It was probably a glitch and not a nefarious plot on Dell’s part, but Chris found it odd when he tried to take advantage of Microsoft’s back-to-school promo where a free Xbox comes with certain Windows laptops. Dell’s site kept showing that adding on the free Xbox promo made his total $100 higher than with just the computer. Huh?

I’m a student who is currently looking to buy a new laptop, and have been considering getting a Dell – in part because of the back-to-school promo offering a free XBOX 360. Imagine my surprise when I realized that their cheapest Inspiron 15z model costs $100 more with the promo than without ($1099 vs. $999) – and has the exact same configuration.

When I asked an online sales rep about it, they both (a) confirmed that the laptops were, in fact, the same, and (b) when asked about the price difference, told me “that is the promotion we have.” While $100 is still a pretty good deal for a new xbox, it’s significantly more than “free.” Thought you all might be interested to know.

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