Dell Preferred Account vs Installment Plan

I have a question regarding which payment option is best when purchasing with Dell?

I will be buying a laptop for University very soon and I'm wondering what is the best option when buying a laptop around $1500?

I do understand how both the installment plan and the preferred account work but what I ultimately want to know is this:

Which one will I end up paying less monthly payments for? I do understand that hte preferred account has a yearly 28.99% interest rate but what I do like about it is is that I don't have to pay off something for 4 years that I will probably sell or stop using 2 years after my purchase.

BTW I'm in Canada.

 

Dell offers deals like , interest free for a year. If you pay off the laptop in a year you will pay no interest at all. The bad news is: if you fall behind you will get killed with interest. I used the Dell no interest account, paid off the laptop in 6 months and paid zero interest. Hope this helps

 

XPS usually offers one year interest free. It's great if you can pay it off in a year, else you will get destroyed with interest. If you need long term payments, it would be best to search for a low interest credit card that gives you 12 months interest free. Or use the Dell preferrred account for a year and then do a balance transfer to a card that offers a year interest free on balance transfers.

 

Ah so essentially its just like a regular credit card that you sign up for at stores like Best Buy, Staples and etc.

Hmm, would I get charged 28.99% for the whole purchase regardless of payments made, or interest on the remaining balance?

I could pay off the laptop in one year, but that would mean that I would have to dig into my student loan. I was thinking of making $150 payments from my own pocket per month to finish it off sooner.

But I do like the fact that I wont have to keep paying something for 4 years. Just like my 2405fpw which has another year left on it (love the monitor, but big mistake on the financing).

 

I think the interest accrues over the 12 months you are 'interest free'. So you get a nice surprise when month 13 rolls around. You can still use it, just plan on getting another credit card to balance transfer it.

 

Hmm

My big diemna is if I either choose to pay off a laptop for 4 years that I will probably sell after 2 years or if I choose to pay it off in a year.

But you know what, I think I'll go with the preferred account. If I purchase it now, I'll have 2 months to work before paying the whole amount.

So just one last question. I will use the preferred account but:

1. Are there any administrative fees when using the 6 or 12 month "no payment" option

2. Is there definitely going to be a 1 year no payment option or is it "promotional"?

I will be buying the XPS 1530.

 

1. No fees, but it isn't no payment. There is a minimum depending on the balance you carry.

2. It is always offered as far as I have see.

 

Thanks for the help atbnet, appreciate all the replies

You too philly Dog

 

Hello, I'm in Canada too, and I'm on the edge of buying a XPS M1530 from Dell too.

The thing is that here in Canada, Dell doesn't offer 12 months free of interest with the Installment Plan, it's only available in the US.

I've called them up this week and the guy told me that it was an open account, so we can make bigger payment per month to clear it up faster. The only thing that I still don't understand is if I clear my dept in 4 months, will I pay the interest only on those month or will I pay all the interest they calculated for the 48 months?

In other words, the website says that I will pay 62$/per month for 48 months which egal 3 000, for a computer that actually worth 2 000$ with no interest.

So if I clear it up in 4 months do I pay 3 000$ or something around 2 100$ ?

 

You only pay interest on the months that you have carry a balance.