Dell

lofty_2

Im looking to spend about £2500 at dell on a new pc and laptop, are there any discounts. I am a student and have a id card if that helps.

Thanks

Matthew

royalsteve

wouldnt spend that much a pc and laptop at dell...much prefer builders as easier to upgrade (in some cases Dell machines are almost impossible/not cost effective to upgrade). Companies like Dell make their pc's sound cheap because they dont include VAT or the extortionate delivery charge (both these charges will amount to almost on extra £233 on a £1000 pc). Depends what you want the pc for though. For latest games steer clear of Dell/Hp..poor value/spec. My brother has used Carrera, I've used stak trading, novatech and g-squared (Reading) - all of whom are good. Up to you though, but do your research first.

daveyok

A student with £2500 to spend on a computer. Eeh, whats the world coming to? When Iwas a lad...........................................................

divadee

A student with £2500 to spend on a computer. Eeh, whats the world coming to? When Iwas a lad...........................................................

;D

I never had £2.50 when i was a student

wolvesinwales

A real student would buy the £261 Dell computer on offer and have £2239 beer money.

lofty_2

Thinking of it now its more like £2000 (£1500 being supplied by SAAS as i need a laptop due to a motor control problem meaning handwriting is illegible)

My last pc was a BIG mistake as i got it from PC World. Big Mistake! monitor didnt last 12 months. was one of those tft things. Had to wait 4 months for it to be replaced!

My uncle advised me i was cheaper and better using dell than someone like Novatech and thanks to experience with novatech 5 years ago my father wouldnt recommend them.

The dell systems look good and for the money i wouldnt really look to upgrading it. I dont play many games, The last game being Age of Empires 1. I would use it mainly for my DJ'ing hoppy with a net station i am part of.

I was just looking for some discount if there is any before i order it. I could always goto my mates site and click their link if there is no discounts or money to be made on one of these money making sites rpoints or whatever its called.

Thanks

greytroot

Matthew,

If you search this site (at top of screen type in dell) there are at least two discounts available depending on what you want. I think they are 5% and 10% discounts.

raeble

You need to check all three versions of the dell machines, because sometimes the mid-range systems can work out better value than the high-end. Yes they aren't the fastest of the fast but they are more than fast enough and they are usually upgradeable unlike the entry level dells. My PC is a dell and is still going two years later, touch wood I've had no problems with it. You can also get the pc's cheaper if you change the warranty for 3yrs-business on site to 1yr return to base. I think there is 5% discount knocking around somewhere and it's anniversary week or something so there should be special offers.

To the guy that said Dell's are difficult to upgrade/expensive, that is true if you buy the entry level system. You generally have no free slots but with the mid- to high end it is very easy to upgrade. I've got a dimension 4500 and the case does not have any screws - so when I was replacing my graphics card I just popped the case open, removed and slotted the new card in. That was it and everything ran ok. I didn't have to buy any frightfully expensive cards, just a normal agp card. I made sure that my pc had an agp slot and four pci slots before I bought it. The IT support officer at my place likes the ease of moving things around in the optiplex cases. It's good if you're not technically minded.

lofty_2

I was thinking about the dimension 4600 for the desktop and the latitude 505 as a laptop,

If anyone has any better advice on the laptop i would appreciate it. Im looking to get the best spec's i can for about 1500. p4 3.4ghz or above 1 or 2 gb ram, as much space as i can get on the laptop and a 2nd battery and a good wireless network card.

Any ideas? It does not need to be dell but i dont know any other good places to get laptops.

Thanks

minion_3

hey matthew.

a cheap place to buy a laptop is http://www.ebuyer.co.uk

unless you look in 'blowout deals' i.e., used parts - everything is brand new and comes with at least 12 months RTB warranty. some laptops have the option of an extra 3 years cover for £100ish. i've spent a few thousand in my time at ebuyer buying parts, and have never been let down. if there ever was a problem, there customer service team sorted it out right away.

most of those laptops have integrated wireless networking (802.11). generally laptop hard drives are about 40-60GB as larger ones require a lot of battery power - but that's still a lot of storage.

the Intel Centrino, on paper, runs a lot slower than a P4. however, as it is optimised for laptops and runs much cooler - meaning battery life for a centrino is approximately double that of a P4 (in theory!). from some websites i've read, a Centrino 1.4GHZ is similar to a P4 2.2GHz but with much better battery life.

it has 1MB cache on the CPU, whereas a P4 has 512k and a celeron 128k - this means that the centrino can do a lot more at one time, so clock speed goes out the window.
basically, if you are looking to use a laptop off the mains most of the time then go with centrino as battery charge lasts a lot longer. if you aren't doing something very intensive such as graphics manipulation then it's fine for the job. the extra cache also allows it to run simulation software a lot faster.

as for a desktop computer, dell would do some alright ones and generally their components are reliable from the ones we used at uni. as i build computers i know you get a much better computer for your money. try find a respected computer store in town for a quote - they could build it exact to your needs. otherwise, go with dell for peace of mind - just beware of their 'recommended' purchases which cost a bomb! (like a USB cable for £12.93 that is 70p on ebuyer!).

another couple of good companies are -
http://www.redstore.com
http://www.aria.co.uk

good luck

johnllew

If you're intent on Dell, then the Dell Outlet is worth a look. There is also a Dell Outlet Bargain Forum to help you as getting the best deal at the Outlet can be a bit tricky.

Several cashback sites will give you a small rebate for buying Dell products through them though I'm not sure if they're available on outlet purchases. It's also worth registering with Dell so that you get their regular email offers.