Dude, I'm Not Getting A Dell?

I purchased my current desktop computer from Dell. I thought I got a pretty good deal with the $150 mail in rebate, DVD Burner upgrade and upgrades to the RAM and hard drive. This time around I tried a different approach. Instead of ordering online I decided to make some phone calls and, to my surprise, I won't be getting a Dell after all. Not considering the dinosaurs the likes of the TRS-80 and Apple IIC, I'll be going back to my PC roots and getting a Gateway. So how much did I save?

Running some numbers by ordering over the phone, I saved about $700 from Gateway. By comparison if I ordered the same Duo-Core laptop models from Dell or Apple it would have cost me $800 and $1000 more, respectively. So how much did I pay? I got a top of the line Duo-Core for a bottom line of $1600. This includes all tax and delivery charges as well as upgrades to the hard drive, video card, optical drive, RAM, processor and screen. So what did I do that go me such a deal? I told them I was going to buy a laptop in the next 24 hours and if they gave me the best deal I would do business with them. I made a few calls and played their sales game telling them I'd call them back and I'd have to crunch some numbers. In the end I'd like to think I beat the salesman at his own game. Either way, I'm getting a Gateway; moo!