XPS m1530 in red

I am looking to purchase an XPS m1530 in the next few months. I'd really like to get it in red but it costs about $200 more for a comparable (t7500, 3GB RAM, etc) red XPS than the black/white/blue model. I'm really baffled by that price differential. It's great that Dell has put more focus on design and given us color options but there is no rational reason (except for an irrational customer base) for the red XPS premium cost or the separate build configurations. Personally I'll gladly settle for the blue XPS and save the $200.

Are people really paying that much extra for the red box or is this a marketing mistake by Dell that may be corrected soon?

 

You can get just the red case. I think you are confusing the color red with their new (red) campaign to help aids in Africa.

Look at the 1530, then the best configuration, then pick red as your color and spec your laptop =)

 

You actually can't. Dell no longer is offering the red in the standard configurations. It's only available for Product Red.

I think they are crazy to do this as red is the most popular color.. same for M1330.

 

Look on ebay for the lid there up there...

 

Looks like I got my order in on time then...

 

I think the red color will be back once this "windows Dell GO RED" deal is over. I will give it another month.

 

i think its smart that they took it off...from their point of view. if you want red, pay $200 more for it..and you help aids in africa...

i got my midnight blue just yesterday!

im in class on it right now

 

The Product (RED) thing may not be temporary. For example, Apple did it for a while with their iPods.

 

Try Dell Outlet! There you can finde some cheap XPS 1530s in RED

 

Haha, yeah, if they gave the whole $200 to the aids in africa cause, not $50.

 

Its pretty cynical for Dell to up charge that much on systems as part of a charitable donation program. Seriously it is very disappointing.

I configured to nearly identical xps m1530. The product red machine came with vista ultimate standard and a 128 mb graphics card whereas the regular machine was configured with vista business and came with a 256 mb graphics card standard. I hazard to guess those two differences cancel each other out cost wise.

Here is the configuration:

T7500 Processor
Windows Vista Ultimate/Business
3 GB RAM
1440x900 LCD screen
200 GB 7200 RPM hard drive
128 MB/256 MB graphics card
Intel Wireless N network card
slot loaded DVD-RW
6 cell battery

in red (vista ultimate/128 MB GPU) - $1924.00
in blue (vista business/256 MB GPU) - $1729.00

I'm not stupid, anytime a corporation does this kind of charitable campaign they do it in large part for the PR benefits but racking in $150 in extra profit in order to donate $50 to AIDS care in Africa is pretty f&*$ing tacky.

Why not be honest and just bump up the cost of the red lid with all the bells and whistles about helping Africans with AIDS?

 

It comes with Vista Ultimate, for which Dell charges an extra $150 on a standard XPS.

 

And a 128 MB graphics card instead of the standard 256 MB graphics card standard on the conventional XPS. To upgrade to the 256 MB card on the product red XPS it's $100 extra. Also if you re-read my prior post I configured the conventional XPS with Vista Business. To make the additional upgrade to Ultimate it would only cost an additional $20.

So when the dust settles the same conventional XPS essentially will have $80 in additional value over the product red XPS but the red machine still costs $200 more.

 

The $999 XPS m1530 comes with a black lid (+25 to upgrade to color) a 128 Mb 8400m GS (+100 to upgrade to a 256 8600m GT) and Vista Home Premium (+150 to upgrade to Ultimate).

The $1149 (RED) XPS m1530 includes the color lid and Ultimate, and comes stock with the 128 Mb 8400m GS (+100 to upgrade to the 256 8600m GT).

So I'm confused.

 

For the same configuration, except Windows Vista (here in Germany) - the RED costs 310 euro more ~ 460$. Incredible.

 

Reducing choice for a product that only a few will end up buying is rather silly on Dell's part... Probably won't last long.

 

I'm not sure why the confusion. I configured an XPS 1530 to the specifications I wanted (using the "best" model because that was the most cost effective way to get the features I wanted) and came out with one price. I then went back and configured a nearly identical machine with the product red model and came out with a price $200 higher. Oh and I selected a color lid on the non-red configuration as well.

Maybe this is a silly marketing glitch but judging by the comments made on this board it could also be a clever attempt by Dell to use a charitable promotion to pad their profit margin.