I’ve been looking at potentially buying a Dell Inspiron Mini 9. It’s currently retailing at £279. As I’m sure you’re aware, the “Nettop” market is pretty crowded with everyome bringing out their own version. They generally tend to range between £200 – £300 with those with bigger screens, batteries and hard drives on the higher end. The Dell one, however, doesn’t have any of these, yet is in that upper range.

But that’s fine, Dell are well known for their ability to haggle a good price with a customer who, after all, is interested in buying. So I use their online chat and get… nowhere. Not interested in any discount.

So I ring. After putting me on hold they go away and come back with a price – but only if I buy today – of £273. Yes, £6 cheaper. And that’s all they’ll do.

Rubbish.

And their website is slow.

So I’m now looking at the cheaper alternatives elsewhere…

Update: the same laptop was £253 before Christmas

Update, 22nd January: The original “£20 off” offer finished yesterday so I was keen to see if Dell has replaced it with anything better. They’ve been banging their drum on their website about how we should buy before the 21st to ensure we get this great saving. Well, they’ve now replaced it with, erm, a “£20 off” offer for the next week.