schwartzvald
CAGiversary!
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I figure CAGs would be the ones who would most appreciate this.
I've been hunting for a cheap-o 14 inch laptop on the Dell Outlet for some relatives, with the current 20% off coupon in tow. I've bought from there before, so I know how they like to update the database at weird times of the day. I hopped on my PC to check it this morning, and didn't notice any updates.
So I was about to log off, when, no joke, I got a hunch that I shouldn't, that they might do a small, early morning update.
Now, I don't use any scripts or auto-refresh or anything. Don't believe in it, in principle. I hit refresh once, nothing... so I browsed kotaku for a few minutes, then refreshed again, and thought I saw a new laptop or two in the list. So I decided to wait a few seconds and refresh one last time.
And there, at the top of the price-sorted list, was a single new entry, with a price that made no sense. I didn't hesitate, added it to cart, glanced at the specs to make sure nothing was freaky or weird, and checked out. I've learned you don't screw around with the Dell Outlet--you want to get checked out and finalized before the other guy.
So then I looked deeper into the specs. Lowest end T4200 proc, 4GB RAM, Intel onboard graphics, Dell wireless. Everything identical to all the other low-end laptops in the outlet list. Everything, except...
NO WEBCAM.
Yes, the lack of a cheap in-bezel webcam (I hate those things) knocked about $90 dollars off the price. Well, actually, knowing Dell, that's probably not the whole truth. Sometimes certain refurbs get priced low for internal reasons, usually regarding the circumstances of the original order. But it's more fun to say "NO WEBCAM."
Moving on, grand total, after 20% off and tax, with free 3-5 day shipping:
$310.
That's lower than the B130 (predecessor to the Vostro) I got from them years ago. New high... er... low score, I guess. Would have been $534 if I bought it new. And it makes up for the last time, when I forgot to apply a coupon and paid $50 more than I should have.
Uh, and... the end.
I've been hunting for a cheap-o 14 inch laptop on the Dell Outlet for some relatives, with the current 20% off coupon in tow. I've bought from there before, so I know how they like to update the database at weird times of the day. I hopped on my PC to check it this morning, and didn't notice any updates.
So I was about to log off, when, no joke, I got a hunch that I shouldn't, that they might do a small, early morning update.
Now, I don't use any scripts or auto-refresh or anything. Don't believe in it, in principle. I hit refresh once, nothing... so I browsed kotaku for a few minutes, then refreshed again, and thought I saw a new laptop or two in the list. So I decided to wait a few seconds and refresh one last time.
And there, at the top of the price-sorted list, was a single new entry, with a price that made no sense. I didn't hesitate, added it to cart, glanced at the specs to make sure nothing was freaky or weird, and checked out. I've learned you don't screw around with the Dell Outlet--you want to get checked out and finalized before the other guy.
So then I looked deeper into the specs. Lowest end T4200 proc, 4GB RAM, Intel onboard graphics, Dell wireless. Everything identical to all the other low-end laptops in the outlet list. Everything, except...
NO WEBCAM.
Yes, the lack of a cheap in-bezel webcam (I hate those things) knocked about $90 dollars off the price. Well, actually, knowing Dell, that's probably not the whole truth. Sometimes certain refurbs get priced low for internal reasons, usually regarding the circumstances of the original order. But it's more fun to say "NO WEBCAM."
Moving on, grand total, after 20% off and tax, with free 3-5 day shipping:
$310.
That's lower than the B130 (predecessor to the Vostro) I got from them years ago. New high... er... low score, I guess. Would have been $534 if I bought it new. And it makes up for the last time, when I forgot to apply a coupon and paid $50 more than I should have.
Uh, and... the end.
