Mention "Mac Pro" to get a Discount: Dell Desperate?

I've been trying to compare the prices of the Mac Pro and a similarly configured Dell Precision, but since Dell won't let you choose their top-of-the-line processors from their webshop, I was forced to call Dell to get a quote.

I got a very friendly salesperson on the line and I happened to mention that I was choosing between a Mac Pro and a Dell. She was eager to help me, and within an hour she had emailed me an offer. As Dell forces you to get a Quadro graphics card for their high-end workstations, the prices didn't exactly match up, making a price comparison difficult.

When she later called me to try to finish the deal, I was reluctant since I thought the price was to high. The salesrep then told me she had already knocked off over $1.000 from the list price, since the standard prices were "ridiculous." When I still turned down her offer, she perplexed me by saying:

Well Jonas, how much do you want to pay? Give me an offer for the machine!

So after knocking off over 20% from the list price, she still had more to give? I'm not sure if Dell is finding the Apple competition feirce, or if they are coming close to ending a fiscal period, but only two weeks earlier I managed to get over 25% discount on two lovely 24-inch monitors by calling them and asking for a lower price instead of accepting their Internet price.

- Jonas


P.S. Sorry about the missing Flash-to-broadcast interview, I've been crazy-busy.