M1530 Did I get ripped off?

Midnight Blue
3 GB RAM
2.0 GHz T5750
250 GB HDD 5400 RPM
1440x900 LCD (no LED)
Bluetooth+TravelMouse
8400GS 128
6cell Battery

about 1100 after shipping+sales tax (was like 1020 before tax )
with the help of a coupon

After seeing a lot of users here posting with higher end configs I'm wondering if I got ripped off? Especially when I see ads in the paper for laptops with more ram or slightly larger HDD for like 799+tax. Of course, those laptops have an 1280x800 screen that's also 15" which kind of sucks, they aren't as sturdy as an XPS, and they have integrated graphics. But still.. was I ripped off? I don't intend on usin the machine for hardcore gaming, just the occasional game and probably Starcraft II & Spore when those come out.

Thanks!

 

Where did you get it? Seems like it may be a tad on the high side.

 

dell.com, new machine

 

You cant be ripped off as no one forced the sale on you, you chose it yourself. But yes, i think you could do a little better if you did it right.

 

if your only loooking for a ch3eap price - go to bestbuy/circuitcity yadda yadda and buy a machine. If you want a higher quality/performance machine then buy the m1530. Sure it will cost you more - but it has better parts. You have to pay for quality.

I'm not talking about a Drive that may break down either. Anything can break. But what parts will perform better. A well designed motherboard can give you much better speed then a cheaper one (more layers on the PCB). Some brands overclock better then others. You will be hard pressed to find high quality parts in a lower priced machine.

 

You're lucky, I'd pay ~1100 EURO for that.
Thats roughly USD1700

 

CANCEL that order, you got ripped off pretty bad, look in my sig for my order, i got a T9300 (2.5Ghz), LED LCD (1440x900), 250GB 5400RPM Harddrive, 256MB 8600M GT, BlueTooth and Intel Wireless-AGN.

ALL OF THAT for $1283.48 after tax and next day shipping.. with a 25% off coupon..

GET THE LEAST amount of Ram you can, and then buy a 4GB RAM KIT off of newegg for like $50.. That is what i did, instead of paying $100 from Dell, ill do it myself..

 

I was wondering the same thing. I always see setups that are always better than the ones I create and it always scares me from buying. I just now got the money to buy my xps but I'm scared that the 25% isn't a good enough deal.

 

yeah, seems pretty steep. so this is in USD?
Not as bad as it could be. And you'll find sourcing working coupons easier than people in the UK.

 

Hi,
You can still cancel and reorder with better spec's
Seem's a little high for what you are getting...

 

Yeah... its a rip.

 

I'd cancel and reorder. You didn't get totally ripped off, but you could've made it a lot better for maybe $200 more if you did the discounts and coupons right.

 

Putting what IUhoosiers said in simpler terms,

"It's not totally a ripoff." = With the same amount of money your paying for the ripoff, you could get an 8600GT, higher capacity/speedier hard drive, Bluetooth, and a better display.

 

Can someone post a link to the better deal configurations? Or how to get the best bang for your buck? I finally rounded up the money to get a decent system and don't want to get screwed and not get the best deal I can get.

 

Well theres the memorial day savings ones, but personally I don't think its that great considering you can sacrifice the T9500 for a T9300 and upgrade other aspects like LED display with the extra money you get from it.

The best bang for your buck is all dependent on how much your willing to pay, but it will be a huge amount of savings regardless. My recommendation is go with the lowest starting price of the M1530, $999, choose the options you want, then apply the 25% discount code.

If you would like, just do that, post all the options you selected as well as what your going to use it for (gaming, no gaming, work, photoshop, etc) and I'm sure many of us would be happy to help you out.

 

You did not get ripped off. It also depends what you plan to do with it. If you don't game, then you don't need to spend the extra money for the 8600M GT. It also depends on when you get it. Some people got it when there was a 40% off coupon and now there is a 25% coupon, so of course you're not going to get as great of a deal, but if you got it for 25% off then stop worrying. You got a discount. You're good.

 

Still, if you don't plan to game, you could use the money on the extra storage, the extra RAM, processing power, bluetooth. Not gaming simply means that you can use the money to improve more elsewhere than if you did game.

 

Here is what I want.

T8300
1440x900 LCD
4GB Ram
250GB 5400rpm
DVD+/-RW
256MB 8600GT
Intel Wireless N
Dell Wireless Bluetooth
56 WHr 6-cell

$1,553 before 25% off. I'm worried about not getting LED and not getting any extra protection.

 

if you're a student and buy through delluniversity, you get 3 years warranty and 1 year of complete care (i think.. i should know because i did this) and depending on your school, it'd be free or pretty cheap (for my school, its included)

 

Buying through Dell University voids any coupons like the 25% and it ends up being more costly to get the warranty through Dell University then just regular with 25%.

 

I would get the T9300 and the LED LCD instead of the regular one.. If you don't want the LED, get at least a 1680x1050..

 

GO HERE

http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/featured_xpsnb_deal?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

That is where I went to get mine. It is a great deal with alot of great stuff. Add the LED screen + bluetooth and you're total will be $1176 before tax. Then do the DPA trick to get an extra 3% off of that to get it down to $1140.

 

I'm definetly considering the led after seeing some of the newer comparison shots. I don't know if I can handle the 125 upgrade for the processor. Sucks because it seems like I'll be choosing between the protection or the led/faster processor.

 

I went to that link and with LED and bluetooth it was $1,369.00 before tax. What am I missing?

 

Apply the 25% off coupon. It won't combine with the $250 they took off instantly, but it takes off alot more then $250...it takes off almost $400...it's very weird, cause if you configure the same system from scratch it is about $200 more at least.

 

To add to it, in case you don't know the DPA trick, what you do is when you are about to check out, you select credit card instead of Dells Preferred Account. There will then be a 3% offer if you use the DPA instead. Since there is no interest for 12 months, I would strongly suggest using it and saving another 35-40 bucks.

 

Welp just went ahead and ordered. Got identical to what you did. Thanks for the help getting my order just right.

 

Hi everyone, its the OP here

Thanks for your feedback.. I'm feeling rather uneasy at the moment though :/ I used a 20% off coupon code to end up with that figure. Remember it was 1020 ish *before* tax. Which seems like a nice deal?.. but I am having second thoughts, namely about the processor which I think I might not have wanted to skimp on.

I don't want to spend over $1200 *after* tax so a "1239 + tax" or whatever is almost out of the question. As I said.. casual gaming, somethingthat will run Starcraft II

I ordered the machine just over a week ago.. it's still In Production. Is it too late to cancel and is there any fee/penalty for doing so?..

thanks!

 

OK I 've found a config for 1120ish before tax that has the same as in the OP , but instead of Midnight Blue and BT+Mouse I get the 8600 graphics card and the T8300 2.4GHz.

Is that a better deal? Should I go for it? I assume that machine would be more 'future proof'..?

 

Yes with a T8300 and the 8600M GT will make it much more future proof than how you had it before.. And about the cancelling part, you'll have to call them and ask if you still can.. I would get the LED LCD and also the Bluetooth tho..

 

You can always get a better deal with the manufacturer and such. These places tend to just have low-spec machines as the cheaper machines. In my experience, you usually get a better deal through the manufacturer for the same spec machine since the manufacturer usually includes nicer longer warranties with the price.

 

well it's just entered the testing stage so i'm just gonna stick with it. besides i don't need the extra power really, and though i would get 'better bang for the buck' with the other option (thanks Lefix) I would still end up paying more. so it's fine.. thanks guys

 

Yeah, its already considered very high end and better than most other configs out there. Hope you enjoy it!

 

Let us know once you get it, how everything is working out

and, congrats

 

Yup yup no problem!