When to buy Studio 17

Hey guys. I think of buying Studio 17 (in the UK) via Dell's website. At the moment they give 70 pounds (about 100 US$) discount on the laptop, and a free MP3 laptop - discount valid until 10th December. Since it is around Christmas/new year time now and I can afford waiting a few weeks, I have a few questions:
1. When the discount is finished, does Dell usually change to better specs as a standard, or does the same laptop just become more expensive?
2. Regarding saving some money- are the best prices given now, just before/after Christmas, or just before/after new year?
3. At the moment I need to add 58 pounds for LED screen, and 146 pounds to upgrade the 2.2GHz (3MB cache) cpu to 2.5GHz (6MB cache). Any guess if any of these are likely to become a standard soon?
Thanks for any thought!

 

Unless someone here works for Dell UK we can't give you any solid information... With that said...

There is no way to tell if the discount is good enough or will get better. Sometimes you end up seeing a deal and after it expires Dell replaces it with an even better deal. Other times you see the opposite where someone holds off on a really hot deal convinced it will get better next time only to find out Dell isn't replacing the deal with anything as sweet, ever.

Follow the old adage my good friend... "Buy as much technology as you can afford and need only when you need it."

 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind

 

uv2008, I agree with frazell's advice. But, I'd also add that Dell's website tends to offer several different paths to get to a configurator. And, that some paths, on the exact same day, to the exact same laptop - can give significantly different discounts (and even options).

So, you might want to "play around" on Dell's site and make sure you find the best path. Do things like clicking on a rolling banner ad (if there's one that makes sense for what you're looking for). Or, click on the link to "All Notebooks" instead of the link directly to the Studio 17.

Strange advice, but, I swear it's true. The configuration I currently have on order was only available if I first clicked a "Premium Notebook" banner ad and then went to "Studio 17".

One last thing - most of the time, (at lease in the US) Dell seems to update its ads and prices between Wednesday late-afternoon and Thursday morning. Not a hard-and-fast rule, but, definitely a trend.

So, if you have the time always try to wait unti Wed / Thur before ordering.

Best of luck!

 

If you need it now, but it now. If you wait it will eventually drop in price. There may be specials every now and then that may seem amazing, but the average price doesn't fluctuate that much over a short period of time. With the holidays this is when you will probably see the best deals and special offers such as the free mp3 player.

 

Thanks a lot guys, your advices really help. I'll let you all know when I make the purchase!