Laptops are almost a necessity in today’s society. It doesn’t help that a laptop that can actually increase your work productivity will put at least a $1,500 dent in your wallet. I’m sure you have searched around to try to find factory direct deals, or (shiver) even looked at used laptops, but that isn’t the way to go. You need something that actually has a warranty, and good performance, but at the same time, doesn’t require you to sell a kidney. This can cause quite a dilemma, as it can take some people months or years to save up for even the worst computer.
Well, if you are a computer gamer, or just an enthusiast, you have probably heard of Alienware. They are most expensive, the most gorgeous, and above all else, the most powerful gaming laptops in the universe (no, people… having 3 hard drives doesn’t make Sager better). The drawback of these beasts are the steep prices. To get the specifications maxed out Alienware, it will run you back 5 to 6 grand. This is the power that you get to play with:
* Screen: 18.4″ 1080p WLED
* Processor: Intel Core i7 2960XM 2.7GHz (3.7GHz with Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)
* Memory: 32GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)
* GPU: Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon 6990m (4GB)
* Storage: Up to 512GB Solid State Drive SATA hard drive
* Misc: SATA3, USB 3.0, HDMI input, 4 year warranty and more
* Total: $6,949.00
This is a force to be reckoned with. However, the toll for this gorgeous piece of hardware will do some damage to your wallet. What if it doesn’t have to, though? What if I told you, that with some clever shopping, and some hardcore social engineering, I got this laptop down to $2,000? No joke. In today’s Null Byte, I am going to show you exactly what it takes to get the most out of your money from Alienware. I’m going to sleuth around and get the best price on parts and then finish off with some social engineering to lower my price even more. This isn’t just for Alienware, though. These methods are applicable to all things expensive. Pay close attention, this could save you enough money to buy a car.
Social engineering is a natural-born talent for some people. Convincing someone to trust you, and playing on human emotion can really save your skin when it comes to big spending. I’ve used it to my advantage more than I can remember when it comes to purchasing things.
Step 1 Prepare for Battle
Before we begin, we should shop around for upgraded parts and see if we can get them cheaper elsewhere. This will put a good dent in the preliminary price on our order, making minimal to no sacrifice in regards to performance. Upon looking around, here is the modified list that we can come up with:
* Screen: 18.4″ 1080p WLED
* Processor: Intel Core i7 2860QM 2.5GHz (3.6GHz with Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache). I swapped this out to the 2860QM because it costs half as much and can be easily overclocked to be faster than the 2960XM, while maintaining a 8MB cache size. Clearly a better option.
* Memory: 16GB Kingston HyperX PnP Triple Channel DDR3 at 1866MHz (4DIMMS). I chose to order RAM from someone other than Alienware and “downgraded” from 32GB of 1333MHz to 16GB of Triple channel memory clocked at 1866MHz. This upgrade is much faster, and can be overclocked to 2000MHz, easily. Almost a 100% speed increase is achieved while we also save $1,780.00. This means that we also get 4GB of RAM for free with the laptop because it comes with it, stock. Sell it.
* GPU: Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon 6990m (4GB). Stick with the dual AMDs—they are faster than the nVidia 580m cards and are a lot cheaper. Option seems pretty clear to me.
* Storage: 256GB OCZ SATAIII SSD R/W 500/MBs. This drive is faster than any of the drives offered through Alienware. I chose only one because an SSD larger than this, for now, is pretty ridiculous. The Alienware will still come with a 500GB HDD, which can be used for storage, so you can keep the OS and your games on the SSD to increase performance greatly.
* Warranty: 1 year advanced warranty. I upgraded to the 1 year advanced plan to cover accidental damages. A lot of people do not know this, but a few months before your warranty runs out, you can call the factory and pay to have the warranty extended. Why pay for it now if we don’t have to?
* New Preliminary Total: $2,860 on the Alienware. $3,380 is our new grand total, with extra parts included. We have already saved more than 50% for a rig that outperforms what we would have had.
Source:http://www.businessinsider.com/the-social-engineers-guide-to-buying-an-expensive-laptop-2011-11
