building a new computer, first timer needs help

[obama]

i found this and found this very cheap for its specs. am i missing something? i thought building your own would be cheaper.

Costco - Dell XPS 8300 Desktop Core i7-2600 3.4GHz Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010

[ZacUAX]

It's a good deal, but it's the rebate that gets you. It's $999 -after- the rebate. So you're paying 1500 up front (tax included) then hoping you're gonna get 400 dollars off with a rebate.

[obama]

hoping for the rebate? dont i just get the money back...?

[ZacUAX]

Like I said, hopefully. I could tell you some horror stories with rebates. They're nasty little buggers.

[Greg0u812]

I didn't see if it was a mail in rebate or an instant rebate.

If it is instant..........no problem.



If it is mail in............you may have to make quite a few follow up phone calls and/or emails to find out where your money is.

Companies that offer mail in rebates are notorious about not sending out a rebate check until they are hassled about it for a while.
A large amount of people will buy something because of the offered rebate. They will send the form in and then forget about it after a couple months.
Companies count on this. It is just another way of making more money off of the consumers.
They figure that if you bug them a couple times and then forget about it..........they still make the money that you have just lost.
If you keep hassling them about it then they eventually will send a check to you.

I have had to do this quite a few times.


Again, if it is not an instant rebate, I would count on a MINIMUM of 12 weeks before seeing ANY kind of reply.
Quite a few of the ones I have dealt with say you will receive a check in eight to twelve weeks (they are counting on you forgetting about it in three months time). I start calling on the twelfth week and call at least twice a week until I have received a check from them.
Are you able to go four or five months without that $400?


I am all about rebates. I have no problem with them. I also understand EXACTLY how the mail in crap works. I push them on it and have never had a problem with EVENTUALLY getting my money. Sometimes are harder than others.

[kpearwut]

it's very easy. just follow some step-by-step image tutorial. the process wil nearly be the same.