[GTALUG] good deal on tiny Dell desktop

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

<https://forums.redflagdeals.com/dell-dell-precision-3240-compact-workstation-usff-2-3l-i3-10100-8g-279-313-i5-10500-8g-419-470-2403015/>

I bought one of these.

- save $200 by opting for Ubuntu rather that Windows 10 Pro!
  Okay, I admit it: I only saved $100 by not selecting Windows 10
  Home.

- very small: limited expansion and performance.

- business class (well built, stodgy, well supported (3 yr. warranty))

It is a real adventure game finding and stacking all the discounts.  Well 
described in the article.  Read the whole thing, but 95% is in the first 
page.

- Join Rakuten Canada (formerly called ebates) and go through their site 
  to get 8% cash back on Dell for Business purchases (don't be fooled by 
  the more prominent 2% regular Dell cash back offer).

- join the Dell mailing list for a one-time 10% discount code.  If you
  are on the mailing list already, it appears you can join again with
  the "+" in the username trick (i.e. mail to joe+anything at example.com
  should go to joe at example.com)

- the article lists a stackable $50 off coupon

Configuring the system is interesting.

Key: choose a cheap HDD and add a third-party NVMe SSD drive after you get 
the machine.

Choose 8G single-stick of RAM.  Add more after you get the 
machine (one SODIMM slot will be empty).

I chose an Intel WiFi/BlueTooth card.  That gets the chassis wired for an 
antenna.