Yikes...

Colors are still delaying shipping, prices have gone up, and free upgrades have gone away. Glad I ordered when I did! My same comp which I'm paying $1153 for now costs $1642.26, and has an ESD of 9/7! Not sure what coupons are available, but even if I had the $300 off coupon I used ordering the system today would still cost $1342.26. Woohoo for savings!

Now Online:

2GB Shared Channel DDR2 Mem - add $125 (previously free)
160 GB 5400 RPM HDD - add $75 (again, previously free)

In the midst of the sadness of waiting, I suppose the cheer of knowing I got an awesome deal can ease the pain a little...

 

BTW, what are the new coupons from last night?

 

Good point Buckeye!!! Thanks for the update.

 

now I'm definitely waiting it out. thanks for the update buckeye.

 

Is this just for the 1520 because aside from the color differences, mine works out to the same price when I put in the specs on the 1720.

 

New Dell coupon......$325 off any Inspiron Notebook $1299 or more! Lol....What a deal. So now, you have to pay $200 to get the previously free upgrades to memory and the hard drive, and you save an extra $25!

Fat Happy Dell Guy...."Wow, the Inspiron is in high demand. Lightbulb! Let's start charging out the a** for it!"

Our delay notices will start coming with price hikes. "Your order has been delayed until 9/28. For your inconvenience, Dell has charged you an extra $200. Thanks for choosing Dell!

 

What are your specs NewLaptopBuyer? The reason for the price jump in the 1520 is that the memory and hard drive are no longer free upgrades, but cost $200 now. Also, other things have jumped in price, like the colors from $20 to $50.

 

I checked out what my new price would have been too -- and it was about $200 more!!

 

1 222-8601 Inspiron 1720, Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, 1.8GHz, 800Mhz, 2M L2 Cache
1 313-5489 Spring Green Color with Microsatin Finish
1 466-8374 2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm for Inspiron 1720
1 320-5500 Anti-glare, widescreen 17.0 inch display (1440 x 900)
1 320-5464 Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 Inspiron 1720
1 466-8379 160G 5400RPM SATA hard drive 5400 RPM
1 420-6556 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, English
1 420-7026 Media Direct 3.3
1 420-7244 Dell Support Center 1.0
1 430-0493 Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem, for Inspiron
1 341-4716 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
1 420-6464 Roxio Creator Basic
1 313-5014 Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy
1 430-2337 Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N Mini Card
1 320-5681 Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
1 412-0968 Creative Earbud EP630
1 312-0520 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, Inspiron 1720
1 412-0148 No Internet Service Provider Requested
1 412-1397 No Productivity Software requested
1 950-3337 1 Year Limited Warranty
1 960-2780 Warranty Support,Initial Year
1 987-8109 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
1 983-3100 Type 3- Third Party At HomeService, 24x7 TechnicalSupport, Initial Year
1 430-2348 Dell Wirless 355 Bluetooth Mod
1 310-8628 You have chosen a Windows Vista Premium System
1 310-9348 Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
1 320-5809 Premium Metallic Green with Soft Touch LCD back color w/ 2.0M pixel Camera Insp 1720
1 412-0961 Dell Travel ExpressCard RemoteControl, IR


~1167 (WITH EPP)

 

Prices are definitely up today. Interestingly, there was a brief period last night in between their introduction of the new coupons ($325 off as opposed to $300 off) and the raising of prices where you could use this week's coupon on last week's prices. Looks like they corrected that this morning and raised prices well beyond the additional $25 in coupon "savings."

 

Yep, if the system's got 2GB of memory and a 160GB hard drive, it's $200 more.

 

I just priced my system today. The base price before tax and coupons and shipping would now be $2077 - With the $325 coupon, and free shipping, and sent to a tax free state, it would still be $1752

Even if I had the same coupons, that's still $225 more. I think $200 of that is the lack of the free HD and memory upgrades, and $25 for something else somewhere.

 

I was able to use the new coupon with last week's prices, so I got the upgrades free and the extra 25 dollars off. Plus, I was able to use a 15% coupon on an mp3 player, Photoshop Elements, and a wireless mouse for $40 more than I had spent on my laptop alone. It delayed my order only seven days, so I'm pretty happy.

 

NewLaptopBuyer, with Ohio State's EPP program, and no coupons, I get a price of $1507.06. Without EPP, and no coupons I get a price of $1569.84. EPP doesn't look so great, huh? Everyone at Dell must be Michigan fans, cause OSU's EPP sucks!

 

Ya I did notice that the prices went up as well. I'm glad I ordered on 8/6 with the $300 off coupon.

 

I just reconfiged the laptop i'm getting and it costs $400 more now! this is craziness.. I guess you're right buckeye, there are some benefits for going through what we are going through....
EDIT: it is still $400 more despite the fact that i was configuring it with the EPP discounts! crainzessssssssssssssssssss

I bet they raised the prices so much to bring down the demand for these laptops while they fix this whole mess they've gotten into and to catch up on all the current orders!

 

Explain this. Delays are different based on whether you're ordering with or without EPP. These are from the Dell site:

Non EPP Delay Dates:
Espresso Brown: 8/30
Ruby Red: 9/7
Midnight Blue: 9/4
Spring Green: 9/7
Flamingo Pink: 9/7
Sunshine Yellow: 8/31

EPP Delays:
Espresso Brown: 8/31
Ruby Red: 9/10
Midnight Blue: 9/5
Spring Green: 9/10
Flamingo Pink: 9/10
Sunshine Yellow: 9/3

For some reason, all EPP purchases have a delay of one business day longer than non EPP purchases. I don't think Dell likes us saving money .

 

Ive suspected for awhile that Dell factors in how much profit they actually make into where your order gets placed in the queue of production.

It makes sense in a way - cater to the peeps that are tossing more money around, and paying full price with no massive discounts.

But it sucks for people who get really good deals.

(If this is actually what happens....)

 

Yes but if they advertised that I think a lot more people who choose EPP would pay the higher price to get their system to them quicker. Also, apparently my discounts on epp are decent but I think the main reason why I wasn't affected by their pricing change is that I ordered a pretty much base system, aside from the colors, bt, webcam, and remote.

 

well, the mysterious thing is, no matter 1420, 1520, or 1720/21, there are always lucky ones who have got theirs already
so its not the colour, not the LCD, not blah blah. So What is the problem?

 

glad i ordered mine yesterday with the free ram & hd upgrades

 

The problem is inefficient software / business practices. Dell obviously has a HORRIBLE software system in place (evident by the mismatched data given by checking order status online vs. over the phone, checking order status using order number vs. customer number, and the MASSIVELY varying information provided by the GREAT customer reps)! It all boils down to chance, which is sad (and frustrating) to see from such a large company (especially a technology based one). This is not a problem that is soon to go away provided that Dell maintains it's current business structure of "invest nothing, gain everything". Dell's a great company which does try, but there are areas (such as the software systems mentioned aboved and the CSRs) where they have definitely dropped the ball. Just my opinion.