Shopping for a new computer? Considering a Dell? Pretend you’re a small business — they have the best prices and allow you to un-check crap such as AOL. It’s simple (just click “Small Business” on the home page) and nobody checks. I thought this approach was common, but B didn’t know it, and now Slashdot is running it as news:

Infoworld’s “Notes From The Field” column this week includes a comment from a reader who found that Dell listed several different prices for the same part. Intrigued, I grabbed the first part number I found (a 512MB memory module #A0193405) and found that the list price is $289.99 which the price offered to “large businesses”. Meanwhile, the GSA/DOD contract price is $266.21 while “home users” find the list-price discounted to $275.49 and “small businesses” fare even better with a $246.49 price. InfoWorld contacted Dell who responded, “Each segment sets its own pricing, and consumers are free to pick the one that�s cheapest.”

I also recommend you look at the Dell SMB unit’s “Outrageous Deals” section, where you can pick up a pretty good computer for under $500, including 2 year on-site service.

For what it’s worth, I have a real love-hate relationship with Dell. I’ve personally been involved in the purchase of at least 13 of them, including 3 which act as my personal machines. They’re a good value, but if I had real dough I’d still go upmarket.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 7th, 2005 at 11:35 pm and is filed under Geekery.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.