Thanks to Buckscoop for spotting this great deal!

From the most recent Dell newsletter, they are running a special deal on Dimension E520 Intel Core 2 Duo desktop computers. They are advertising a “PowerPack”, where for $1,549 you will get:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.83Ghz)
• 512Mb DDR2 RAM
• 160Gb SATA Hard Disk
• 22″ Widescreen LCD Monitor
• 16x DVD Writer
• Windows Vista Home Basic
• 2 Year Onsite Warranty

The “E-Value code” is Q240213. Except for the fact the Windows Vista will struggle with just 512Mb of RAM. The newsletter was sent 3 days ago.

However, this deal is no longer available (which is typical for Dell). Instead, the same E-Value code has been replaced with a deal that is $200 more expensive, but with 24″ Ultrasharp 2407WFP instead! So now for $1,749, you will get these instead:

• Upgrade to 24″ Ultrasharp 2407WFP
• Upgrade to 250Gb SATA Hard Disk
• Bonus Dell 725 Printer

Very nice! Consider the entry level 22 inch LCD is $599, whereas 24 inch Ultrasharp is on special at $1,099 online. So $200 gets you $500 worth of monitor upgrade + bigger hard disk + bonus printer. Not bad.

When you actually go in and configure your new Dimension E520, you will get another option to upgrade to 27″ Ultrasharp for only $276.10. Hey! Last time I checked, Dell 27″ 2707WFP Ultrasharp costs $1,999. So that’s a $900 monitor upgrade for $276.10, which brings the total price to $2,025.10.

Then you can use the following coupon code:

39103C3DA38C

Which takes $150 off the final price, which is now $1,860.10. Even cheaper than buying 2707WFP! This deal ends 15 February 2007. I hope Dell Australia will not try to correct the “typo” before the promotion ends.

How to make it even cheaper? You can buy it via Buckscoop, which offers you 0.75% cashback on Dell computers (that’s $13.95). Combine that with a credit card that can give you 1% cashback (for example the BP-Citibank MasterCard). You can also remove the “bonus printer” which will deduct $11 from the final price (you shouldn’t buy printers worth $11 anyway). But don’t forget to get more memory to keep Windows Vista happy.