Dell's New EPP Pricing

It sucks...comparison with base model.....

Basically according to the new EPP plan, you only save money on selected "preconfigured" system. Otherwise, it sucks.

w/o EPP Dell Studio 15 - $999
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB Cache, Turbo Boost)
No Microsoft Office
1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service
McAfee SecurityCenter, 30-Day Trial
15.6” High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife™ and Camera
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
250GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
56 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini-Card
High Definition Audio 2.2
Standard Keyboard
Black Chainlink

w/EPP Dell Studio 15 - $1049
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB Cache, Turbo Boost)
Microsoft® Works 9
1 Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis - Important Information
McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months
15.6” High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife™ and Camera
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
250GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
56 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini-Card
High Definition Audio 2.2
Standard Keyboard
Black Chainlink

 

EPP will also match prices on any other Dell section, Home, Premier, etc.

 

Its marketing skill and Dell thinks people are fools.

 

What is the point of that? The EPP program is theoretically supposed to offer better discounts to you because your employer does volume business with Dell. If they are just going to match the price of other Dell sections, the whole EPP program is totally pointless and a scam.

 

It's a shame. I just got my sxps16 from the epp site and saved a good amount. I was looking at picking up a desktop but the prices just went to hell.

 

Wow, that's kind of crappy. I am glad I got my ordered placed early last month. I got one heck of a deal. I can't even get close to the price on the same config now.

 

Dell offers us educational staffing prices; in fact we have our own portal to them, since we're a Premier member.

I always steer our employees away from it, and towards either Small Business or the Outlet. Educational employee pricing stinks compared to Small Business, the Outlet, or hunting down coupons.

 

EPP sections are all the same now. It's a damn shame, really. I had minimum 16% off and an occasional 21% off systems via the Boeing Premier EPP but now it is no more.

This REALLY is pi$$ing me off. I guess I won't be ordering as many systems. Oh well!

 

The exception I've found is Lenovo's Contractor Purchasing Program (CPP). It was cheaper, and still had a 5% coupon valid for purchases. Lenovo isn't really picky about who uses the portal, as long as you have the passcode (which is all over the web). I saved a reasonable amount on my T400 this way.

Alternatively though, I'd probably go Dell Outlet on a Latitude E6400 or E6500, but wait for a coupon valid on Outlet purchasing.

 

They might as well just cancel the ability to customize models the EPP website. As far as I can see, the SXPS 1645 isn't even available there.

 

I guess I never thought to just accept what was on the EPP site. I typically do custom builds, and just like in the quote you get a much better warranty and service by default. Also, since I call in I give them the price I find on similar configs through roosster or whatever. I always save money going through EPP, and I have them throw in overnight shipping for free (1 PC w/roosster pricing, 2 Mini 9s, and my XPS 1340 all got this).

Also, I typically started my order by reviewing all the options on the site, checking sale sites w/coupon codes, and then seeing all the options available. Once that's done, I'll email my EPP rep and give the specifics of what I want and go from there. On my XPS 1340, he upped the CPU to a P9600 which wasn't even listed as an option yet, and it was still $150 cheaper than the maxed out config with a lesser CPU.

 

They really watered down the EPP discounts this month; then they followed up with a coupon that made them the same as last month. Check your email for an additional 10% coupon.

Also I selected a non-preconfigured system and it was the same price as last month on a 1340 at least.

They're just making it more difficult to get those really good prices.