Core i3 or i5 Laptop, with good build quality - Minecraft, light video editing, imagine editing... e

Well I have gotten 3 laptops from the outlet so far, XPS m1530 for my self and 2 different inspiron for my brother and dad. After 4 years my XPS died but it was to do with the NV gpu which I should have gotten an extended warranty when dell was handing them out for free but I didnt know about. My brothers laptop is still strong after 4 years, and my Dad's still looks brand new after 2 years.

All in all the dell outlet has been great to me and I wouldnt think twice about getting another laptop from there, currently got my eyes on the MX17 R3.
 
Thanks for letting me know how reliable they seem. This is good, but obviously I'll still be getting the 3 year warranty extension about 6-9 months down the line to avoid any hidden surprises that may lie in wait a few months after the first year or so. Would be very disappointed in myself if it broke and I hadn't purchased a warranty extension. I'd be furious with myself lol.

I'll stick with Dell I think. L702 in mid November. Hopefully get a 2410m and GT550. If I can't get a 550 at the time a 540m will suffice, but I don't fancy an i3. Overall, that's the sort of stuff I want. 4GB of RAM is obviously essential, and a 7,200 means I can continue to make use of my fraps, but a 320GB HDD is a concern, but for the sake of cost, I might just have to deal with it. Hopefully the recovery partitions aren't huge, like the ones on Toshiba laptops (or so I hear). If I've got a lot of space left over, then hopefully I should be able to install multiple games, record some lengthy Minecraft videos (and maybe a few other games), an convert/compress them. The original source video files are obviously huge with recording, so again, hopefully the whole HDD isn't taken up. I remember recording some MC vids and when combining them in VirtualDub (multiple AVIs of the same video), 3 segments of video, which would equate to roughly 12gb, would end up like 40 or 50gb, which then had to be converted into something about 120-200mb in size. 62.2GB lol, a fair chunk, right? Doesn't matter too much really because I'm not going to be using fraps a whole lot and whatever source videos have been dealt with, will be deleted afterwards anyway.

I just need to remain patient, because it's still about 10-11 days prior to picking and ordering a laptop. Might even have to wait for extra days for some L702x's to come in.

How does it work anyway? Do I have to race against time to beat everyone? Like, we all share a basket, first person to checkout wins? I don't like that because that rush will end up causing me to make a mistake a buy something I don't want, or at least make me feel uneasy, an worry myself that I haven't checked something properly prior to ordering, just because I didn't want to miss out.

Spooky.

:O
 
Just to let you folks know, around November 11th, or a few days after, I will still go for a Dell XPS L702x. Hopefully it shouldn't cost more than £530. I can still get the £130 warranty extension sometime within the first year, so I will get that 6-9 months down the line. I think it'll be worth it.

Hope to get 2410m and 550m, but if not, I'd rather downgrade the GPU to a 540m instead of downgrading to a 2310m.

So yeah... still going for Outlet.

Checked dmxdimension. Those deals seem to apply only to new laptops, but even with those deals it's outside of my budget. Dell Outlet prices alone aren't to bad, an the 3 year warranty isn't that bad either, but yes, definitely getting it later as I can't afford it at the same time with the purchase of the laptop.

Fingers crossed all goes well and I hope I get what I want and that it doesn't give me trouble. :)

Peace
 
If you find a great deal now, are you able to get the money earlier and buy it? It would be sods law if you find something perfect now and then after 11th november there's nothing good in your price range. Like for me, there were two of the model I bought both at steal prices, and now, there's nothing like that and hasn't been for a while. So timing is everything and if you see something you just must have, see if you can't buy earlier. But of course, at the end of the day, only you know know what your financial situation will allow.
 
Unfortunately earlier it not an option, but assuming I get free delivery, or that the delivery prices aren't ridiculous, I have about £520-£530 to spend.

I don't mind waiting for another L702x to come in. So long as I get a Core i5 2410m and either a 540 or 550, then I'll be happy. Warranty, as I've said many times before, comes later. I've waited so long I don't think an exta week or two will hurt, but once I see it on there, I'll have to jump on it quick.

Can I fill in my card and delivery details now and use them for later? I don't know what it's going to be like fighting among the Internet for these laptops. I have this feeling that once I see what I want and put it in my basket, by the time I've filled out my address and card details, carefully... some other guy will have had it. I don't like that sort of shopping so hopefully it isn't that bad.

100,000 people all scambling for a few XPS laptops. Madness.

:)
 
You get 15 minutes to complete the purchase where it remains "reserved" in your basket. Saying that it helps to be registered with dell prior to then as you'll already have delivery/billing address filled in for you when you come to purchase.

If you don't mind me saying so, I get the impression you'll use every minute of that contemplating "do I, don't I?" so I suggest you do register prior! :P
 
UKFX said:
Unfortunately earlier it not an option, but assuming I get free delivery, or that the delivery prices aren't ridiculous, I have about £520-£530 to spend.

I don't mind waiting for another L702x to come in. So long as I get a Core i5 2410m and either a 540 or 550, then I'll be happy. Warranty, as I've said many times before, comes later. I've waited so long I don't think an exta week or two will hurt, but once I see it on there, I'll have to jump on it quick.

Can I fill in my card and delivery details now and use them for later? I don't know what it's going to be like fighting among the Internet for these laptops. I have this feeling that once I see what I want and put it in my basket, by the time I've filled out my address and card details, carefully... some other guy will have had it. I don't like that sort of shopping so hopefully it isn't that bad.

100,000 people all scambling for a few XPS laptops. Madness.

:)
Click to expand...


It's not as bad as you make it out to be. If you find something on the outlet and you press buy, it's pretty much yours, granted you have the means to pay for it of course.
 
JimboJet said:
You get 15 minutes to complete the purchase where it remains "reserved" in your basket. Saying that it helps to be registered with dell prior to then as you'll already have delivery/billing address filled in for you when you come to purchase.


If you don't mind me saying so, I get the impression you'll use every minute of that contemplating "do I, don't I?" so I suggest you do register prior! :P
Click to expand...

Do I, don't I? Lol, you're quite right, but it'll 99.9%, yes on a purchase if a see a 2410m, 4GB of RAM, Win 7 64 bit Home Premium, 17" XPS with either 540 or 550. 540 is a bit slower, but again for Minecraft, the benches are like 100+fps on max settings, but of course I'd prefer the 550m. I've registered, but if I can fill in billing details sooner rather than later I will. I'll most likely do that tomorrow evening to get that out of the way. I'm glad there is a reserve time to avoid an online scramble, getting people accidently picking things they've not properly looked at, or someone else getting it before your order has gone through. Should make things easier. :)

Andrei23 said:
It's not as bad as you make it out to be. If you find something on the outlet and you press buy, it's pretty much yours, granted you have the means to pay for it of course.
Click to expand...

I will do. Max budget £530. I could probably manage £510 budget if I have to pay for delivery. I think I should end up getting a decent system. Warranty later of too, icing on the cake. Very pleased.

:) I'll be sure to change my signature in favour of the Outlet soon lol. Who'd of thought it? Haha. :D
 
Just ordered this for £530 total including VAT and Delivery. 1 year ARB Warranty. Will purchase extension later. What do you think???

XPS L702x Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 1 £ 424.00

XPS L702x

Carry Case : Not Included

English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64Bit OS)

Misc

17.3in HD+ WLED True-Life (1600x900) with 2.0 Mega Pixel Integrated Camera

Wireless: Intel Wireless-N 1000 Card

Silver Anodized Aluminum

Graphics : 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M Graphics Card

Back Up Media Not Included

Battery : Primary 9-cell 90W/HR LI-ION

Hard Drive : 500GB Serial ATA II (7200 RPM) Hard Drive

8X DVD +/- RW DRIVE

6 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHZ (2 DIMMs)

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium

Processor: Intel Core i5-2540M (2.60GHz, 3MB cache, Dual Core)

Misc

Certified Refurbished




ARB - 1yr Standard Service for your PC
£ 0.00
1
£ 0.00



Total excl. VAT VAT Rate VAT Total incl. VAT
Sub-total(s): £ 424.00 20.00% £ 84.80 £ 508.80
Delivery Charge: £ 18.33 20.00% £ 3.67 £ 22.00
Total Price: £ 442.33 £ 88.47 £ 530.80

I checked and thought omg, lucky me. There was tons of L702x laptops, some had big hard drives or blu ray drives. I didn't want a huge drive. I found 500gb hard to fill on my PC, so 500 on a laptop should be ok. I didn't want the blu ray because the screen isn't a 1080p one and I have a PS3 and 32" 1080p telly anyway. 2540m processor, instead of 2410m. 6gb of dual channel 1333 DDR3 instead of 4 and I actually managed a GT550m instead of a GT540m? ****ing SCORE. 9 cell battery as well! I'm well chuffed.

Did I just get a super bargain or have I made a mistake... I've had a **** day, an I'm hoping this goes well??? I was in a bit of a rush. Tried to use a code at dmxdimension but it said that it couldn't be applied for some reason, probably because the XPS 702x was 424 prior to VAT, where the offer only applies to items of 499 or over. Still good though.
 
UKFX said:
Assuming this isn't pure lies, Warranty Extension can be made on Outlet laptops, just the same as Dell's new laptops, any time within the first year, so long as your Standard Warranty hasn't expired. Good stuff right? Probably a waste of money spending £130 on 3 years Warranty with some "next business day" thingy, whatever that is, but it covers any hardware faults, right? :) So I would think I'm at least covered for 3 years 9 months. Haha
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure buying the additional warranty only goes on top of the 1 year - so you basically get an additional 2 years and not a full 3 years from when you decide to buy it. So if you bought the laptop on the 1st December - but decided on getting an additional warranty further down the line but within the year, the 3 years starts from when you bought the laptop and includes the 1st year that came with the laptop. I hope that makes sense. I'm sure someone will confirm whether this is right or not.

Edit,

The next day business warranty is actually really good if you encounter any problems. They pull out all the stops to get the machine repaired and come the next day from when you tell them of the problem.
 
Last edited:
Scrutinize said:
finally :)
Click to expand...
I know lol. So glad. What you think of it?
fendi said:
I'm pretty sure buying the additional warranty only goes on top of the 1 year - so you basically get an additional 2 years and not a full 3 years from when you decide to buy it. So if you bought the laptop on the 1st December - but decided on getting an additional warranty further down the line but within the year, the 3 years starts from when you bought the laptop and includes the 1st year that came with the laptop. I hope that makes sense. I'm sure someone will confirm whether this is right or not.

Edit,

The next day business warranty is actually really good if you encounter any problems. They pull out all the stops to get the machine repaired and come the next day from when you tell them of the problem.
Click to expand...
Ahh, yes.I've heard about the extensions of other laptop manufacturers who do the same. Still... not bad. I'll jus get the extension after 9 months instead. When does the warranty actually start? When they ship or when I receive because how else do they kno when I got it lol?
 
Yes, my orders seemed to be going well. I was very fortunate a whole bunch of L702xs came in. I was half expecting there to be none. There wans't any in the first XPS 17 category though. I'm very pleased.

To add to that chuffedness, Skyrim has been shipped at 8:35am, so there is a chance I get that a day early too, just like BF3. Good times. Now fingers crossed nothing bad happens to my laptop yeah? Touch wood n all that lol. My laptop has already been dispatched, so it could take anywhere up to a week. May be earlier than a week, again if it does it adds to my early arrival streak lol.

Peace folks. Thanks very much for the help. I'll let you know of my impressions and my glee when I get it. For good measure I'll install a few games, and throw a 256x256 texture pack on Minecraft and run it at full settings on the 1600x900 sweet resolution that I'll have lol. See how it runs.

Good times. :cool:
 
UKFX said:
Just had a chat with a Dell Agent through their website, after registering to Dell's website.

Here is a direct copy from the chat we had... lol at them trying to get me buying sooner:

19:12:38 System You are now being connected to an agent. Thank you for using Dell Chat
19:12:38 System Connected with ARB_Chat_Jose_Leon
19:12:43 ARB_Chat_Jose_Leon Welcome to Dell Outlet Sales Chat. My name is Joe. How may I assist you?
19:13:45 Lee Hi there. I was just wondering if a Warranty Extension of 3 years can be purchased with a Dell Outlet Laptop, several months after the initial purchase, but still within the first year of the 1 year Standard Warranty? Is that possible? I have been told by others that this is not possible on Outlet laptops, but only on Dell's new laptops.
19:14:33 ARB_Chat_Jose_Leon I will be more than glad to assist you with that.
19:14:58 ARB_Chat_Jose_Leon Yes absolutely you can do it before the first year ends.
19:15:55 Lee That's great news. Thank you. Looks like I'll be ordering a Laptop from Dell Outlet within the next few weeks. :)
19:16:18 ARB_Chat_Jose_Leon If you need future assistance please contact me back, just log in to the chat and ask for me Jose Leon, or send me an e-mail at [email protected] Attention to my self, It will be my pleasure to assist you again
19:16:35 Lee Thank you Jose.
19:16:58 ARB_Chat_Jose_Leon We have some really great deal going on right now up to 20-25% extra on selected systems
19:17:40 Lee I am aware Dell has some great deals going on at the moment, but I'm strapped for cash until November, so I think I'll stick with the Outlet for now. :)
19:17:43 ARB_Chat_Jose_Leon If that help you to make your decision before that ends 10/29/11
19:17:53 ARB_Chat_Jose_Leon ok
19:18:08 ARB_Chat_Jose_Leon Great. hope to see you again sooner.
19:18:08 ARB_Chat_Jose_Leon Thank you for choosing Dell, Enjoy your day.
19:18:14 Lee Thanks for your help. Bye.

How friendly am I, right?

Assuming this isn't pure lies, Warranty Extension can be made on Outlet laptops, just the same as Dell's new laptops, any time within the first year, so long as your Standard Warranty hasn't expired. Good stuff right? Probably a waste of money spending £130 on 3 years Warranty with some "next business day" thingy, whatever that is, but it covers any hardware faults, right? :) So I would think I'm at least covered for 3 years 9 months. Haha.
Click to expand...

Hi

I'm in a similar situation to you in that I am considering purchasing the extended warranty at a later date. I tried to confirm if this was possible with them earlier but when I spoke to someone on the chat (Laptops and PC Sales Experts chat to be precise), they said:

11/09/2011 05:04:48PM Stephen: "Is it possible to extend the warranty after I have purchased it (say in 5 months time)?"
11/09/2011 05:05:09PM Agent (Siddiq_Mohammed): "For details on the models advertised under Outlet segment you will need to email on [email protected]"

and couldn't help me any more. I did check if there was any other way to contact them but was told no. I've since emailed them but it looks like I wont get a response until tomorrow at some point (and the sooner I know the better).

When you spoke to the 'agent,' what department were they from? Anybody have any other advice to find a proper answer or am I just going to have to wait for the email response?
 
Last edited:
I'm glad you posted that there. I originally posted the chat log to point others who are concerned, in the right direction, but it seems there is a possibility I have been mislead. I was clearly told - after making is very very clear - that I COULD get a warranty extension AT A LATER DATE anytime within the FIRST YEAR. If i have been mis-sold this, then I have all necessary evidence to post to Watchdog, who should hopefully nag at Dell until they provide me with a good warranty service. I'll also hope that the person who provided the support gets shot... or at least loses their job. ;)

Of course, this only applies if I was lied to, to make a sale, in which case the agent has made a big ass mistake.

We'll see how things go.

Please post your e-mail reply here lfc, whenever you get it. It'd be helpful to others.

Peace folks.
 
Yeah that is my main fear (that they lie / don't know what they are talking about), especially considering I think they all work in sales (who apparently don't deal with the outlet).

Did they say how much it will cost you to add it at a later date? Because I am a little worried they will try to charge a load more because the warranty has already started or something.

Yeah will do.
 
Just a thought - if you've got the time I don't suppose you would be able to check to see if you can upgrade your warranty now (as you've already purchased the laptop).
 
lfc said:
Just a thought - if you've got the time I don't suppose you would be able to check to see if you can upgrade your warranty now (as you've already purchased the laptop).
Click to expand...

No need - I managed to borrow someone elses service tag to check it. Could only apply for an upgrade / extension, so no guarantee you would get one.
 
I emailed them just after 5pm on Wednesday and had a response about 9:30 Thursday morning. This is what they said:

Hi Steve,

If you wish to purchase a system and you want to upgrade, please use below link to view costs of all various warranty extensions.

Any problems, let me know.

Thanks,
Sarah.​

The link followed seperately:

I went to the link but it was asking for a service tag - which I obviously did not have as I had not bought anything. I emailed them back (about 10:30 yesterday morning) saying this, but I've not had a response yet.

This is where it gets really frustrating: there was a system identical to the one UKFX ordered (which incidentally I was thinking about getting before he beat me to it :mad:) apart from it only had a 6-call battery as opposed to a 9 - for £427 (£513 with VAT). I have had this system in my basket pretty much non-stop since Tuesday when it became available but I was waiting to order because I wanted to confirm about the warranty - but when I got up this morning, someone else had got it :mad:

Yesterday evening I found a link to the chat, but this time for the outlet (why the first person I chatted to couldn't have directed me here I don't know :mad:). So when I finally got the chance this afternoon, I used it (and got my answer within about 5 minutes). Below is the log from it:

11/11/2011 01:50:41PM Session Started with Agent (Swati_S)
11/11/2011 01:50:48PM Agent (Swati_S): "Thank you for choosing Dell Outlet Sales. My name is Swati. My email address is [email protected]. Hope you are doing well."
11/11/2011 01:51:04PM Stephen: "hi"
11/11/2011 01:51:45PM Stephen: "I'm currently looking at some of the laptops in the outlet and I have a question about the warranty"
11/11/2011 01:52:26PM Stephen: "is it possible to buy the laptop with the standard 1 year it comes with but then extend the warranty afterwards (say in 5 months time)?"
11/11/2011 01:52:58PM Agent (Swati_S): "Please give me a moment while I review your query."
11/11/2011 01:54:18PM Agent (Swati_S): "The laptop will come with 1 yr standard warranty and later on you can extend the warranty"
11/11/2011 01:55:03PM Stephen: "Is there a deadline it has to be extended by?"
11/11/2011 01:55:34PM Agent (Swati_S): "The laptop should be with in the standard warranty"
11/11/2011 01:55:42PM Agent (Swati_S): "then you can extend it"
11/11/2011 01:55:58PM Stephen: "Okay - so any time inside the first year yeah?"
11/11/2011 01:56:08PM Agent (Swati_S): "yes"
11/11/2011 01:56:34PM Stephen: "Okay"
11/11/2011 01:56:38PM Stephen: "What are the options for extending it (in terms of cost and how long it can be extended by)?"
11/11/2011 01:57:30PM Agent (Swati_S): "3yrs is the maximum. you can extend the warranty"
11/11/2011 01:58:11PM Agent (Swati_S): "and once when you want to extend you can call the sales deptt , they will extend it for you"
11/11/2011 01:59:00PM Stephen: "Okay - is that 3 years inclusive of the 1 year it comes with?"
11/11/2011 01:59:38PM Agent (Swati_S): "1+2yrs, it is 3yrs in total"
11/11/2011 01:59:50PM Stephen: "okay"
11/11/2011 02:00:21PM Stephen: "And finally, are all the items in the outlet available for this upgrade?"
11/11/2011 02:01:39PM Agent (Swati_S): "yes when you are placing the order for a system, you will get the option for warranty upgrade"
11/11/2011 02:02:32PM Stephen: "I mean in the future - are all items available for the upgrade (if within the 1 year standard warranty they come with)"
11/11/2011 02:05:16PM Agent (Swati_S): "yes you can extend warranty for all systems if they are within the standard warranty"
11/11/2011 02:05:53PM Stephen: "okay thanks for your help"​

We then went on to talk about which system I was looking at and a few other things about the outlet. When I had last checked (probably about 1:30 ish), there were no other XPS 17's in the outlet but a few minutes after we finished our conversation, she emailed me to say there was now 6 (I think they were added whilst we were talking). Unfortunately, none seem to be as good a deal as the previous one I had lined up. Nonetheless, the most helpful anyone has ever been on the chat for me.

Anyway, I could find very little on the subject beforehand so hopefully, as UKFX said, this will be helpful for anybody else in a similar situation.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom