Half price at Dell's factory outlet!
Jan 30 '00 (Updated Feb 03 '00)
Pros - huge discounts on as-good-as-new computers
Cons - reduced choice on specs, mediocre customer care at ordering stage
The best feature of my new Dell laptop is the astounding 50% discount I got off its normal price. I bought it through the Dell UK factory outlet, which sells "not quite new" computers - mainly returned or incorrect orders. "Refurbished" may give you the wrong impression - usually the computers are just reconfigured and thoroughly checked. Dell build their brand new computers to measure, so presumably it wouldn't be efficient to resell returned stock other full-price paying customers. Instead the factory outlet shifts these computers rapidly by selling whatever was made up for the original client - in my case including a 3 year next working day on-site warranty - pretty good evidence of Dell's own confidence in their refurbished computers!
The UK factory outlet is at http://www.euro.dell.com/countries/uk/enu/dfo/default.htm The US equivalent sounds pretty similar from the review in the Latitude section of Epinions. The UK page lists configurations of computers, but once I registered my interest and got emailed a telephone contact, I found that this list bore little resemblance to the computers really available - I was offered much better deals by phone. Before ringing you need to have a good idea of what Dell's current models are and what they normally cost, and what specifications you want. Be ready with your credit card to snap up a bargain - apparently it?s unlikely to be there if you ring back later! You can't choose your exact dream specifications, but unless you?re very fussy you should be able to find a good match, especially given the attractive discounts! Stock seems to move pretty fast so it's worth ringing back if they don?t have what you want immediately. A couple of friends have subsequently bought desktops through the UK factory outlet, with less impressive reductions, but still around 20%. Perhaps I was particularly lucky.
On the negative side, I found the customer service at the factory outlet rather lacking, and my friends found no better. Don?t expect to be rung or emailed back, and to avoid risking the fortnight's delay I suffered, chase up your order from the start. My sales rep was also not very clued up about technical aspects - e.g. not knowing if the PCMCIA card she could provide (as an extra) would occupy one or both of the laptop's card slots. The flip side of this is that I got a 30% discount off my card as she wasn?t clued up about prices either! Dell are however living up to their excellent customer service reputation in terms of after sales support, where I get the same service as a normal customer. In addition my laptop itself is a pleasure to use, and thoroughly recommendable. I have found nothing elsewhere for a similar price (or even significantly more) that comes anywhere close.
In conclusion, Dell's UK factory outlet is a great place to pick up outstanding bargains on excellent computers, if you can put up with a bit more hassle a bit less choice at the ordering stage.
Model - Dell Latitude CpiR 400XT
Specs - PII 400 processor, 128 Mb RAM (2 x 64), 14 in TFT screen, 24x CD
Price paid - £860 ($1375) [excl. shipping + tax]
Normal price - $3000 [excl. shipping + tax]
Bought December 1999
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Epinions.com ID:
chloeh
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Reviews written: 1
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