So I'm ready to buy a Dell Vostro 1700. Do I just go to Dell.com and configure it and buy it or do I need special coupons fron somewhere or something else.

I just want to get the best price.

Also: Why is it that I can configure the same computer by choosing Standard, Smart, or performance as the base and get 3 different final prices. Do they just think we're stupid?

You can order online or by calling. Online is usually the easiest. If you want to save some money, go onto google and type in "Dell coupons". You can find some for really good deals, just watch the expiration date on them.

As far as the configurations, they offer different things on each choice. They end up sacrificing somethings that cost you more in the end. Usually configuring the lowest end, ends up being cheaper.

In this case, configuring the lowest price is not the best.

Interesting. Experiment with the different options then and choose the one that gives you the best end result. Like I said before, search google for coupons to save even more.

Is there any specific websites that offer valid coupons on the vostro on a regular basis. I hat sifting through the junky websites with garbage coupons.

Yeah, try dealcatcher.com. Here's a link to the Small Business coupon page: http://www.dealcatcher.com/dell-sb-coupons I know I saw at least one deal for the 1700.

Also you can go to Dells website and navigate to Dell Outlet where dell sells there refurb/scratch&dent/Returned units. Now I typically would never recomend refurb anything, but I have done much research on this (I wanted a vostro 1500). The dell branded vostro and the new inspirons (1X20s) were released around three months ago (july, augest? I can't remember) and so they are recent products and the refurb couldn't have had too many issues. Its true that you can find some deals cheaper in the Business section then the same product (if aplicable) in Home, and Home business. But there are great deals in the refurb if you check it at right times. It changes around every 15 mins due to high demand. On a personal note I purchased the Dell 1500 -C2D T7500, Vista Ultimate, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, DVD Burner, WSXGA+ True life, NviDia8600GT and Wireless b/g/n card ~~1500 after tax/shipping/warranty (the warranty was the 3 year + 3year complete care and is included in the total, I believe it was 360$ for just the warranty). 1500$ for a notebook is almost unbelievable, and I love mine. Check it out, also keep an eye out for the coupons as mentioned earlier.

If the owner of the thread doesn't check out this deal I doubt that it is going to be there for long, I found a Vostro 1700 in the Dell Outlet (scratch and Dent) for less then a grand with almost identical stats. http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlin [...] 1700&s=dfb
Its stats are:
Vostro 1700
Intel Core 2 Duo - 22GHz (T7500)
Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
160 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
3 GB DDR2 RAM
DVD/RW
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
Intel 4965 802.11a/g/n Dual-Band Mini Card
for $989.00

Like I said before, it will probably be gone by the time you read this (thats how high the demand is) but I used this as an example of what you can find in Dell Outlet.[/quotemsg]

*I previously posted this vostro in another thread but thought that it would go well here too.