"Dell Outlet" experiences...

a8ken

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker, first time poster. Just wanted to say a huge thanks to Martin and all the mod's here. Truly an awesome website!:T
(Apologies for long post!)

I'm looking to get a new laptop (spending up to £450) and was directed to the Dell outlet store (link not allowed for new posters...dell.co.uk/outlet). I was, firstly, just wondering what people's experiences have been with laptops from here. The three categories of laptops are 'Previously ordered new', 'Scratch and Dent' and 'Certified Refurbished' - What have people got from each category? Is there one that should be avoided? I realise that cosmetic damage is likely but how bad is it likely to be?

The main reason I ask is that I'm not sure if I'm missing something! They seem too cheap. Let me give you an example of what I've found.

Inspiron Studio 1555
Memory
4GB (2x2GB Dual Rank DIMMs) 800MHz
Hard Disk Drive
320GB HD 5400
Video
Graphics 512 MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 4570
Media Bay
DVD+ -RW (8X)
Processor
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz,1066MHz,3MB)
MS Vista Premium Logo Label NB (small)
Camera Integrated 2.0 Mega Pixel Camera
Wireless Intel WiFi Link 5100
6 cell 56W HR LI-ION Battery
Certified Refurbished
Certified Refurbished
NoteBook Screen
Display : 15.6in Widescreen High Definition (1366X768) WLED with TrueLife

All this for £437. I checked the same spec on a brand new Studio 15 model and it came in at just under £1000. This seems like an awesome deal so I guess my question is - Whats the catch? Or, what am I missing!

Thanks in advance, and any advice would be greatly recieved.
Cheers

motorguy

Is that £437+VAT+Postage? Dell add those at the last screen?

Also, several things

The 2.40 has been superceded by the 2.53 processor
Does Outlet give you the free Windows 7 upgrade opportunity?

I've found the new version of this machine for £629 all in..

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&oc=N0053510&dgc=AF&cid=5212&lid=122756&acd=cde23a8f3b1c36cb0c7e4fa298bc1776

If your machine is inc VAT and postage then thats a good deal....

Also, use https://www.dmxdimension.com to find the best current dell deals.

a8ken

Thanks Paul,

That price is from the main search page of the dell outlet, so I guess it still has to add stuff on. I know postage is only £20. Suppose VAT would take it over my budget.
I also realise that Dell are renowned for charging loads for add-on's on new machines but it just seemed mad that the same model is effectively half price on the outlet compared to a 'new' one.

I'm in a good position as my IT dept are ready and waiting to load up any new laptop with ton's of software, including Windows 7 and Office etc. so I don't need to worry about that. I'll check out your site recommendations

Thanks again!

Any feedback on what outlet machines actually are would be welcome...

a8ken

Hi again,

Just checked and the total price for the Dell I mentioned in the first post is £511 plus VAT and delivery. Still seems like a good deal to me, but again, maybe I'm missing something?

Any advice on this and Dell Outlet in general appreciated!

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

The ablilty to choose between 'scratch & dent,' 'refurb,' etc is a new addition to the site since I bought my sons laptop from the Outlet store last October.

I got my son a Studio 15 and it looked like it had made it's way to the Outlet store because of a manufacturing flaw in the plastic casing. Nothing physically wrong, just a flaw in the painting.
I don't know whether it's still the case, but the Outlet store sourced their units from all over Europe. It wasn't until I tried to register the laptop that I found it it was meant for the German market.
Dell somehow managed to lose my order in their system and when the order still hadn't completed after a couple of weeks, they had to put the order in manually. They upgraded the warranty to 3 years in home for the inconvenience.

That was my first order from Dell and I have to say I was impressed by the quality of the machine. The internal DVD drive has failed once, but that was repaired in home a couple of days after I booked it out.

I would buy from the Oulet store again, but you need to be quick as the stock changes frequently.

Saver-Rob

I have bought at least 5 machines from the Outlet and found them to be brilliant. Everything you would expect from a new machine. The prices were so good at times I sold them on and made money as soon as they arrived!

ukbill69

Ive bought over 20 in 8 years and are all brand new.

davester

I got the exact same spec from the main site for £566 and £30 TCB, Works fine other than Vista and the browser issue, which be nice to know if you did get it that yours works fine or have same problem.

The studio 15s are more expenisve as they are now 64Bit windows version , larger cap HDD and more RAM. different chipset. The lowest spec to get it closest to the one from OP still is a little faster but your upgrading it so get large upgrade charges as well as 64bit Win. All for 800 ish If you can hold out wait for a dicount code, reduction on the main site they knock off sometimes £235 for the top spec which this almost was at the time so £810 -235-10% then 6% cashback made it all a nice £536 pounds. that was back in June.

Sput2001

I bought from the Dell Outlet last year and it was a great buy. Looked exactly like new.

a8ken

Thanks for the opinions folks, really useful to know that most people are having a positive experience with the outlet.

I think I'm going to just go for it and hope I get lucky. The deal I mentioned above is still there and the way I look at it, I'm saving about £100 for a similar spec machine elsewhere?

I'll be making my final decision in the next 24 hours (waiting for cash to clear!!), so if anyone has came across a good spec laptop (similar to above) for about £450 I'd be interested!

Thanks again...