lucis

Every quarter, Dell pulls a nasty trick on its stock holders. In order to increase their quarter revenues and look good to the investors, they sell thousands of computers at a HUGE discount. A bulk of this discount is generally in the form of a Mail-in-Rebate (so the rebate comes out of the next quarter’s revenues). These discounts work on different levels, but more often than not they are in the form of coupons that “people in the know” post on various deal websites. At other times it is a “secret link” that lets you get a computer for much cheaper (again, this link is posted by someone on one of the many deal forums). The end result: the stock holders are happy, customers are happy, dell is happy, and we have world peace!

I have got several good deals thanks to these quarterly dumping of computers. The latest was a 2.8GHZ HT enabled P4 computer, with the Intel 875 motherboard, a 80GB hard drive, 128MB RAM, and a CDROM for the sum of about $150, including tax and shipping. The CPU itself would cost you around $180 on newegg. And what tops it all is the case. It has an innovative Dell single fan cooling design. The result is that the computer is ultra quiet (well atleast it was before I loaded it up with my noisy hard drives and graphics card). I was initially concerned about the punny 250W power supply, but it has held up very well inspite of all the load I am putting on it! Very impressive.

For more information about the now famous Dell 400SC, see the unofficial Dell 400SC FAQ.

A laptop for $900 with three year complete care, warranty, and what not. A 200GB hard drive for $20. A great desktop for $150. Keep it coming, Dell!