Dell Studio 15 Specs

I need a laptop for college and I am having a hard time building my own laptop. I called dell and they assisted me and now I am wanting to get a second opinion. This laptop is strictly for school...writing papers and research and some web browsing in my spare time. I will not be uploading pictures or playing games. I have a desktop that is my main pc so this is just something extra so that I can take to nursing school if need be and not be stuck to my desktop while researching and writing. Could you look over these specs and tell me if it's worth $725 and also tell me if I should be upgrading anything or even deleting something.

Thank you!


Studio 15 Laptop
NEW 2010 Intel® Core™ i3-330M 2.13GHz (3M cache)
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
Back-lit Keyboard
15.6” High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife™ and Camera
Intel® HD Graphics
500GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Black Chainlink
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9, Multiple Languages
8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
High Definition Audio 2.2
Dell 1501 Wireless-N
No Touch Software
Microsoft® Office Starter 2010
McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months
85 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
1 Year Basic Service Plan
Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year
Internal Mobile Broadband not included

 

For pre-discounted price between 699 and 998, use $9NFW2J47KWW9F coupon to save $50, purchasing through EPP. I recently bought Studio 14 and Inspiron 15 for my friends, and for same specs, EPP always came out to be cheaper. Also, purchase over the phone. Walk him/her through your online configuration pages, and when the subtotal comes up, ask for further discount through his/her manager. At LEAST, Dell will give you 2% more discount from published price online. And then giver them the coupon code. (Or you might have to switch the order: coupon first and ask for further discount second).

If you don't know how to use EPP, Your Member Purchase Program | Dell go here select education and look at prices. When you call, give your school name to the rep. (or you can even use any type of corporations/schools you or your family member is affiliated with. Dell doesn't check, and it's just going to appear under your name when they ship it out).

Configuration seems pretty o.k. for your described usages. Try to cut down the prices more.

Also I recommend getting at least 1 or 2 more years of warranty (basic is fine) and I always buy complete care (less than $100 for the duration of your warranty period), which covers accidental damages. I don't know if it would be cheaper to buy with the laptop or after the laptop arrives. To give you some estimate for buying warranty after your laptop arrives, I got a good deal via phone for extending 2 more years + CC (so total of 3 years) for $265 and got a $75 gift card, which I used to purchase a monitor.

 

Thank you for helping me out! I called dell yesterday and told them what I needed and the guy helped me build a laptop. Do you think it's possible that the price of $725 already includes a discount because when I go online and build the same laptop, it comes out to $829?

 

I would assume 725 you have is before tax and shipping.

Go to Dell EPP website. Under Laptops & Minis -> Popular Laptop Deals -> Studio 15. Choose the second one from the left (starting 963.99 - 114.00 = 849.99).

You need to add $35.01 more to get $100 discount using DHBXMTCSSJQ62K coupon for systems over $999 (expires this month).

Choose color you like for free (I liked midnight blue although I returned, and my girlfriend is getting a Ruby Red Studio 14 next week.)

Just to make the computer price at 999, I would add back-lit keyboard ($25)
and bluetooth ($20), which would bring the starting price to 1008.99 - 114 = 894.99.

After $100 coupon I gave you, I see the subtotal of 794.99. Ask dell to give you discount on that. Conservatively if you can get 2%, that's around $16. So total price is around $779. Some reps I had would give you discount on total pricing after shipping and tax, so it could be more than $16.

Now you're only paying about $50 more, but you got a processor upgrade from i3-330 to i3-350, you got to choose a color for free, you got a back-lit keyboard and bluetooth, and you upgraded wireless card from Dell's cheap 1501-N to Intel Advanced-N 6200.

When I buy a laptop from Dell, I would look at every possible configuration from different links Dell provides for same model. If you need the laptop quick, tell Dell so, they would gladly ask their managers for possible shipping upgrade free of charge.

One more thing, if you apply for Dell Preferred Account for the first time and purchase the system using DPA, you can get additional 3% off. Here's free shipping coupon for $699 and up: ?8CN$RJ?W5TQ0C. Ask for free next business day shipping, if possible.

Hope this helps!

 

Wait, I found a better deal. Use the same method, but go to laptops & minis, and select 'Shop More Laptops' and choose the fourth one on the left, w/starting price of 636.99.

You may be able to even upgrade screen to FHD or dedicated graphics card at similar price...

 

I really appreciate your help! I just followed the steps that you advised and my price went from $725 down to $641!!

 

Glad to hear that. Hope you enjoy your laptop!