Dell's current business outlet sale

[bp2008]

http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/28/campaigns/dell-coupons-codes-us-outlet-new

Right now they have coupon codes for
* 37% off Optiplex 3000 series desktop priced $500 and up
* 40% off Optiplex 7000 series desktop

Which results in roughly $333 i5 systems and $485 i7-6700 systems before tax. Deals vary along with stock, but these percentage discounts currently available are among the highest I've seen lately and are valid until Sept 6th (2016).

Similar prices can be found most of the time on ebay, but direct from dell you get a fresh 3 year in-home warranty.

Current best coupons available are:
* 30% off Dell Outlet OptiPlex desktop
* $300 on any Dell Outlet OptiPlex 7000 series desktop or All-in-One priced over $750.

The second one results in about 36-39% off if you happen to like one of the machines priced just over $750... I was able to find a Small Form Factor machine with 8GB RAM and a 256GB NVMe SSD (which typically attaches directly to the motherboard, leaving the 3.5 inch hard drive bay free for a big storage drive!) priced at $779, and after coupon and tax it would be $502. This is comparable with usual ebay prices, except coming direct from dell you get the freshest/longest warranty so it is a slightly better deal.

 

[bp2008]

Updated OP for current coupons...

 

[kwijibo]

FYI there's a 30% off OptiPlex coupon active right now through 12/13/16 at 11:59 p.m. E.T.

 

[bp2008]

I check the outlet sale regularly to keep up to date on what you can get for what price, but I haven't seen anything really good since before black friday. Right now the best i7 deal is $489 (plus sales tax = $510+) which makes it only comparable to ebay prices you can find any day of the week. The best deals are about $90 lower.

I never see i5 deals that can beat ebay prices, although I rarely see a good warranty on i5 systems from ebay either.

 

[kwijibo]

Thanks bp2008, that helps. I was wondering about that myself, i.e. whether the current pricing is a good deal or not.

What are your thoughts on a better coupon/deal showing up by 12/31/16? The other factor in consideration for me is that Amex has a promotion (if you had signed up for it before all offers were claimed) for $100 back on Dell.com purchases $300 and more, through 12/31/16.

 

[bp2008]

You might want to check that the Amex promotion works for dell outlet purchases too.

Anyway I'd say close to 50% of the time there is a good coupon code for Optiplex purchases, but it is fairly rare to actually find a great price on them because folks buy them up fast. I wouldn't bet on there being many better deals before the end of the year, particularly as this is the holiday season and they're probably selling pretty fast right now.

As one weekly deals listing ends, another begins. Sometimes the discounts are better. Sometimes they are worse. Sometimes they don't even apply to Optiplex desktops.

 

[bp2008]

Still, right now a ~$500 i7-6700 from dell outlet is not too great( unless you're getting a big discount from Amex). You can get deals like that on ebay any day of the week.

1 year warranty from ebay seller:

$460: HP Pavilion 550-177C Desktop i7-6700 12GB 1TB Windows 10 | eBay

These 3 with dell warranties until July 2019:

$500: DELL Optiplex 3040 SFF i7-6700 8GB RAM 500GB Windows 10 Professional Warranty | eBay
$510: Dell OptiPlex 5040 SFF i7-6700 6th Gen 8GB 500GB desktop W10 PRO DVD-RW 3Y warty | eBay
$520: DELL Optiplex 3040 SFF i7-6700 8GB RAM 1TB Windows 10 Professional 3-Yr Warranty | eBay

The best i7 deal I ever saw on dell outlet was I believe an i7-6700 with 4GB ram, SFF (small form factor) case, not sure of HDD size, Win10 Pro, $400 before tax. Usually they are more like $450 for those specs and sometimes the lower priced ones have Win10 Home.

 

[kwijibo]

Yes, it does work on Dell Outlet as the charge still posts as Dell.com. It's also nice that Dell allows us to split the charge on more than one card (if you have more than one Amex with the Dell offer activated).

I snagged an OptiPlex 7040 MT i7-6700 with 16 GB RAM, 1 TB HD for $635 shipped, so $435 after 2x Amex, but was trying to gauge that against the deals you pros who regularly buy these get.

 

[bp2008]

Not bad at all (thanks to your additional discounts). It helps having that much RAM included because that way you won't be tempted to add RAM that won't be under warranty. Plus because it is a Mini Tower you can add a larger hard drive without having to remove the existing one.

 

[kwijibo]

Thanks; yeah, I was trying to optimize it to just about $600 after coupon to maximize both Amex credits. Figured I could easily add a cheap SSD myself. Other extras include Win10 Pro and a Wi-Fi card (not that it'll be used since this will be hooked up to the cameras' PoE switch)

Probably doesn't matter much, but one difference I noticed between the previous gen OptiPlex (x020) and current (x040) is that the 7040 has DDR4.

 

[bp2008]

DDR3 and DDR4 aren't all that different in real world speed. Only compatibility

 

[ldasilva]

what size hard drives are you guys using with those type of cases? and how many 3.5's can you put in it + any room for ssd?

 

[bp2008]

Looking at specs, I believe the current Optiplex X040 series supports only one 3.5 disk in the mini tower and small form factor cases. Mini tower additionally has two 2.5 bays (for SSDs or laptop-size HDDs). Though I believe you could safely tape an SSD inside a small form factor case as well I believe.

Just to complicate things, I think the older Optiplex mini towers have two 3.5 disk bays. It is best to google for official specs before you buy anything of course.

 

[looney2ns]

What is the main difference between the 3040 and the 5040 series?

Anyone know the power usage difference between the I5-6500 and the I7-6700?
Thanks.

 

[bp2008]

I have no idea what the difference between 3040 an 5040 is. i5-6500 and i7-6700 have the same specced "65 watt" maximum power consumption, however I couldn't find a published comparison of real world power consumption. It would make sense if the i5 used less energy given that it does less work, but for all I know it could be the other way around due to the i7 maybe getting the same work done in less time.

 

[fenderman]

I have not done any thorough testing but at idle the are more or less the same, I would expect the same under similar loads.