Is Office Depot a good place to buy Compaq?

i read in an earlier thread that someone got a good deal at OD after rebates... Does Office Depot offer any rebates on Compaq above the $50 that is generally offered everywhere?

 

Sometimes you can get a better price at OfficeDepot, but it usually involves lots of rebates which can be a pain in the !@#. Plus you have to pay tax unlike HPShopping.

 

NYers unfortunately have to pay tax at HP Shopping.

 

One of the lucky few. I thought it was only TE and OH.

 

I got mine from office depot. They've had about 3+ different variations of this deal with different base configs as well as different rebates. I purchased the following on the 1st of October with that week's offer.

Base config of V2000z with following upgrades:

-ML-30 turion
-CDRW/DVD combo drive
-wifi w/ bluetooth
-productivity ports
-extended battery

-250 mail in rebates +$45 shipping, -$40 off $200 coupon the nice guy let me use = $650 AR/before tax

Deal worked only for those who configured instore. I've seen the same above deal around the end of August with an additional $100 rebate from AMD (which would of knocked it down to $550) and I've also seen it with free shipping (the week after I purchased). Staples also offers similar deals from time to time on the exact same system.

Friendly staff, after I placed my order on a Saturday, it was delivered on the 2nd Wednesday after.

Regarding the rebates, there were 3: two $100 from office depot and one $50 from HP. The office depot ones were validated and processed 1 week after I mailed them away and I should hopefully be seeing them soon. The HP one can't be sent until you recieve your system and I havn't heard from them yet (hasn't been too long) so I cannot comment on it.

 

They some times run super deals on HPs...back in early Sept. they were selling Z6000s or R4000s--I forget which-- for $500 or $600 and customizing for 50% off list as a weekly special. I just missed the sale and I still don't know how they could offer that deal. I don't know about their return policies, re-stocking fees or store warranties, you'd want to check those out before you buy.
RED Flag: I just checked their rating at Reseller Ratings is only 4.38... NOT a good score. I'd be careful.

 

Staples and Office Depot can both be good places to buy a computer. Keep in mind, if you're customizing it (doing the "Build to Order") your computer will follow the same path that buying it on HPShopping.com will take. The store only takes the order, it's built in the same factory in China and delivered to you by FedEx.

The deal I got at Staples was even better for me than the no-tax, EPP (Employee Purchase Program) pricing off HPShopping.com. You can often beat the HPShopping pricing even paying tax if you watch their specials closely. They both have killer deals from time to time.

 

Glad you guys had good experience at Office Depot.

I went in there about 3 months ago to buy 8, EIGHT sets of four drawer metal file cabinets.

Basically, I knew what I wanted and went in with a few minor questions about being in stock, delivery, etc. No major hassle, right? Fairly sizable purchase for basically no effort on their part.

So, I go in and traffic is LIGHT! By light I mean there is me, and one other guy over looking at printer paper. That was it, empty store.

I walk back to the area with the different cabinets and look at them. At first, I'm pleasantly surprised to be free of pushy sales people. I open drawers, read signs, mess with locks, walk all around, etc.

Once I was done with that I start looking around the store to sort of signal that I'm ready and may need some assistance. I can see 3-4 associates in a group near the front manning the registers that were void of customers, and another couple associates sort of milling around almost working.

A few of them glance up and see me looking at them, but do nothing.

I look at the cabinets some more feeling sure one will approach me soon.

No one does.

I now approach the nearest associate (a 20 or so year old female) who's got a cart with a few items in it and is merchandising.

I tell her what I need and she says "I don't do file cabinets, Jay does." I ask her where Jay is and she says "over there" and nods to where there is no one.

She sees the look on my face and then YELLS across the sales floor at no visibly present human being "JAY, SOMEONE WANTS TO BUY A FILE CABINET". I mean she screamed this so loud I thought I dropped an ear drum right there.

She then tells me to go back to the area of the cabinets and someone or Jay will be back.

I go back, I wait, no one.

Finally, I decide to leave.

Though I purposefully walked by FIVE associates on the floor (including the screamer) no one so much as looked at me.

Purchased the File Cabinets 25 minutes later at Ikea with tremendous service. I told the salesman there what had happened in jest and he said, "excuse me, I want to check on something." He returned three minutes later saying that he was going to give me 10% off my purchase for my trouble.

Needless to say, I haven't been back to Office Depot since.

In the end, it's not really the franchise but the local management that makes a difference.

faxed corporate at Office Depot a synopsis of what happened with a copy of my purchase order from Ikea attached.

 

SpectreMan, I'm sorry about your file cabinet experience and glad it worked out in the end.

The bottom line is that if I could save money over online with add'l OD rebates, then I want to buy it there. Plus I have a Star Teachers rewards card so I think I get an additional 5% (if computers aren't excluded - not sure) plus a $50 rewards check for spending that much money in a given quarter using the rewards card.

 

I found online that they have the V2410US for $1029 -$150 -$30 rebates which brings it to the same exact price as Circuit City's ad. If I can get the teacher discount on top that would be sweet... however, I prefer to customize to get the faster hard drive.

 

One thing you might want to check on--- Staples sometimes offers deals that you can only get if you actually go into the store to do the customizing, and order it at the built-to-order kiosk in the store. Office Depot might do the same thing, it's worth checking on before you spend money. Also, you might be on the lookout for the HP version of the same computer, you might see practically the same machine at a huge discount with just a minor trim change here and there.

 

HP Shopping may also give you an acedemic discount, they gave me 6% off on my machine (the percentage depends on the cost of the machine). With your discount card, and the HP rebate you could do well buying direct.

 

Office Depot is selling the HP L2000 for $699 after 2 $100 mail in rebates (good through Saturday I think). You do have to go to the store and order from there. I bought it since I don't mind dealing with rebates as long as the final price is cheaper. For me, I saved about $75 after tax/ship from OD than if I would have ordered directly from HP (once I get the $200 worth of rebates back). Another good thing is that OD has a 2 week from the date you actually get the computer return policy (from reading my receipt). If for some reason I find that I don't like the notebook or I find a better deal elsewhere (never know when Dell might have $750 off $1500 ), I just have to drive 5 min. and return it.

 

Yep, but keep in mind your shipping fee $40+ won't be refunded

 

you may want to look at the HP blow out at ecost. Looks nice

 

I'm really ticked off that there are no Staple's stores in Houston at all. What the heck!? Houston is the 4th largest city in America and this large retail chain has no stores there!? I checked their website and found out theres a couple of stores about 150 miles away in some small towns I've never heard of.

 

Do you think possibly there's a local chain that Staples might own, so they aren't planning to put Staples-branded stores in Houston? Maybe they're already there....? Or maybe they're planning some stores soon. That's too bad, cuz they really are better than Office Depot or Office Max in my opinion.

 

No staples by me either and I live about 80 miles from a major market as well.