Weird deals for Dell Canada Vostro 1500 notebooks

I am having trouble figuring this out...

The Vostro notebooks are good for having their pre-installed bloatware very configurable. Indeed, if I choose the fully customizable one, I can tell them not to give me any of that extra stuff. In addition, that's the only one that lets me choose a processor better than the Intel T7100. (A random observation: T7250 costs $180 more than T7500?!)

Firstly, I wonder why all this software costs $0 with these laptops -- in particular, Dell Network Assistant and the tune-up software. Additionally, I noticed that, with the fully customizable one, I am spending about $150 more than I am with one of the less customizable packages.
Eventually, I have thought to go with one of the "instant discount" ones, since the difference between it with the T7100 and the other with the T7500 (other specs identical) is the same as just buying that processor on its own when the T7100 starts to look old.

What I don't much like is that the more customizable one lets me choose not to have the extra support software. It just doesn't make sense to me that I am saving money while "buying" their software, and that I am given no choice in the matter for whether or not I want software that is portrayed as being free :/

Am I missing something, or are these people trying to make me go crazy?

 

Its just pre-installed... They still include the fresh install of XP/Vista. So humor them, and agree to have the crap installed, saving you X amount of dollars. Then when it arrives, do a fresh install. Money saved, and all at the cost of having to spend a few hours screwing around, and becoming more familiar with your new laptop.

 

I plan to plow away 90% of Windows' available space, anyway, and replace it with Ubuntu. (Hence my choice of XP, which has much smaller roots).

Thanks, Cam. That simple bit of reassurance (that I am not just missing a better deal) really helps