Any Australia Rep in the Forums?

Hi, I am student a Sydeny. I want buy M18X, but Dell only give 5%off for students discount.

So if some can give me a better deal, Please PM me or send me a email: [email protected]

thanks

 

if you find one lemme know,

however i would tell you to look around online for coupons, i was once able to get 12 % off the laptop (M17xr3)

also you need to negotiate over the telephone, force their hand, threaten 'em with Envy's,Asus's

 

threat Dell with Asus. It sounds really fun.
Does it work? like contact them in the phone

 

Best bet is to call and haggle.
That's what I have always done.

 

how much discount did u get?

 

For my M15x, I got $300 off.

For My M11x, I got $80 off + free Bose speakers.

Better than paying full price online.

Keep an eye out for coupons.

I too am a student, I know how much a pain money it.
In-fact, it's a pain regardless of position...

 

Call them.

I found a $350 M11x R2 discount code online, made a Dell account, built system and applied code. Saved to checkout and called Dell and managed the following over the phone:

1. Got my R2 with i7 and 8GB RAM for $800, got them to upgrade to accidental warranty for free. Placed order and the ETA changed so i called up again and got free next business day delivery.

2. Received R2 within a week, all was fine for a fortnight until mobo needed replacing. Called them up to return it and after getting my refund, i also got them to give me the same clearance discount i got on the R2, off the purchase of a new R3 unit. So i got the i5 R3 in my sig for around $740.

3. Called up and told them i was thinking of returning it for a cheaper brand, they sent me $75 back to keep it.

4. Transferred ownership from US (where i bought it) to Australia (where i live) and lost my accidental warranty. Called them up, got them to refund me the $50 it cost as an upgrade option.

So yea, you can get stuff done... It just takes the right people and determination on your part to keep trying till you get one of them.

 

Well yes and a no, the story you told sounds applicable to the US based reps (I have read on NBR the consideration the US reps have for their customers, esp. returning money to keep the laptop etc.) I have gone through 4 m17xr3's, and when I was having issues with optimus they wouldn't accept it till I forced their hand, and then they accepted a return and eventually a refund (after the 2nd lappie's similar issues) rather than putting or advising for an upgrade to the 6970,

And to get the absolute besT in bargains (to the OP)

Look for coupons online

Save the build

Call up

Ask what's the best they can do (on top of the coupon applied) they will balk

I got a 12%+ another 1% after the threats (to go for a g74x)

The rep.will clearly tell you that's the best they can do

As far as negotiating for a buy on the 3rd laptop (which had a busted USB port,yup requiring a mobo replacement and then replacement) I really did not get a fair go till I mailed Michael Dell (or who ever that was, an email found on the forums here) and then snr. ppl from Dell Singapore started emailing....

So yeah it's a fight all the way, probe the sale rep for a deal,but expect (by my recent and only exp.) to save no more than GST on a AW laptop,expect no freebies from Dell AU reps

 

Best I've seen from an OZ/NZ haggle is 10%~.

It might be cheaper using a third-party delivery service based in the US/CAN and get it delivered there in order to take advantage of better pricing & discounts.

Tip:

Some US states: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon have no sales taxes. Canadian provinces start at 5% (Alberta).

Finding a forwarding service in a state/province with no tax or very little tax would be ideal.

 

I am thinking of buying a M18X R2 from HIDevolution, but I was wondering how much the Aus custom would tax me...obviously the value is above 1000 AUD... If the tax equals to GST (10%), as there's also delivery fee ($200 for USPS), then there's no big price difference between DELL US and DELL AU.

Maybe I should keep haggling with AU reps to try my luck to see whether I can get 10% off? ...

 

I am a student in Sydney too, and I am buying from HIDEvolution, they will declare it under 1,000 for you, Ted is a really nice guy and if you message him after you place your order they'll do all that for you and more.

Plus in general it's like, stupidly cheaper then Dell.com.au, I think my config (which is a pretty much outright beast) is 800 more expensive on the offical site, so yeah, hidevolution are the way to go for us Aussies.

 

Have you received your unit yet? There are other posts about the risks of declaring it under value. I too thinking to buy from HID, let me know how you go.

 

Will not be ordering till July but I would think the earnest is on the sender to get it through customs not the receiver.

 

Hey Zeju, I've also ordered mine from HIDevolution (fellow aussie ) and asked for the ol under 1000 trick. Ordered it on thursday night, so I'll keep you guys posted when i eventually (hopefully) get my beast without any worries!

 

oh, and p.s., student in melbourne!

 

Awesome mate, keep us posted. If the under 1000 trick works for you I'll get it done for myself too.

Im worried if it doesnt work tho, I dont know what happens.

 

hi buddy, cant wait to see if the under 1000 trick works for you. Good luck!!!

 

Thanks mate, when are you expecting to receive it? And what is you config?

btw, the aus dell 5% discount is really bs....

 

Yeah they've become cheap s, last year I managed to 13% over the net just because I was in RACV/ worked for DEECD.

 

Hey guys, the eta was 24th for it to be in their hands, then they need to install ic diamond, then ship it off to me. For anyone with OCD like me, they assured me no specs or anything would be on the laptop from this procedure, and itd be brand new in my hands! my specs are as follows:
Item Sku Qty Subtotal
Alienware M18x R2 Custom Built to Order
System Color
Space Black Anodized Aluminum
Processor
3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3820QM 2.7GHz (8MB Cache, up to 3.7GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0) - $350.00
Thermal Paste
IC Diamond on CPU + GPU - INSTALLED BY HIDevolution - $60.00
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Video Card
CrossFireX 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970M - $550.00
LCD Panel
18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
Memory
6GB DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)
RAID Hard Drive Option
no RAID (1st HDD as primary boot drive, 2nd HDD storage drive)
Hard Drive
750GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD - $50.00
2nd Hard Drive Bay (installed by HIDevolution)
NONE / NOT APPLICABLE if RAID is chosen
3rd Hard Drive Bay (installed by HIDevolution)
NONE
Internal Optical/4th Hard Drive Bay
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW) - $100.00
Battery
96WHr 12-Cell Primary Battery
Power Adapter
330 Watt 3 Prong AC Adapter with 6 ft Power Cord (will work worldwide, includes FREE plug adapter for those without "U.S. style" outlets)
Wireless Cards
Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video - installed by HIDevolution - $70.00
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.0 Included
Sound Options
Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di with THX TruStudio Pro Software
Warranty and Service
1 Year Basic Service Plan
Office Software
None
Security Software
None
Personalized Plate (leave blank if standard plate of "M17x" requested)
Day Man
AlienFX Color (Color can be changed later to any color using supplied AlienFX software)
Quasar Blue
Wallpaper
Alien Cyborg

 

You did ask that the non personalized AW plate should read m18x r2, right?

 

I agree. My wife today had a base model Aus M18x for me in her cart with bluray and killer wireless as added extras, initiated chat for someone to discuss and have someone call us to get a better price than the pathetic 5% off on our respective EPP sites.

They said due to the guidelines they couldn't offer anything more, except possibly speeding up shipping, and they didn't want to talk. That's ridiculous, especially when you look at the great % off deals being thrown at the Americans, you'd think they could at least do 10%. That's all we wanted. On a PC specced to ~$3450AUD, I think 10% off is pretty reasonable considering the amount of markup on each component.

I would consider getting an M18x from overseas from HID but shipping alone is $312 via the cheapest Fedex option, and after choosing the same specs the machine only manages to be $100 cheaper. The stories of people getting a machine cheaper direct from America are over exaggerated. Every build scenario I make I'm always within a couple of hundred dollars before shipping costs (not to forget GST+duty if you're honest).

This is pretty frustrating because we both work for a high profile government department and mining company respectively, you'd think EPP customers would be able to speak with a Dell rep in Aus, seeing as our workplaces are covered in Dell PC's. I thought that was the whole point of EPP. XPS at the moment has 15% off!!

I know Aus reps do exist in the Sydney head office, but there is no way to get in touch with them.

I buy close to 1x Alienware PC each year. The first was my M11x r2, where there was a 7% off EPP code at the time. The next year I got my M14x r1, and I got 8% off EPP as well as $100 off all Alienware promo running at the time, which was great. Now it comes around to my biggest Alienware purchase yet, and they can't do better than 5%. I know they're lying but who else can you go to? Are there level 2 reps that can authorise more?

 

I'm more annoyed about the lack of options available. What's the point of a slightly larger discount if you can't get the features you want (namely, the graphics card options). I just called up Dell ready to pull the trigger on a purchase but can't get the 7970Ms even after contacting rep (albeit one based in India) because it's still not on the Aussie website despite it clearly being available to others.

 

Yeah I hear ya bro. That's the biggest killer. Back when WiHD was available, I wanted that, but obviously it's only in the USA. It would be the sole reason for me to import.

 

Well speak of the devil I make that post and 1 day later the 7970M's are available! I'm going to assume my call helped kick Dell into action and start supplying it (and don't tell me otherwise! )

Anyway I called the rep back directly and they did actually take a bit off the price (about 5% only but still a lot better than the nothing those of us without access to EPP would otherwise get) plus gave me 3 years warranty for about $100 less. Still not quite the bargains the USA gets but regardless I'm happy =)

 

Yeah they always give 5%, which is poor at this price bracket.

Did you get the monitor for $1 extra?

 

Yep, figured why not. If I decide I wont use it I can always try to sell it to recoup some costs.

 

I am not happy about the price either...

I was about to buy a M18x from HID, but than I figured that I would have to pay more than AU$3000 for the laptop (~AU$2700, almost no discount) plus delivery fee (>AU$300), and the GST is even not in my plan! This is pretty much the AU price, then it would be so ridiculous if I bought it from HID...

So I guess maybe its not bad to buy it from Dell Au. 5% off is better than nothing, and i can also get a free monitor (just $1！ ...so I'm gonna ask my school to see if they have that EPP thing that I can use...

BTW, last time someone mentioned JB HI-FI can help you get a price better than 5% off, so i was wondering if anyone tried this way before.

 

Have you all priced a similar spec'd AW from priceusa....

Also u can bag a 10% off if only you'd wait for a month or so

 

10% from dell or priceusa?
Aus dollar has dropped, so it is not as cheap as couple months ago if you purchase it from usa. But back then, m17x r4 wasn't available yet

I went to JB the other day, you could save a bit more than 5%, but only for whatever they have in stock. If you willing to buy an old model, say m14x r1, about $1900 on display, and you can save at least $400 by simply ask for a better price.

@ jivemaster
Have you get your AW yet?
So even you work for large company/government, you still only get 5% off? That's ridiculous, I am a nrma member, they offer 13% off, but again not for AW. How bs is that.

btw, for those who are not students/government employee, and can't even get the "lucky" 5% discount. Just tell them you are a student and give them 'a' student email and you will get it. Poor 5% is better than nothing.

 

Thats bull mate, JB Hi-fi are absolute rip offs, I went in there, got ambushed by a sales rep who claimed that his prices were the lowest anywhere, and he could work with money, I looked at one of his configs, it was some crappy set-up M14x, and it was something like 3.5-4.5 grand, I told him that's ridiculous, and he said can you match that price? I said, "Mate, I can get a M18x with Crossfire, 16 gigs of ram and a i7 for 3 grand at HID", then he came out with some bollocks that they wont transfer the warranty, trying to convince me, total garbage, JB Hi Fi are rip offs and liars, I wouldn't buy an Alienware from them if they were the last shop on Earth. He was so arrogant too, it made me furious, the fact that he was arrogant and lying, like he was talking to some old woman that didn't know what a computer was, when he figured out that I knew what I was talking about, he gave up, and my friend and I were wondering how he managed to get a job there.

Anyway, point being, unless it's an official dell rep, don't even think about buying from an 'official' retailer, retailers offer stupid prices, buy from the Dell Factory, or from an online reseller, do not under any circumstance waste your money on JB Hi Fi. They may lower THEIR prices but their prices are already set so high you not getting a profit.

Australia's best choice is HIDevolution, plain and simple.

 

I pulled the trigger and bought a m18x r2 yesterday. The reps i chatted to said they couldn't do better than the 5% discount.

The price really isn't that bad to be perfectly honest. If you get the base config m18x r2 with 7970 xfire, after the 5% discount it only comes to $3050 abouts, and you get a 24 inch ultra sharp dell monitor for $1... that's at least 200 bux value right there.

I bought mine with the 3 year warranty though so my system came out to be $3356 with a 24" monitor. I reckon it will be quite a while before we see the 15% off we had few months ago.

 

As I said above. Buying from Dell Australia (Dell America is actually pretty good) or JB Hi-Fi is a complete rip off. Comparing what you stated, the base config M18x R2 with 7970 Crossfire, is $3050 in Australia?

HIDEvolution, M18x R2, 7970 Crossfire, $2499 American.

I mean it guys, atleast ask for a quote from HID. Saves you alot of money.

 

I did have a look at HID prices first but the moment you start adding features (US base config has less than the Aus one) the price rapidly escalates to near Australian prices. Then consider postage, exchange rate and taxes (unless you don't mind your laptop illegally being quoted as <1000 for tax by HID) it stops being as attractive an option.

Sent from my Motorola Razr using Tapatalk 2

 

Yeah once you factor in tax,postage and customs fees, it ends up costing the same as buying from dell aus anyway, so it's really not worth the hassle.

Yeah base config with 7970s is $3050 but our base spec is higher than americas and you get a 24" monitor for $1... you got to factor that in as well. You ain't gonna get that buying from HID.

 

How did you guys arrive at that conclusion? That website doesn't have tax because it's an international website, we would have to pay duty, but they will declare under $1,000 for you. In other words, no additional fees whatsoever apart from duty, which you can be exempt from by declaring under 1k.

My config at HID is $2950,
The same EXACT config at Dell AU (I don't mean roughly the same, the same exact specs) is $3,655.30

In my quote shipping to Australia from HIDEvolution was $252.00 with no additional fees, a total of: $3202. Now that's a saving of $453 dollars, and when you consider a HD 24" monitor would probably cost around $120 dollars, your still paying more then me, so I could go out and get something like.. Samsung S27B350H 27" Monitor | Computers & Tablets, Monitors : JB HI-FI

That.

So, I stand by my original statement, Dell AU is a ripoff. And as you can tell by the Dell AU price, my specs are pretty beast.

That's a lot of money in the savings. The warranty is transferred to your name instantly after purchase, I really don't see the point in buying from Dell AU when they're that much more expensive and the machines are exactly the same.

The short and the long is that HID is cheaper. By quite a margin.

 

Honestly mate, the stuff you're spurting out is starting annoy me.

First off, good luck claiming ANYTHING from the postal service (registered or not) if it gets damaged in transit and you declared a $4k laptop as being under $1,000. Giving wrong and misleading information on a customs/duty declaration instantly voids your warranty and accidental cover. It's also a crime under social security law. I don't know about you, but I'm not going to risk $4,000 just because i wanted to save an extra $100, especially with international transit.

Secondly, 5% off the standard retail price is DECENT. Go into a store and try haggling prices down on a retail product on the shelves. See how long it takes for them to laugh and walk away. You are talking about getting a base 5% off without using any discount or coupon codes which come out every few months and actually make a HUGE difference.

If you use the right discount codes at the right times, you can save THOUSANDS. But that takes patience and waiting for them to go on sale - as with absolutely ANY retail product. But if you're impatient and only want to buy it "NOW" then yea, you're going to have to "make-do" with a measly 5% discount.

Oh and BTW - those US prices are WITHOUT TAX. The Aust prices straight off the bat include our 10% GTS. Add up your HID shipping which you yourself quoted + the GST which you still have to pay when it arrives in Aust, you're looking at the exact same price.

 

this. good luck zeju. you might get away with it but it has its risks

 

LOL for starters you aren't going to get a 24" height adjustable monitor for $120.

HID may work out cheaper for you but not for what I ordered. You are also declaring it at under 1k which is illegal and risky if something happens to your system during transit.

OK I don't know what your config is so I can't really compare. But basic config from dell au (which is what i got) with 7970m xfire cost $3025.42 with the 24" monitor after 5% discount.

Exactly same config from HID cost $2854.00 + $252.53 shipping. So in my case Dell AU is not only cheaper, safer, faster i also get a 24" monitor with it.

But I repeat I don't what your config is, so it may work out cheaper for your particular config, but for ME Dell AU had no cons at all.

Have you actually ordered your system?

 

Well then, if your getting annoyed on an internet forums during a debate you probably shouldn't be on forums during a debate.

And Retailers are ripoffs which is the whole point of what I am saying. I'll get to the declarations part later, but HID order straight from a Dell source. It is basically retail. And once again, 'no additional fees'. No tax.

I know people that have ordered from HID, I know how much they saved and how satisfied they were and what they had to pay and what they didn't have to pay, do you? Or are you just guessing? Cause it seems to me your guessing.

I quote straight from HID "Hi. In the 5 years we have been in business and shipping to Australia almost everyday for the last ~3 years, we have yet to have a run in with customs or a lost/damaged package to Australia (knock on wood). Given regulations could change anytime, we feel confident in saying there will be a very low chance of any issues."

So, you do the math, I estimate that's something like a 0.1 in 1095 chance that anyone who orders will get picked up.

JB stupidly overprice their stuff, Dicksmiths would probably have one for around $150, but your right, $120 is a bit off. This is the closest I could find in 10 seconds of searching, maybe if I put a bit more effort I could find one around $120 but hey-ho this will do: LG E2211T 22" LED Monitor | Computers & Tablets, Monitors : JB HI-FI

It's illegal sure, but not that risky; it's no more illegal then using a torrent which I'm sure most people here do.

My config is customized on most parts, I think I left the HDD alone, SDD's cost too much, but in general it's XFire 7970, 16gb Ram, one of the Ivy i7's, Killer wireless, um, blu ray, I don't really remember off hand, and too lazy to look it up.

I was thinking that during my last post, maybe lower prices Dell AU are cheaper but because they get their parts from a different Dell sources, HID might be cheaper to upgrade? Atleast if yours is 3 grand and cheaper in Australia and mine is 3.7 and more expensive in Australia.

I dunno, that doesn't really make sense to me. I wish they were all the same price but it's not the case I guess.

I haven't ordered it yet, and I am listening to everything you guys are saying (except for the rude guy, I just laughed at him), I wouldn't mind ordering from JB but I'm sure their quote will be something stupid for my setup like 4.5 grand or something. HID is the most realistic option for me at the moment, especially considering some of my friends have ordered from there, had fantastic experiences, haven't had to pay tax, duty, it saves you a lot of money man. I dunno it's tempting.

EDIT: Yeah I was right, JB may be good for games and monitors/T.V.'s, but for laptops they're the biggest ripoffs in history. Look at this. http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/comp...alienware-v560129au-m18x-18-4-notebook/665982

I don't even... The specs on that are awful, nice RAM but the Graphics Card is old and the CPU is Sandy.

 

Woop!!! meant to be receiving my precious this wednesday! for those who are curious, here's my tracking so far:

Saturday, May 26, 2012 Location Time
5 Departed Facility in LOS ANGELES GATEWAY - USA LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA 09:05

4 Processed at LOS ANGELES GATEWAY - USA LOS ANGELES GATEWAY, CA - USA 09:04

Friday, May 25, 2012 Location Time
3 Departed Facility in LONG BEACH - USA LONG BEACH, CA - USA 18:56

2 Processed at LONG BEACH - USA LONG BEACH, CA - USA 18:56

1 Shipment picked up LONG BEACH, CA - USA 16:06

 

I'm guessing at what exactly?

You said it was $2950 from HID + $250 shipping = $3,200
From Dell Au including a 24" monitor, it's $3,650 - the 10% GST = $3,285

So without taxes, both laptops are actually the exact same price shipped to your door, except Dell Au throws in a 24" monitor for $85. The GST @ 10% is slightly higher than what most of the US pays, but that's nothing Dell or HID have any control over.

So your massive "debate" (yea, lets not call it that because that's not what it is) is quite baseless tbh, and you're encouraging people to not only break the law in a way which could risk thousands of dolars, but also giving people misleading information. The "rude guy" was getting annoyed because you were spreading incorrect information, he doesn't care what you think about him he cares only that people get the correct info so they can make informed decisions.

 

Okay; I was having a conversation with SuperSimple, discussing ordering from overseas or locally, and you mentioned that you were getting annoyed with something that had nothing to do with you whatsoever, . People listen to that kind of logic, well done!

Last time I checked, a conversation with two opinions, kindly discussing each opinion is a debate of sorts, I didn't say it was massive, that was you, I'm not encouraging anything, I'm just hoping people are available of all their options so they can make informed decisions, sounds familiar doesn't it?

Oh by the way, I'm curious, you've never used a torrent before? In no way was I giving misleading information. I was speaking from true personal experience, you have every right to disagree, but please don't say your getting annoyed about something that has nothing to do with you whatsoever when two people are conversing, that's rude and people will laugh at you. If you don't like what you are reading, make a respectable argument (which you have failed to do so) or stop reading the thread, it's really quite that easy.

Now that we've got that out of the way, I will explain to you why I said you were guessing, and were commenting on things your uneducated in.

When you order from America, you 1: Do not have to pay US Sales tax. 2: There is no GST, GST is duty, if the item in question is under $1,000 and shipped from overseas, no duty/GST is applied, do you understand now?

So, to recap, Tax is Duty, we don't have to pay American Sales Tax, and as long as the item value is declared under $1,000, there will be no taxes paid. And as I said, there is a 0.1 in 1095 chance of being picked up when declaring under $1,000. In fact the chances are probably much lower then that, but HID has only been shipping here for 3 years.

Therefore, HID is cheaper then Dell Australia. Now, I made that clear in my first few posts, I really wish you had of researched this before commenting, but atleast you know now.

Some good sites for reference are Ship to Oz » Fees, Payments, Taxes and Duty and Importing Goods by Post

Goods with a declared or assessed value not exceeding A$1,000

If your goods arrive in Australia by mail and have a declared or assessed value of A$1,000 or less, the goods may be imported free of duty, taxes and Customs and Border Protection charges, unless they are alcohol products or tobacco products. Apart from alcohol and tobacco products those goods will be cleared by Customs and Border Protection and delivered by Australia Post without you doing anything.

I reiterate, 98% of people on these forums have used a torrent or downloaded music, and I'd bet you have too, so drop the "Your encouraging people to break the law" argument. I'm just showing people cheaper options, not telling them what to do with it.

There, Formula One's on in a few hours, I've made my point, have a nice night mate, hopefully next time we'll be sweet. I didn't mean any offense with anything, just be more aware of the thread your posting into, you've entered this conversation not really knowing the conversation, so, yeah.

Have a good one mate.

 

This is a public message board. If you are having a conversation in a public thread, it is a public conversation. If you want your privacy, take it to PM. Don't get offended when someone else chimes in.

You weren't giving misleading information? You are telling people that Dell Au is a huge rip-off and should be avoided. As i clearly pointed out, without the tax the cost of the 2 laptops is exactly the same. Let me also point out that you are NOT "ordering" it from the US, you are getting HID to order it from Dell (who only ships within the US) who will then act as a middle man and send the laptop to you. If HID was ordering it from a state with sales tax, you would also have to pay that tax in addition to GST. But obviously they don't.

As for the rest of your post, i'm going to say this once - you are not understanding what i am saying.

When you declare that a $3,000 laptop is worth $1,000 not only are you breaking the law (let me also point out - it is much more severe than piracy as you continuously like to keep comparing this to. It is more along the lines of tax evasion and mail fraud), you are also voiding your postal warranty. Your postal/courier warranty will only cover you if the item is actually worth the declared value. This means that in the likely event that the box gets thrown around and somehow damaged in transit - YOU ARE NOT COVERED.

You will have just paid $3,000 for a laptop which is covered by neither postal nor manufacturers warranty. Yes i know the Dell warranty is transferable, but the accidental warranty (the ONLY warranty cover which would cover for accidental damage) is not transferable outside of the issuing country and the regular warranty does not cover accidental damage. This i know first hand for a fact.

It's not about "getting caught" at all, it's about the reliability of the international transit system and you risking $3,000 worth of liability for the sake of $200. Not to mention tax evasion is just not something i condone... Taxes go to schools and hospitals and peoples wages. If everyone went about ways of avoiding it there would be no public services.

FYI - I have ordered alienware laptops from both Dell Us and Dell Au, i so actually do have first hand experience and know what i'm talking about. I'm not "guessing" any of this.

 

Zeju, I think you're misunderstanding what Rishwin is trying to tell you. I reckon he is trying to point out the cons of ordering through HID.

You might get it a little cheaper ordering through HID, but then again you only gave me a vague config so I couldn't tell you for sure... And even though you said your friends have done it before and it was all fine, make no mistake there IS a risk of it getting damaged/lost in transit, however low the chance that may be. So even if I could of saved a couple hundred ordering through HID (which I wouldn't of as I have already explained in detail), I would have still ordered through Dell AU because couple hundred dollars is neither here or there when you are buying something worth 3k. And is it really worth risking your 3k machine for couple hundred dollars of savings?

You mention that HID is the only way to go for Aussies to order and that "Dell AU is a ripoff". Rishwin and I have clearly explained that this is clearly not the case. I would also have to agree that tax evasion is a little more serious than using torrents

GL with whichever way you buy it though, mine should be here in a couple weeks, can't wait!

 

HA, my first post xD

I'm from Adelaide and since I've been chatting with Dell sales reps for a few days now I'd like to share my experience.

I've been planning to get an AW for a while, and the 1$ monitor offer sounded quite nice. I don't need the monitor but selling it would get me some money back, some kind of post-poned discount, lol

I've already dealt with dell in the past in Europe (that's where i'm from) and years ago I managed to get a 12% discount on a AW lappy, so I was hoping to get anything between 10% and 12% in order to seal the deal.

The following chats were with 3 different reps.

1st chat

Me: Hi, I want to buy blah blah price a bit off budget blah blah bit of discount please?
Rep: 5% is the best we can do

2nd chat

Me: Hi I want to buy blah blah a bit expensive compared to Asus\Clevo\anything else blah blah any way to get some discount? Maybe on the upgrades, cause they're way too expensive? (and I also showed the rep a link to MSY, so that he could the price difference for ram and ssd)
rep: sorry we can only offer 5%

3rd chat (literally 10 minutes ago)

Me: Hi i'm READY TO BUY A LAPTOP TODAY, I want alienware but it's a bit off my budget. If you could drop it by A TINY LITTLE BIT I'll give you my money NOW, otherwise i'll have to get an Asus Rog.
rep: Sorry 5% is the max we can offer on Alienware

I'm starting to think there really is no way to get a lower price here

 

Rishwin and Simple have some good points, Ibis, a rep at JB Hi Fi told me that "he can work with money" whereas Dell AU cant, so I'm going to get the 5% quote from Dell AU take it into JB Hi Fi and say "can you better that?"

Maybe you should try that?

 

On JB's website I could only find a m17 r4 with a (for me) terrible config, with 3720qm, 675m and 64gb mini ssd for 3 grands. Do they offer different specs\custom configurations in store? I've not even tried to ask them because their prices are usually insanely high xD

 

I mean in store, the website is a ripoff but the reps on a personal level atleast seem to be pretty good.

I agree they're prices are usually stupid, but the rep I talked to said his prices are always lower then Dell AU, so I wouldn't bother with the site, but take a quote from the Dell AU site as I said, go to your nearest JB store, and show them the quote for the config you want and see if they can better it.

Atleast the guy I spoke to said he could beat Dell AU's prices, just tell them that another JB store you've been in contact with has offered lower prices but you said you'd prefer to ask at your local store because it's a three hour drive to the other one or something.

Anyway it's up to you how you do it, but in short, haggle in person, I wouldn't trust the website.

 

The issue with JB its it seems they ate limited to what they stock, or at least that was what a rep I tasked to a few months ago implied. I wouldn't trust the JB reps to much either, the same one tried to convince me a 2.0 GHz quad was better than a 2.2 (both sandy bridge) because the 2.0 was newer stock (more expensive). Though this can all work in your favour if the old stock they are discounting is what your after as their ignorance means they may accidentally under price too much.

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