. I've been really friendly too. Must work on my pitch I guess. (Trying to reduce the price of a m17x, they are priced way too high for what you get.)

Probably going to end up going with an Asus.

 

My advice, from recent experience, is to wait wait wait until there is an online deal (for me it was something like £220 off my well specced M15x) then configure how you want it online, and move to your basket. Then what you should do is take a note of your basket code (should be a number starting with letters NOW) then call. Ask your rep to kindly pull up the online discount from your basket using that code and begin your negotiations. Remember to WAIT for the online deals FIRST. Try not to rush into buying in a fit of enthusiasm. Remember it's YOUR money and you don't HAVE to part with it if you are not satisfied on price.

 

boo, and i was all about saving money ftw...

ah, well, i think i will just wait anyways until the r3 surfaces again.

 

Did you order the R3 before? If yes, that would help you a lot demanding for a discount.
Dont give up easily

 

No, I actually bought an Asus G73S. But, I'm returning it due to the recall.

 

Just FYI, Dell is not giving much ground on prices for the M17x R3. I talked to an American EPP rep who was really nice. After about an hour and a half, all he could give me was about $135 off (tax, pretty much). I called back and talked to another rep (not EPP) and all he could give me was $50 off. He asked me to call him back in the morning after he talks to his manager though, so we'll see.

 

Yeah right, 9 out of 10 reps (including supervisors) said $50 is the maximum discount they can give. Its understandable since R3 was just re-released and right now there must be a high demand for it. Dell doesnt have to give out much discount, lol.
If you can wait a bit, probably 1-2 months, when the battle slows down, you might get a better deal.
But, who wants to delay the excitement for couple of bucks in return, right? Lol

 

I spent an hour on the phone with my rep.. Told him I was tight on money (Which I mentioned first thing when he asked why I couldn't order the "second" laptop I lied about wanting to buy now) and he came back with $100 off.

I also didn't see the $50 off coupon currently floating around and called back today (I ordered yesterday) and got ANOTHER $50 off.. Last thing I'm going to try is make up some story about the system being not for me and wanting to return it.. See if I can squeeze a bit more out.

I REALLY tried to prod my rep into giving me another $50 off from the 100 he already took but he told me the system physically won't let him take anything else off. Who knows... Not worth spending another hour on the phone reconfigging to save $50 with another rep when this one was great.

He tossed me an email after telling me that hes my personal rep or something (get that commission boy!) and had his supervisor's email in the bottom.. Tossed his supervisor an email telling him how much of a good job he did. Hopefully he'll get / hear something nice.

...Now just to pay off that $600 I don't have that I slapped onto my dell preferred account. 12 months no interest.. Thank the lord!

 

So how much did it all cost pre-tax?