Time for a new laptop

[APoc184]

They'll probably deliver to your door, so you wont have to go pick it up..

No. My verified Paypal address is my PO Box. They will send it there and I will just pop in twice a day with the tracking number to see if it is there.

I'm looking for an i7 model, but most of the sellers don't ship to ZA. I sent the sellers messages but only 1 replied asking if I have a verified paypal address, the rest haven't replied and it has been several days..

Yeah that is the fun and adventure that is called Ebay. Some don't have the decency to reply. But if you ask enough sellers you will get someone willing to help you out.
If I can give you some advice. Get that address verified and get a verified Paypal account. Protects you as the buyer and it also protects the seller. That is why Power Sellers on Ebay will only except Paypal as payment method.

 

[3Gee]

Walked into Dion Wired store this morning and was surprised to see they have the exact same Dell XPS 15 I just ordered on "Special"

Salesman, as they always are, was adamant that this is the best price I'm going to get it at for some time to come.
Told him that I just ordered and bought one for R7000.00. He said that I was mistaken and that I probably ordered the Dell Studio because the XPS cost price is R12'000 and they are not really making a lot of money on this "Special".
I laughed, turned up the volume on the JBL speakers(awesome sound by the way) and continued watching a pirate copy of A-Team on their laptop.

Is there any warranty on yr laptop that you ordered , if yes , can it be extended locally ???

 

[mh348]

No. My verified Paypal address is my PO Box. They will send it there and I will just pop in twice a day with the tracking number to see if it is there.



Yeah that is the fun and adventure that is called Ebay. Some don't have the decency to reply. But if you ask enough sellers you will get someone willing to help you out.
If I can give you some advice. Get that address verified and get a verified Paypal account. Protects you as the buyer and it also protects the seller. That is why Power Sellers on Ebay will only except Paypal as payment method.

Thanks..My paypal address is verified.. I'll probably just have to try more sellers and see if they are willing to ship top ZA.

 

[APoc184]

Is there any warranty on yr laptop that you ordered , if yes , can it be extended locally ???

It comes with a 1 year warranty. No clue if can be extended.

Thanks..My paypal address is verified.. I'll probably just have to try more sellers and see if they are willing to ship top ZA.

You will get somebody willing to help you. Problem is there are a lot less sellers selling Dell XPS 15 laptops then there are when I bought the HP and Sony. So it was easier to find a seller willing to ship globally.

 

[APoc184]

Very impressed with Fedex.

Parcel landed this afternoon and was processed after which I received a call from Dumisani. Told me that the package just went through customs and that it was cleared without any hassles and the only thing remaining now before they can ship it to me is payment of VAT and clearance fees.

We completed some basic security checks after which he told me that he will email me the Invoice including banking details. Few seconds after hanging up I received the email containing the Invoice and all the contact details for Fedex at OR Tambo.

I proceeded to pay the R1034.67 which included VAT of about R850 and the rest was made up by clearing/customs/courier fees.

Mailed Dumisani back with the proof of payment and asked him if they will be willing to change the shipping address from my Po Box to my work address(which is exactly 100m apart anyway). Dumisani responded and said now problem, they will gladly courier to my door and I must just produce my ID and Paypal linked Credit Card on delivery.

Hoping really hard that my payment reflects on their statement tomorrow morning, otherwise they will only ship on Thursday morning.

 

[fredeb]

Consider the Asus range of notebooks as well.
For a little over R8K you can get a Asus K53SJ Intel Core i5 2410QM 2.3GHz 15.6'' 4GB 500GB HDD nVidia GeForce GT 520M.
This is Sandy Bridge i5 2.3GHz (with revised SATA controller fix), 1366x768 LED screen and a nice amount of RAM.

I've always been a big fan of Dell but with Asus's build quality and price/performance ratio they are a force to contend with.

We're expecting these units to arrive on Friday 11/03/11.

Oooooh this definitely seems like the one to go for . I like the Dell build quality - but getting drivers from their site is a pain in the butt .

 

[za1]

Thanks..My paypal address is verified.. I'll probably just have to try more sellers and see if they are willing to ship top ZA.

not a chance, paypal only verify usa addresses. you might be verified as a user, but your SA address, nope.

What is a confirmed address?
Question :
Answer :
A confirmed address means that the buyer's credit card billing and shipping address are the same. In general, we cannot confirm most addresses outside the U.S. at this time.

If your seller requires a confirmed shipping address, we suggest you contact them directly. Sellers may deliver to an unconfirmed address, but they are responsible for any buyer-initiated disputes.

 

[dread]

well when i got my xps in the UK - they transfered the warranty to SA and I was able to extend it as well - and the other great thing was they came and fixed the laptop in my home ! I was very impressed with the service

 

[mh348]

not a chance, paypal only verify usa addresses. you might be verified as a user, but your SA address, nope.

I didn't realise that, the last time I logged into my paypal account, it showed that my account was verified, I just assumed that my address is also verified..

 

[LoneGunman]

I can't find a linky for it now, (EDIT: http://consumerist.com/2011/03/does-visa-have-the-paypal-killing-card-in-its-wallet.html )but saw some news item in the US suggesting that VISA were going to allow transfer of bucks from credit/debit cards to other debit/credit cards - basically do much the same as Paypal does. I'd imagine when this happens, the rules are going to change a little - and maybe SA folks can start buying from US suppliers a lot more easily.
Also read this followup article re scammers - also from Consumerist: http://consumerist.com/2011/03/visa-will-let-people-send-each-other-money-by-credit-card.html

 

[APoc184]

It would be great if we can start buying from guys like Newegg.com

Sorry for the delay in feedback on the laptop. Was busy setting everything up and installing all the regular programs and copying media over from the old HDD.

The thing is a monster compared to my previous Sony and HP.

I am very happy with the purchase.

Positives:
Great screen.
Super fast. Even when multi-tasking heavily.
Battery life is good. (But not great)
Laptop does not get hot at all. Used it on my lap for most of Sunday and if it was the Sony I would have been in hospital for 3rd degree burns now.
The sound on this machine is out of this world. Really awesome and so clear even on 100% volume. However, I can not set the volume higher than 50% without getting the look from the wife.
The price I paid for it is great when compared to SA prices. All in all it cost me R7300.00 to get delivered to my door in 6 days.

Negatives: (Fickle stuff really)
Slightly heavier and more bulky than my previous laptops.
Screen is great but is Glossy which means it might get difficult to view in bright surroundings.
The power cords on the charger are much shorter than I'm used to. Might become a problem later where media rooms only have limited power sources which are far apart.

Any questions or tests you want me to do? Will do and post here for you.

 

[MidnightWizard]

Charger

The power cords on the charger are much shorter than I'm used to.
Might become a problem later where media rooms only have limited power sources which are far apart.
Any questions or tests you want me to do?
Will do and post here for you.

Did you get the two prong or the three prong charger ?

There is also a half height light weight charger for these laptops


It is possible to get long aftermarket cords for a three prong charger ( Earth ) for a laptop ( sort of cloverleaf pattern )

I normally cut off the normal plug and put on a decent surge plug.

You can have two or more cables -- UPS needs the earth prong half cut scenario

 

[mh348]

It would be great if we can start buying from guys like Newegg.com

Sorry for the delay in feedback on the laptop. Was busy setting everything up and installing all the regular programs and copying media over from the old HDD.

The thing is a monster compared to my previous Sony and HP.

I am very happy with the purchase.

Positives:
Great screen.
Super fast. Even when multi-tasking heavily.
Battery life is good. (But not great)
Laptop does not get hot at all. Used it on my lap for most of Sunday and if it was the Sony I would have been in hospital for 3rd degree burns now.
The sound on this machine is out of this world. Really awesome and so clear even on 100% volume. However, I can not set the volume higher than 50% without getting the look from the wife.
The price I paid for it is great when compared to SA prices. All in all it cost me R7300.00 to get delivered to my door in 6 days.

Negatives: (Fickle stuff really)
Slightly heavier and more bulky than my previous laptops.
Screen is great but is Glossy which means it might get difficult to view in bright surroundings.
The power cords on the charger are much shorter than I'm used to. Might become a problem later where media rooms only have limited power sources which are far apart.

Any questions or tests you want me to do? Will do and post here for you.

Thx for the update.. you can get a new longer clover cable, I think you get it in 2m lengths.. Also for the screen you can probably get a anti glare sticker, not sure how good it will look..

I think I'm going to order the same notebook from the same seller.. I found a few sellers with the xps 14 i7 models willing to ship to ZA, but the prices are much higher, and not really worth it for me.. prices were just below 10k, so I'll go for the same i5 as you..

 

[mh348]

Thx for the update.. you can get a new longer clover cable, I think you get it in 2m lengths.. Also for the screen you can probably get a anti glare sticker, not sure how good it will look..

I think I'm going to order the same notebook from the same seller.. I found a few sellers with the xps 14 i7 models willing to ship to ZA, but the prices are much higher, and not really worth it for me.. prices were just below 10k, so I'll go for the same i5 as you..

I just placed my order now.. but FNB declined the transaction due to "International Daily Limit Exceed", I logged into my Internet banking, went to "Cards" but Can't edit the limit's from there..

I have my paypal account linked to my online banking profile, if I top up my paypal account, will I be able to pay the seller using that?? or does it have to go through my card..

 

[APoc184]

Did you select Paypal as payment method or Credit Card?

 

[mh348]

Did you select Paypal as payment method or Credit Card?

Paypal.. but according to some posts here, it takes a while for fnb/paypal topups to go through.. I'm on hold with the FNB Call Center now, if they can't do it now, I'll probably have to go into the branch tomorrow and get them to increase the limit..

 

[APoc184]

Damn. Holding thumbs that you can increase the limit via the call center.

Thanks for the info regarding the power cords. Will go shopping for a longer cord before this weekend's Loftus match.

 

[mh348]

Damn. Holding thumbs that you can increase the limit via the call center.

Thanks for the info regarding the power cords. Will go shopping for a longer cord before this weekend's Loftus match.

I tried with the Call Centre yesterday, 2 calls no answer, first call 30 min no answer, second call 45 mins no answer... Not sure if they closed early because of the holiday but the call centrer should of had a message to say they were closed instead of wasting my time..

Today I tried via Online Banking, first time there was no optoin to update limits, tried again after a short while and the Update option was there.. So Increased the limit and my payment went through... I think its because of FNB upgrading their Online Banking, they probably restoring features in stages..

 

[APoc184]

Great news.
Expect to receive your Shipping Details later today and you should have your package by Monday next week. Seller is super fast with shipping.

Did you also ask him to declare full value and NOT mark it as a gift?

 

[mh348]

Great news.
Expect to receive your Shipping Details later today and you should have your package by Monday next week. Seller is super fast with shipping.

Did you also ask him to declare full value and NOT mark it as a gift?

Thanks.. No forgot to do that.. Do you think it will be a problem with customs if its marked as a gift? If there are any problems I can just say I didnt ask for that and tell them I'm willing to pay the vat/customs fees ..

Update: I just emailed the seller now and asked him to declare the full value..