How to get the best deal on a Motion LE1700 Tablet PC

As we’ve seen from other tablet vendors, creating Built To Order (BTO) configurations can really muck up the process of delivering computers. To encourage their customers to buy certain pre-configured bundles, Motion has put in place better pricing on these packages that aren’t always obvious.

First, let’s start on the Motion website. From the home page, click on Buy. Then, click on either of the Buy Now buttons next to the LE1700. You’ll end up on this page:



Take a moment to check out the configurations. Since Motion isn’t shipping units with Vista yet, let’s look at the top row, middle box at the bundle priced at $2,594. It’s a pretty sweet bundle, but most of our customers are purchasing 2Gb RAM, which requires a configuration. So let’s see what that same unit would cost with 2Gb RAM memory.

Click on the ‘Customizable Options’ button at the bottom left. This takes you to Motion’s LE1700 configuration page. Let’s customize our tablet:

For ‘Select your processor’, choose ‘Intel Core 2 Duo LV Processor L7400 [$2299]’

For ‘Select your operating system’, choose ‘Windows XP Tablet PC Edition with Motion Pak - US [$34.99]’

For ‘Display option’, choose ‘ViewAnywhere Display [$299.99]’

Notice anything yet? I didn’t either, but the configured price is $2,633.98, already more than the $2,594 price on the bundle. And we haven’t upgraded to the 60Gb hard drive yet!

Now, don’t get your knickers in a bunch – Motion is not trying to sneak in a price increase or fool customers. They are trying to encourage people to buy the standard bundles so they can have a smaller number of SKUs (stock keeping units, if you care) that are the biggest sellers. Can you guess how many combinations of components there can be selected through the configuration process? Over 1400!!! Motion is giving you a financial incentive to pick certain bundles and that is that.

Now, let’s upgrade the hard drive:

For ‘Hard drive’, choose ‘60GB 1.8" HDD [$159.99]’

Your price now is $2,792.97, a $200 difference in pricing. Check out the other configurations and you won’t be surprised – they work the same way. You’ll find that most resellers are stocking these bundles because it simplifies the sales process.

So, if you are considering purchasing a Motion tablet with 2Gb RAM and a 60Gb hard drive (our biggest seller), choose the bundle with Integrated Broadband for $2,794 (Standard Display) or $3,094 (View Anywhere Display) because the price is the same as if you configured it, your tablet with Broadband will have a higher resale value, and your friendly, neighborhood reseller is more likely to have it in stock.