Dell Coupon: 10% off all Inspiron & XPS orders over £499!

[scot1]

I still haven't taken the plunge yet with the XPS1330. But in addition to the increase in prices and the end of the coupon offer, has the warranty cover also been downgraded recently ? I thought the XPS range always had on-site warranty, but it looks now as though it is a collect-and-return base warranty.

I have noticed recently too that the XPS1330 and XPS1530 are now available locally through Currys, PC World and Tesco. Because of their willingness to undercut each other, it means that it is now possible to buy from one of those retailers cheaper than it is direct from Dell. Do you think Dell might re-introduce discount/coupon offers to encourage more direct sales, or would they be quite happy to lose some direct sales in a retailers price war, because it still involves the sale of Dell products ?

[Paul]

Hi Scott,

The warranty is only different on the cheapest XPS M1330 that i listed, for all of the rest of the deals the support is 'on-site'.

Regarding the release of any discount coupons from Dell, I really have no idea. It would be a very bad business strategy for Dell to give any advance warning of discount codes etc as it would always affect current sales.

[scot1]

The warranty is only different on the cheapest XPS M1330 that i listed, for all of the rest of the deals the support is 'on-site'.

Thanks Admin, I see that Dell have now amended the warranty details on their pages for the higher spec models again.

Regarding the release of any discount coupons from Dell, I really have no idea. It would be a very bad business strategy for Dell to give any advance warning of discount codes etc as it would always affect current sales.

Yes, I suppose so, but I live in hope !! :D Presumably they are losing some direct sales at the moment because of the undercutting going on amongst retailers. But the laptops are stil being sold, whether it is through a retailer or Dell direct. I will sit tight a while longer and see what develops.

Thanks again.

[scot1]

Are there ever any really genuine offers on the Dell website, or is it just a case of my timing always being bad ? I had been watching prices on the Dell site during the last few days, but was hoping for an improvement. On Thursday I had an email from them with a new 10% discount code but when I went to their site I noticed that prices had gone up by around 10% from earlier in the day, so the 10% code made no difference. One particular model of the 1330 now had free delivery worth £60, but the basic starting price had increased by £60, wiping out any benefit of that discount. Last night while I was actually on the Dell website, offers for the 1330 were revised to include a supposedly free McAfee Security package. But moments later, starting prices were bumped up again. It seems to me that every time they make an offer, they immediately bump up their prices to pay for that discount offer. Is that the reality, or have I just been unfortunate ? With Dell prices continuing to rise despite these so called offers, I am feeling more inclined now to go for my second choice of a Sony, as their prices are dropping.

[scot1]

I see that starting prices in the XPS 1330 range have jumped by another 10% on the Dell website this evening, and some of the optional upgrade costs have increased by over 100%. Presumably that means Dell will be introducing another coupon offer shortly, to make it appear as if prices are actually coming down. As things stand at the moment, it is around £300 cheaper to buy a XPS 1330 from Currys or Dixons, than it is to buy the identical spec model from Dell.

[Paul]

Hi scot1,

I can understand your frustration, but as you know the Dell prices always fluctuate. I assume this is because Dell operate on a small profit margin and therefore their prices will always be affected by the prices of the components from their suppliers.

The prices for the XPS M1330 have risen tonight as last week's money off promotions have finished. In a few hours there will be new promotions, we just have to wait and see what they are.

I also checked out the only current available configuration of the XPS M1330 at Currys and the XPS M1330 at Dixons websites and they are both the equivalent configuration (apart from a slightly larger hard drive) to the evalue code N03X3305 spec XPSM1330 available from Dell UK and they are selling it for £799. However Dell UK have just updated their promotions and are offering £70 off of this spec bringing the price down to £729.

Are you wishing you had pulled the trigger and bought one in January?

Anyway, good luck and I hope you find the deal you are looking for soon.

[scot1]

Hi Paul, thanks for your reply. Yes, I can see that starting prices have dropped again since I posted last night, although some of the optional upgrades remain hiked, such as the 9 cell battery option having gone from £20 to £46.

At that time when I checked last night and configured a model to the same spec as Dixons/Currys, the price differential was £300 thanks to a coupon offer by that retail group.

I'm not sure whether I'm frustrated or relieved at not having taken the plunge in January. I do like to monitor laptop prices in the hope of a bargain, but at the same time I monitor the reviews for the 1330 and many of them are somewhat less than favourable. However I do appreciate that with reviews sites, it is perhaps more likely that folk will take time to post about their negative experiences than their positive ones.

Fortunately my desire for an ultra portable such as the 1330 is one of convenience rather than desperation, so as long as my current pc continues to perform, I can afford to hang off until the price is right. I just wish that Dell would try and maintain a more static price structure, rather than hike prices every few weeks just for the sake of introducing and advertising another discount offer. I suppose lots of folk must fall for it or they wouldn't do it, but I am so stubborn that on principle I would probably go to Sony instead !! However, I appreciate your point that these fluctuating prices may be related to component prices from Dell suppliers, rather than any sort of deliberate attempt to mislead customers with phoney offers.