No, I’m not going anywhere, but my trusty-dusty laptop is about to retire. I ordered a power supply for it – again. I’ve replaced the regular hard drive with an SSD. I’ve replaced the keyboard. Truthfully, the keyboard should be replaced again, but I’m not willing to pay $$ just because the letters have worn off. I can’t count how many mice I’ve replaced. Yeah, it has a tracker pad but I hate those things. It’s four years old, which isn’t ancient; but in terms of technology, it’s at best reaching its middle-age crisis, ahead of falling into a genteel dotage.
So we made a decision to let my current computer be our backup machine, and to order a new one for me to use.
Then I looked at the price of new ones with the minimum specs I need, and I had a long moment of reconsidering. Do I want to drop a cool grand on a laptop? Really? A big and painful gulp later, I had to admit since I need a workhorse model, then yes, I’ve got to spend that much.
I use my laptop an average of fourteen hours a day. No, that’s not a typo. If it was a car it would be approaching the million-mile mark, and despite a few glitches it’s still faster than my husband’s higher-powered desktop. There are things I don’t love about Dell computers, but I have to give them credit – they’re built like tanks. What’s more, you get more bang for the buck than any other brand. Even their cheap computers are well made. For anyone in the market for a computer, I have to say go to Dell. Their support is outstanding. I don’t need it for tech stuff, but a couple of times I had hardware issues which were resolved relatively pain-free.
This is the expensive puppy I ordered. It’s not their biggest nor their most expensive, but short of jumping to gamer-level monsters, it’s the most technically amazing. For anybody unfamiliar with what all the geek-speak on the page means, let me translate. It’s fast. No, it’s CRAZY FAST. This sucker should hit Mach 5 right out of the box. It should by rights be a huge step up for me.
Another note: when ordering a computer from Dell, open the chat window or call. Then ask for a discount. Seriously. Tell them you want computer XYZ but you need to watch your budget and wanted to know if it’s possible to get a lower price. I told him I needed $100 below the price on the website. They didn’t give me $100 off but DID knock off nearly $70, just because I asked, no other reason. I didn’t have a coupon code or a company discount, just asked. Take the same approach when shopping for appliances, televisions, anything on the higher end that’s not from a big box store (and sometimes even from a big box store.) If it’s an item over $500 or so, always ask for a lower price. The worst that happens is they say no.
You will get hit up to buy more stuff. This is where you say no. And I did. (It helped I could truthfully say I already had all the stuff they offered except a Thunderbolt HDD, which even *I* never heard of. I figured if I had to look it up, I didn’t need it.)
I’ve gotten more than $100 knocked off a refrigerator by asking, and this is the second time Dell gave me a discount for asking. Treat any big-ticket item like you’re buying a car and negotiate.
Congratulations on the new computer. Thanks for the advice on asking for a discount. I guess it never hurts to use the “I’m a senior citizen living on my Social Security” these days. I hope the new computer lasts a long time for you.
Thanks, Terri. I think it will. The only “downgrade” from my old computer is it’s not a touchscreen, but I almost never use the touchscreen feature anyway. Absolutely everything else is an upgrade. I spent the extra to get the premium plus plan so I’m even covered if – God forbid – I were to do something stupid as I did a few years back and dump something on it.
And absolutely ask for a discount. Someone else told me to do that a while back and I figured why not give it a shot? It paid off. $70 is a week’s groceries for us!
I wholeheartedly agree about Dell. I love me some Dell puter action. I have a 10 year old laptop that is still doing it’s job, granted at a decade old speed, but very reliably. I could upgrade but not at the moment needed. Laser printer also Dell and also years old and still very reliable. My desktop is a refurbished Dell and future machines will be Dell. Congrats on your new friend! I too have had the pleasure of contacting Dell and getting the things asked for or good tech support. All around huzzah!
We have a cheaper laser printer – an HP – but it’s been pretty good too, thank goodness.
I love Lenovo keyboards for writing, which is kind of a big deal for me. But to find comparable technical specs for ANY other brand meant double the price or more. I was floored to find Dell had what I wanted for as low as it was.
Next time I order a new ‘puter this version will probably be in the bargain bin, and there will be something else. But in the meantime, I’m looking forward to one sweet machine. Now the hard part is waiting for delivery, lol.