Better deal than Black Friday?

Hi all,

I'm considering purchasing a new M14x and have come across a pretty decent deal. Just curious if you think this is worth pulling the trigger on now or waiting to see what they mark down from B Friday.

Although I've heard that they've had some pretty good deals on black friday/cyber monday, I'm skeptical that it would be better than this:

* 25% off coupon + 2% off discount = 27% off
* $75 bonus gift card for every $400 purchased in gift cards

So for a M14X w/ 3gb vid card, 2.2ghz i7, 8gb ram, and 256GB SSD, upgraded sound card the price is:
$1,994.00
- $498.50 (25% Discount)
- $29.91 (2% Discount)
= $1,465.69
+ tax
= $1,590.00

I'll pay with 4x$400 gift cards, so I will also receive an additional $300 in bonus gift cards for future purchases.


Does this sound good enough to jump on this deal? Or should I hold off until Black Friday?

 

Fantastic!
Very jealous over here in the UK!

 

pretty good deal, i would drop to 1.5gb video card, and get the 900p screen. I duno if the sound card is upgraded i though it was just the program that the sound uses.... may want to get confirmation on that tho

 

I switched it up a bit...

I bought 3x$400 gift cards for a $1200 balance plus $225 in bonus cards

With 27% discount, I went with the pre-configured system... I believe its 2ghz, 6gb ram, 1.5ghz processor, hd wireless streaming, 500gb hdd, 900p screen. The total ended up being about $1100 after taxes.

I called Dell and was able to negotiate them to throw in the $99 bag.

Currently using $1200 gift card balance to make the purchase, then spending the bonus $225 over black friday/cyber monday on a memory upgrade or something else.

 

alot better deal that time around i think...nice..which preconfig system did you use? link?

 

Made my day.

On the other hand though , you got a very good deal.

 

Sorry, posted a bit quickly. Video card = 1.5

 

If anyone is interested, this is the exact deal/pricing I was able to achieve with the 25% discount plus 2% discount from my company, plus taking advantage of the gift card deal


225-1279
1 Alienware M14X - Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish $975.59 $975.59
317-6678
1 Intel Core i7 2630QM 2.0GHz (2.9GHz Turbo Mode, 6M cache)
317-6668
1 6GB DDR3 at 1600MHz
331-2069
1 Alienware M14X 150W A/C Adapter
320-2228
1 14.0 High Def+ (900p/1600x900) with WLED backlight
318-0644
1 1.5GB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus technology
342-2567
1 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3GB/s
313-8792
1 AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
421-4816
1 Alienware Command Center Software, M14X
420-9691
1 DataSafe Local BackUp
420-9956
1 PC Restore
421-5789
1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
318-0641
1 Hinge Up WLAN - BLACK
410-0548
1 Adobe Acrobat Reader
421-1305
1 Roxio Creator Starter
318-1166
1 Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner, DVD+-RW, CD-RW
421-4818
1 Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
430-4098
1 Intel Wireless-N WiFi Link 1000 a/g/n 1x2
421-6497
1 Alienware M14X WIDI Software
461-8389
1 Anti-Virus included With Dell Advantage Care
951-9680
1 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
951-9700
1 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
950-3337
1 1 Year Limited Warranty
950-9797
1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
421-1721
1 Soft Contracts Service Hardware Agreement for Alienware
994-3730
1 Warranty Support, Initial Year
421-4356
1 Software, DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
988-0099
1 To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online
927-2357
1 DataSafe Online 2.0 2GB
469-0500 1 No Wireless HD Selected
430-4097 1 Internal Bluetooth 3.0
421-1572 1 Alienhead Glow
421-1592 1 Alienhead Glow
421-1360 1 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
421-2965 1 EVE-Online, English, German, Russian
331-2071 1 Standard Nameplate, M14X
* -DISCOUNT/COUPON APPL
A4869116 1 Alienware Orion M14x Messenger Bag - TSA Friendly $99.99 $99.99

Subtotal: $1,075.58
Shipping & Handling: $0.00
Tax: $86.05
Environmental Disposal Fee: $0.00
Total Price w/Discounts: $1,161.63

Deal included $225 ($75x3) worth of bonus Gift Certificates that can be used on any Dell item.

 

Moze, quick question. Were there any loopholes with that 25% off deal? I see what you ended up ordering was not what you originally posted with. Did they make you change anything or say that the coupon could only work with specific parts? I've just purchased my coupon (although it hasn't activated yet), but just wanted to know what I should be expecting before I make the call. Thanks!

 

No loopholes really, except that it's suppose to be off retail price and isn't suppose to stack with other discounts; however, it did appear to stack with my corporate discount. I'll show you what I mean in another post... I bought an additional 25% coupon and plan on purchasing a laptop for my dad.

When I called, I stated that I thought this M14X came with the Orien Messenger Bag... The Dell rep looked it up and explained that it is on the higher configuration option, not this one. I asked if she'd throw it in with my order for free if I purchased today...

I believe what happened is that the Dell rep switched around and applied different discounts/promotions (ones I hadn't applied to my cart) in order to both give me the bag and the system I wanted for the same price I had shown in my cart. I believe one was some sort of personal educational discount.

I'm positive I wouldn't have achieved these results without already having such a good discount already applied to my cart though, so the 25% discount is still an important start to getting an even better discount. Apply the discount to your cart, then call up Dell and have them pull it up first before negotiating.

 

Also, if you're going with the gift card deal... Try this:

If your system is $1150.00 with tax:
1) Buy gift card #1 and #2 at $500 each and receive 2 bonus $75 gift cards
2) Consolidate the $500 #1 and #2 gift cards into one $1000 gift card
3) Call up dell to place your order. Over the phone, the Rep can use 3 different sources of payment (credit cards, gift cards, etc).
Source #1: $1000 Gift Card
Source #2: $75 Gift Card
Source #3: $75 Gift Card
= $1150 on same order

 

I tried this, but I always pick the link to the left and keep the RAM at 4GB.

I tried the other 3 preconfigs keeping all things the same. Dell makes this confusing, with the subtotal and EPP discount during the building of the system. When I look at the "Starting Price" though, I can see the delta more clearly. This is $200 for another 4G of RAM. If I take of 27%, that amounts to $146. Newegg sells 8G 1600 RAM for between $48 and $70.

Also note that those instant discount go away once you apply your 25% coupon.

I even tried it with the other two configs (Standard and More Power), the standard was 6G of RAM and a 2630 processor (instead of 2670) and amounted to $100 ($73 after 27%)

So it seems the best way to go is with the Economy and just add what you need, then buy your RAM at NewEgg if you need more.

Am I missing something?

 

I chose the pre-configured system with the i7 and 6gb ram. The second option from the left.

I was able to snag 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 from Newegg for ~$140.00 after $20 mail-in rebate and am going to stick in 8GB of ram.

 

FYI, you can consolidate them yourself online on( www.dell.com/giftcard). I found this out after I did it on the phone

 

Here's an example of how the 25% discount works and how it cancels out other discounts:


Inspiron 15 (N5040) $449.99
Save $50 for a Limited Time! -$50.00
Dell EPP Members save additional 2% off select systems!
-$8.00
Sub-total $391.99

Inspiron 15 (N5040) $449.99
Get 25% off Select Systems -$112.50
Dell EPP Members save additional 2% off select systems!
-$6.75
Sub-total $330.74

 

Thanks to both of you for contributing to this thread. I was planning on waiting until Black Friday to purchase my new machine, but this deal is incredible (Thank you so much, moze!).

Right now, I'm torn between the m14x and the m17x. Once I get the coupon and order I will post again. I may try to get a bag out of them too. Thanks so much for the tips!

 

Thanks for pointing out this deal, it inspired me to buy my own m14x. Since I'm the impatient type, I opted for the pre-built unit, since it had basically everything I would have added except for the Killer N wireless card.

Using the coupon, and $75.00 add on cards, I got my rig for just under $1,100.00 after tax and 2day shipping Should have it on 11/22.

Great deal.

 

Ok that coupon is supposedly sold out for the 25%. Does anyone know where else I can get my hands on one? I want to order my m14x now. But was a day late on the 25%.

Thanks

 

For Uk people, check the "Saving ££££ in the UK buying ANY Dell/AW system OR accessories - please contribute!" thread under the alienware forum. Got my M14x down from £1400 to £750. tho i have been lucky in some of the steps! I also post the best deals i can find on the alienware uk facebook site.

But v jealous of some of the US discount! you guys seem to get cracking deals and less tax!

 

system ordered.

i went with the m17x mostly base unit with the addition of radeon 6990m and upgraded to the 1900x1080 monitor. market price should have been 1949, but i ended up paying only 1432. amazing deal!

system should arrive on dec 6. thanks again for all the responses and help!

in the future i will be upgrading the RAM and looking to find an SSD from newegg. Can't wait to pay SWTOR now!