back to article Dell online store charges 16 million dollars for new laptop with paint job

If you have a spare £12m (US$16m) to hand, a kind Register reader let us know that Dell has just the laptop for you. Said laptop is an Inspiron 15 3000, a machine that packs an 11th-gen Intel Core i5 at 4.2GHz, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, Chipzilla's Iris graphics chipset, and a 256GB SSD. There’s also a 15.6-inch FHD screen at 1920 x …

  1. cookieMonster Silver badge

    Probably because the pigment

    was supplied by HP Ink

    1. JimboSmith Silver badge

      Re: Probably because the pigment

      This is very remininscent of the slaughtering the papers (usually in at least the Daily Mail) give airlines (usually BA) in the aftermath of or before a hurricane hits a particular area. The artices (with suitably red rag to a bull headlines) explain the prices for air fares have been increased massively in the wake of/in advance this incident. It will mention price gouging and how families are now forced to pay many thousands of pounds to get home after their insurance doesn't cover it.

      What it ignores is the fact that the airlines are normally actively trying to get people home. They have to have the fares/seats in the system to allow agents to book stranded passengers onto these flights. They price the fares so high to try and prevent other travellers from booking them. Such as foreign nationals who aren't in such great need for the flight, maybe booking a last minute long weekend to London for example. At other times it's just down to the fact that all the seriously discounted inflexible tickets have been sold. Therefore the remaining ones are totally flexible, open tickets and xost a lot more as a result.

      Still why let the facts get in the way of an article.

      1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
        WTF?

        Re: Probably because the pigment

        Sorry, so you’re saying it's 12M quid more expensive for this laptop, because hurricanes? I'll have some of what you're smoking.

        1. logicalextreme

          Re: Probably because the pigment

          You misunderstand. The £12m is the cost of nuking the hurricane so that it doesn't interrupt the shipment of the pigment.

        2. JimboSmith Silver badge

          Re: Probably because the pigment

          And this is where it pays for me to to proof read before posting....

          What it should have said was

          Therefore the remaining ones are totally flexible, open tickets and cost a lot more as a result.

          Still why let the facts get in the way of an article.

          I don't think Dell can use that explanation here though.

      2. Cynic_999

        Re: Probably because the pigment

        Ah. So Dell are supplying people who are in desperate need of a green laptop, and so don't want sales from ordinary customers to deplete their stock.

        Makes so much more sense now. You just need to further explain why the wrong colour of laptop would place anyone in a life-threatening position.

        1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

          Re: Probably because the pigment

          Using a loudly patterned laptop in a built up area at night?

          1. Stumpy

            Re: Probably because the pigment

            Is that a Mr. Winston Cudoogo, of 55 Mercer Road then Savage?

      3. JDPower Bronze badge

        Re: Probably because the pigment

        I'm presuming your predictive text replaced "not at all reminiscent" with "very reminiscent".

      4. Tomato Krill

        Re: Probably because the pigment

        “ They price the fares so high to try and prevent other travellers from booking them. Such as foreign nationals who aren't in such great need for the flight, maybe booking a last minute long weekend to London for example.”

        Are there a lot of people casually booking weekends away from (and therefore immediately back to) an area impacted by hurricanes?

        And if you’re honestly of the belief that the relational is to prevent use of the capacity by customers leaving the area for the ‘wrong’ reason the I have a bridge to sell you!

      5. David Nash Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: Probably because the pigment

        Airline prices go up in times of great demand because they are being helpful? I'm sure the stranded passengers you mention are so grateful that the prices just tripled to enable them to get home!

        No, the only reason prices go up in times of great demand is because they can get away with it.

  2. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Coat

    But look on the bright side

    It's reduced! Buy now and save twenty quid!

    The one with the deep pockets: --->

    1. David 132 Silver badge

      Re: But look on the bright side

      The more you buy, the more you save!!one!

    2. Chris G

      Re: But look on the bright side

      And don't forget, they are offering Free Delivery.

      Paying a little extra for a customised machine is normal isn't it?

      1. Tomato Krill

        Re: But look on the bright side

        Yes but I’m this case the ‘little extra’ component appears to be for the machine itself

    3. N2
      Facepalm

      Re: But look on the bright side

      Free delivery too!

  3. Binraider Silver badge

    I said this the last time the Dell website got reported on. At this point, I regard this as a deliberate marketing tactic to get folks that read pages like this to take a look.

  4. Sgt_Oddball
    Coat

    That sounds like...

    An artist I follow on bandcamp, he's recently put up some demo songs for £999 with the explicit intention of people not buy it.

    So I do wonder if HDell just don't want to bother with the paint colour? Or they've only got a couple of cans so charging a silly amount so they don't use the last of it.

    Mines the one with the company card to charge it on expenses....

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: That sounds like...

      Yeah, pricing something at £10,000 was once done on auction sites to dodge the palavar that ensued from marking something 'out of stock'. Not sure this applies to Dell's own site, though.

      1. John Riddoch

        Re: That sounds like...

        I'd heard people doing it on Amazon too. If they remove the listing because it's out of stock, it affect their seller rating or summat, so they hike the price up and hope no-one's desperate enough to pay it. Once it's back in stock, they fix the price and because it's not a "new" listing, they still have their ratings in the searches etc.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: That sounds like...

          Some sellers manage multiple listings for the same product. They price low to win the business on the first order. Then they put the price up. They catch a windfall on any re-orders.

  5. Efer Brick

    For UK Gov

    So it's probably "Covid proof"

  6. TimMaher Silver badge
    Coat

    Pure Gold

    Blackadder: “Percy, it’s green”.

    Coat because of the colour.———————->

  7. Rich 2 Silver badge

    The Brexit Effect

    And we were promised prices wouldn't increase!

    Bloody politicians

  8. aks

    Pedant Alert

    <pedant>

    £12,000,558.98 includes VAT

    That converts to £10,000,465.80 without VAT

    £10,000,465.80 in USD is $13,288,618.96, which would attract local sales tax.

    I assume the correct price would be £465.80 without VAT and £558.96 for those of you who need to pay it.

    </pedant>

  9. Chris 216
    Coat

    BoE identifies inflation spike shocker

    UK inflation rate jumps by 0.2% - Dell laptop in "soft mint" to blame.

  10. H in The Hague
    Pint

    Windows screen capture

    "So we pressed Windows 10’s built-in video screen-capture software into service with a swift Win-Alt-R ..."

    Thanks for the tip! Wasn't aware of that feature as it's related to the Gaming settings.

    Here's one as a thank-you -->

    1. Kubla Cant

      Re: Windows screen capture

      Just tried Win-Alt-R and got a message "Recording isn't working/Press [Win]+G for XBox Game Bar". I have not got, and do not want, an XBox.

      I've only just noticed that my keyboard no longer has PrtScr - the print screen key that doesn't*, or Scroll Lock, another non-Ronseal key.

      * Yes, I know it does screen shots

      1. John H Woods Silver badge

        Re: Windows screen capture

        Win + Shift + S for Snip and Sketch isn't it?

        1. logicalextreme

          Re: Windows screen capture

          Careful, mine's taken to freezing the display and necessitating a hard power-off.

          1. Tomato Krill

            Re: Windows screen capture

            Sounds like a screenshot :-)

      2. H in The Hague

        Re: Windows screen capture

        "I have not got, and do not want, an XBox."

        Neither have I, but you don't need it. I get the impression the screen recording feature was designed to record gaming sessions. But it will also record other screen action (but apparently not in all programs). Tried it this morning and it happily recorded me jumping between Firefox tabs, etc.

        You can enable it in Settings - Gaming - Record .... On. There are keyboard shortcuts to start and stop recording. You can select the directory for storing the MP4s in Settings - Gaming - Captures.

        See https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-to-capture-video-clips-in-windows-10

    2. FlamingDeath Silver badge

      Re: Windows screen capture

      Or just use OBS, because it works

  11. Colonel Mad

    Soft Mint Wednesday

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Some would say

    Still cheaper than an Apple

    1. Cynic_999

      Re: Some would say

      You are shopping at the wrong greengrocer. The last apple I bought was available in green and red and cost me 50p, though it had a single core (with a capacity of 8 pips).

      1. AndyMTB

        Re: Some would say

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii0PNk4DjQs

        The Two Ronnies, any excuse to re-watch!

        And how do I make links clickable?

        1. FlamingDeath Silver badge

          Re: Some would say

          Using “a href“ tag

          adding “_blank” as target so it opens as a new tab, is courteous

          1. Roland6 Silver badge

            Re: Some would say

            Useful HTML reference:

            The a target attribute

            Worth bookmarking the website.

        2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
          Thumb Up

          Re: Some would say

          Thanks for that. Very good, even my non-techy wife was laughing and got most of the jokes :-)

        3. Jamie Jones Silver badge

          Re: Some would say

          It's only one Ronnie! (and Harry Enfield)

      2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: Some would say

        50p for an apple? You must be living "down the smoke" or buying those fancy schmancy ones! You can get a bag of Braeburns for 50p 'round here. Or maybe a quid.

  13. andy 103
    Joke

    TCO

    Well, the total cost of ownership of Dell hardware has always been a bit absurd.

    Either you get lucky and it's very good value, or it's absolutely shite hardware and you may as well piss your money down the grid.

    It seems all they're doing here is making the latter an explicit option.

    Joke icon. But also sort of not a joke.

    1. Smirnov

      Re: the total cost of ownership of Dell hardware has always been a bit absurd

      Dell has always been on the cheap side (quality-wise). There's a saying that Dell is business class and HP is enterprise class. Which is certainly true.

      1. keith_w

        Re: the total cost of ownership of Dell hardware has always been a bit absurd

        Having used both, I would much rather have a Dell than an HP. The new HP I bought after I "loaned" my son my older Dell (bought used) has a keyboard that triggers cursor jumps all over the screen. I have to touch-type so I can monitor where the cursor is and where it is inserting the text. Since I only use when away from my workplace, hauling a plug in KB with it is not really a viable option.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. AMBxx Silver badge

        Re: the total cost of ownership of Dell hardware has always been a bit absurd

        I have a cheap Dell laptop (£150) it's very cheap and tacky, but better than expected.

        I have an expensive Dell laptop (£1200). It's very, very well made and a pleasure to use.

        Get what you pay for.

        Their monitors are exceptional too. Last time I checked, they were the only manufacturer to guarantee no dead pixels (no idea if that has changed).

        Worst thing about Dell is their claim of next day shipping - it may be coming from China on a slow boat!

    2. JDPower Bronze badge

      Re: TCO

      As the owner of still functioning 15 and 7 year old Dell laptops, I personally think that only applies to their budget consumer level. Business and mid to upper level stuff tends to be pretty solid in my experience.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: TCO

        Thinkpad (400 series) or death

      2. Clunking Fist

        Re: TCO

        I'm still using an i5 4GB XPS 12 hand-me-down, with 2 external 1920x1200 Dell monitors using a generic USB3 docking station. I doubt it is any good for gaming, but perfect for spreadsheeting and a bit of browsing.

    3. Terry 6 Silver badge

      Re: TCO

      Not joke. My desktop Dell has been brilliant from word go. Admittedly upgraded a few bit, but it's years old and still running well.

      Laptop, no. Was surprisingly slow when new (i7). SSD wasn't really big enough and then failed just out of warranty. I replaced it with a nice new bigger Samsung SSD and mysteriously the whole bloody computer is now much more responsive.

  14. David Lawton

    Soft Mint colour option? If you ever wanted more evidence of who really shapes and leads the whole IT Industry, love them or hate them its Apple.

    1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge
      Gimp

      Well that would explain the pricing then.

  15. N2
    Mushroom

    Must be for

    Some of Johnsons mates, they can afford it after all the wonga theyve sluiced.

    Let me guess, they return it for a refund, then claim back the VAT as well?

    Icon, delivered to Westminster, so we can start over!

  16. Platelet

    Black Friday

    Will show an impressive discount come the sales

    1. Terry 6 Silver badge

      Re: Black Friday

      And that's only half a joke. See PCworld/Curry's (or whatever they call themselves these days). Where - if your read the label's small print-"Sale" items were available at the quoted higher price for three weeks, last season, at one store in the arse end of a small town on a remote island (subject to availability)..

  17. ForthIsNotDead
    Trollface

    There is no truth in the rumour...

    ...that swathes of disaffected Apple customers are queuing up around the block to buy one.

  18. jelabarre59

    Pile

    Wow, 16mil for a Dell computer? That's one expensive pile of shit...

  19. waldo kitty
    Paris Hilton

    Black is your only real option

    FWIW: when i looked just a few minutes ago, black was the only choice... looks like they solved the problem by simply removing the other color option... i did just close their notice box asking me if i wanted to switch to the North America site so they might have switched me anyway...

    kinda reminds me of an old quote...

    "You can have your FORD any color you like as long as it is black." - Henry Ford

    [time passes]

    just checked the link again... i'm not getting the server switch dialog any more but the top right corner does say GBR which i guess is for Great BRitain...

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Just a simple misprint -

    it was supposed to read "Soft Mink", thus explaining the eye-watering price tag.

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Technical Debt

    Decades ago I worked at a large organization whose primary PC vendor then was Dell. The equipment (business-class desktops and laptops) was pretty good, but some of their internal IT systems were not.

    The software they used (developed in-house?) let a big customer create its own set of approved configs available to that customer. The software would randomly change some prices and available options on our custom page. For the half-year up until I and many other techs at my company were "right-sized", my first daily task was to check our custom web page, make note of what was wrong, then phone our Dell internal contact (whose computer access let her alter those custom web pages), and she would cheerfully fix the errors I'd found. Rinse-and-repeat every bloody day. I brought up this issue with our sales rep, and his response was effectively to not expect the problem to be fixed soon, due to internal Dell politics.

    I ~suspect~ they rushed the software system into production, and yet dared not take the system down for maintenance, and/or dared not change the software for fear it would break and cost them big dollars in lost orders, i.e., large customers such as ourselves being unable to order computers while the system was down.

    It appears that those problems are now leaking out into the universally-accessible Dell shopping-cart web pages.

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