So I'm going back to school, just got accepted to the MBA program I was hoping for.


Turns out I need to get a laptop for Jan 3rd, when classes begin. I've picked which one I'm going to purchase (Dell XPS M1330) but I was wondering if anyone has any insights on the best time to buy a laptop.

Now? Back to school...
November? Christmas deals...

I think January would be ideal but classes begin then so I can't wait that long.

Finally, anyone have any inside deals for Dell???

Kristina

 

I know dell just come out with the "colors" computers....I would say christmas sounds like it would be a good time....you may have already missed out on all of the "back to school" deals...

 

Try to buy a laptop from school. It should be much cheaper that way.

I got mine from my school. Price was around $3,500 and I got it for under $2,000. It's Compaq NW8240.

 

The day after thanksgiving.. (not sure if you guys have the same mad crazy addict shopper rush we have here in teh states). Retailers will sell stuff for crazy prices and its all a limited supply. Check www.bestbuy.com, www.compusa.com, www.circuitcity.com for some of the big name US retailers. Im sure they will have sales that are online only, but you need to check EARLY in the morning. Stores open at like 3am or so here, i dont know how the online portion would work.

Also all throughout Nov/Dec you should be able to get good christmas deals. Not sure what Dell will have, but they should have something good to compete with teh retail chains.

 

Kristina, do yourself a favor. If you want your laptop to run and run and run, get yourself a Lenovo Thinkpad. I've been in the business for years and years and Dells just don't stack up.

 

Just a thought here, in MO they have a weekend when you can buy school supplies and pay no sales tax. I had 8 and sold they on ebay for some mod money!

 

Dell at Christmas is when I save a couple hundred on my l/t. Get on dells mailing list and they send you all sale info when it comes up. One day sales and so on. Also check out their reduced l/t section. Good deals to be had there pretty often.

 

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineS...n%201520&s=dfh

 

Played with a Dell M1330 at their mall kiosk here in Austin today, and I can't say that I'm impressed with it at all. For the price, the build quality just feels too poor, and generally reinforces my experience that Dell laptops are just cheep plastic shells.

Thinkpads as stated here are good, and should handle a school environment well. Another alternative would be the Apple Macbook. Similar size and specs to the M1330, and good durability as well. I've seen some decent Compaq/HP models as well, but I haven't kept up with their lineup recently, and quality there varies widely between products.

 

Thanks everyone for your input. There's a Dell kiosk at the mall near me so I think I'll pop by soon to see if they have one on display for me to test out. Generally I know Dell isn't liked much for their laptops but all the customer reviews for the XPS M1330 say its the first Dell l/t ever that's quite good.

As for Macs, by bf has one so I play with it but I'm just a PC girl at heart. I'm quite good with computers and I find the hidden nature of OSX frustrating for me when diagnosing problems and such. Also the file management is sucky IMHO.

I'll get on the Dell list, and check out the Lenovo too!

Cheers,
Kristina