HP MediaSmart Server UK Deal – Save £100 + Free Xmas Hamper

By on December 7, 2009 in Uncategorized

Looks like HP are feeling the Xmas spirit in the UK, offering £90 plus an extra 10% off the HP MediaSmart Server EX490 and giving away an M&S hamper with every purchase.

We’ve had reports from readers that the product is coming in and out of stock at HP’s own online store and at other online retailers. We caught up with HP who tell us that they are bringing stock in to the country, but each delivery is selling out rapidly (probably not surprising if they’re knocking £100 off the price). The deal looks to be valid until Dec 24th, so fingers crossed there’s stock available until then.

To check out these tasty savings (ho ho) head over to hp.com. Thanks to Gary for the tip!

Update: A reader has left a comment stating the deal may only be for HP employees. Bah Humbug.

Update #2: Apparently it’s not just for HP employees, but is also available to those with an employee scheme.

More Info: HP


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About Terry Walsh

Terry Walsh is the founding editor and owner of We Got Served. Since February 2007, the site has provided detailed coverage and analysis of the emerging home server category, and has subsequently grown into a trusted outlet for digital home news and reviews.
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  • Tom Smith

    Amazing offer, I called straight away to order mine but sadly flawed on two fronts – The offer is only open to HP employees & secondly they don't have any stock inspite of what the website says.
    Gutted, looks like I'm gonna have to bite the bullet & buy from these guys, http://www.serversplus.com/servers/home_servers/f… as they seem to be the cheapest place with stock. Would of liked a free hamper ideally but the HP guy couldn't guarantee they would get anymore stock before Christmas now.

  • Tom Smith

    To clarify it's the £100 off part of the deal is for HP employees only…HP guy on the phone seemed irritated I even knew about it. Hamper I believe is open to all but with no stock confirmed before Christmas can't see them honouring it even if you're happy to wait…

  • Colin

    I have just ordered on with a view that I cannot buy the 495 here in the UK, so I will upgrade the processor once I notice that the 490 needs more horse power. This is a very good deal. I am not a HP member of staff, I simply added to cart, registered during checkout, added the extra xmas09 vourcher and hey presto, order accepted with 36 "in stock" at the time of order. Excellent deal I think.

    • Rob

      I've done the same, but I'm waiting for an email from them querying whether I'm an employee or in a scheme. Will decide what to do tomorrow but I suspect they won't send the server out.

      Oh well, I thought for one second that HP UK had finally caught up with the US in offers on these servers. Guess it was too good to be true…

      • Colin

        Rob, I have just checked again and found nothing that suggests that this great deal is for HP staff only. I have even saved the html page should HP go back on the deal. I made a payment by paypal and I have order confirmation from HP. Unless there is something that everyone else is reading and that I am clearly not seeing, this is not exclusive to HP. even the URL is a public one.

        • http://usingwindowshomeserver.com Andrew Edney

          Colin

          The URL wasnt a public one, it was a URL for people in the relevant employee scheme, it was just that someone posted it when they probably shouldnt have.

          HP are very careful about who can order from these schemes – I know, I used to work for HP here in the UK.

          Andrew

          • Colin

            Andrew, thanks for your confirmation, I thought I was just too lucky. I am the person who usually misses these deals normally, so "oh well" never mind. It wont put me off getting one, it might just delay the purchase process. Being a former ASE maybe HP will find me on the systems overlook this and send me one anyway, LOL, it is Christmas after all. Cheers, Colin.

  • Gary

    Great offer. Does anybody by chance know how to get a german country kit ?
    Also, how difficult would a CPU upgrade be ?

    • Colin

      Re: CPU upgrade, the key thing is to ensure that the wattage is a 65w cpu, and forget trying to run a quad core, the heat is too much. The cooler is a passive one and by the looks of it, there is no room for a fan anyway. What most people seem to go for is Core2Duo E5300, E6300, some have gone for E7500, however you need to watch out for those temps. Just use a search engine and enter "ex490 cpu upgrade" go to the first link to read more about upgrading the cpu. Thats what I intend to do. Good luck.

  • Colin

    Ok, I see the potential problem. I have just gone right back to the HP (UK) home page, then browsed through to the media servers, the price is still £429, so I think the url from the original link might be the cause of the problem. Oh well, I can see HP saying, we the order confirmation is an "automated" process, sorry your not HP therefore your not getting a server (at that price). Well, if anyone does get their server delivered at the price, please post here.

    • Grumpy

      My experience with HP with buying a Printer, leads me to believe that it runs various prices depending whether you are a Student, Business or otherwise. You need to do quite a few searches to hit the sweet spot. Here is a link that may be of interest…
      http://www.topcashback.co.uk/retailerdetailHewlet…

  • Mark

    Not just for HP employees, but you do need to be part of a employee scheme (I'm with Vodafone, and got the deal).

    £305 delivered and a £50 hamper thrown in. Cracking deal.

    • Mark

      Also they had 36 showing in stock when I ordered, and I got mine next day delivery.

  • Chunk

    Placed my order, I'm wiling to take the chance.

    • Colin

      I placed the order last night and the fact that Andrew has clarified about the URL, I respect Andrew's knowledge and experience to be the most realistic outcome, sure there is hope. When I last checked, I paid via paypal and of course the payment is pending, this is what made me think, hang on, they will just decline the payment. Still, I wish you luck all the same.

      • Chunk

        Got my confirmation of order acceptance. Stock expected by 9/12 with delivery 1 – 2 working days afterwards. Nice little xmas present for the family and maybe I can retire the proliant ml110 that currently fills WHS duties.

      • Andrew Edney

        Cross your fingers – you never know :-)

        Andrew

  • http://www.shift-f7.co.uk CHuz

    Oops! I'm guessing this was from my comment in the forums! Should have made it clearer that this was part of a non-HP Employee Purchase Program – got it through my work's use of the Reward Gateway, so if anyone else has an employer that uses that site, may be worth a look!

    Must say, absolutely stoked with the EX490, especially at £305.10!

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/tezzer Terry Walsh

      Actually, we had someone email us with the link, which has also been posted on the web eslsewhere. As clarified, it's for HP's purchase program, and is a cracking deal!

      • http://www.shift-f7.co.uk Chuz

        Yay! Least no guilt on my part! I'm amazed that link let's it through – although based on our work's rewards scheme, they don't seem to give a monkey's who uses what!

  • Martin9

    Hi can someone help me here.

    if i order from the link, where does it get ship'd from ? is it from US or Uk, be cores i live in Denmark, and if it is send from UK, i dont get xtra tax, only if it is from us/ out side Europe

    • goncalo

      They don't ship outside UK

  • Colin

    Chuz, although my login doesnt work, I checked my paypal payment which was pending yesterday, is now showing as completed, so HP have taken my money. ;-)

  • Rob

    Is that the login to see your order? You've got to log in via the original link, it appears the login you create during ordering only works there…

    I cancelled in the end, just wasn't comfortable using an employee discount system that I'm not elligible for. Though if HP really aren't worried about that side of things… :)

  • goncalo

    Hi all,

    I've placed my order 2 hours ago, and just received the confirmation that it has been accepted with stock available in 11/12/2009…, so I believe it's opened to anyone. :)

  • Martin9

    dahm. anyone in uk who can order this for my, i will pay all, + 25£ to the person that can sendt it to denmark

  • Colin

    Well, my tracking information says stock on the 16th Dec. As others have confirmed, this is not meant to be available to anyone outside of HP or companies who run a reward program. I am just accepting that if I get one, then I am lucky, if not, well never mind. It would make my xmas though.

  • rtrt

    ordered mine last night – originally stated something like 17 available and mine was shipping today for delivery tomorrow I assume.

    just checked when i got home and it now says;

    backorder
    ETA:16/12/2009

  • rtrt

    interesting that when i look now there are 36 available immediately.

    so either they don't operate on a first order first delivery basis or they play fast and loose with their real availability……….

  • colin

    It seems as though that 36 figure is not connected to their warehouse. My ETA status is exactly the same as yours, I ordered mine on the 7th.

  • rtrt

    thanks colin. also worth noting that they'll charge credit cards after 5 days whether shipping is imminent or not.

    something to do with credit card company canceling the transaction otherwise.

  • Colin

    My paypal funds have been completed, so HP do have my money.

  • Dave

    Order this morning and funds have been taken from credit card. ETA 09/12/2009

  • Coop

    I’ve had an e-mail over night from HP saying dispatched. A link in that mail takes me to the City Link website a UK courrier and that shows as delivered to their central depot early this morning scheduled for delivery to me later today.

    • talatham

      I have exactly the same thing. I wasn't part of any reward scheme so either we got lucky or it's open to everyone. Just need to try ordering the M+S Hamper now!

    • Colin

      Thats good news for you, when did you order please? Maybe yours got allocated from a different warehouse.?

    • Coop

      Mine has just arrived – not sure if I've been lucky and slipped through a system somewhere or what… but I'm happy as that's for sure :o )

      I also now just need to get to my serial number and send off for the M&S hamper.

  • goncalo

    My credit card was charged, and now I have an ETA of 16/12/2009

  • Mark

    Yay, I just got an email saying my hamper claim has been processed too, arriving next week.

    o/

  • Mark

    Yay, I just got an email saying my hamper claim has been processed too, arriving next week.

    o/

    • James

      Mine has been delivered today but I can't apply for the hamper because I don't have an invoice number. Any ideas how I get that?

      • Mark

        You'll get it on email in the next 48 hours.

  • Dave

    Offer no longer there!

  • Colin

    Strange, I just thought I would trace the order and using the dates 7th Dec to 10th Dec, with my order number, I dont see anything anymore. Does this mean my order as been rejected or cancelled?

    • John

      It seems you can not trace your order through the normal home or business shops, but if you go to the original page you ordered from you can track it from there.

    • Chris

      I don't see my order online either, however I recieved a confirmation order with order number, saying stock expected 11/12/09. Have emailed them to confirm the order but not had a reply yet.

      • Chris

        Ok, it appears that you need to login via the original link (as said above) and then the order shows up, mine currently displays :-

        backorder
        ETA:16/12/2009

        • http://twitter.com/alastairweller @alastairweller

          Thanks for the tip, that was really confusing me.

          Mines on backorder as well, eta same as you

          Alastair

  • http://twitter.com/drewmanson @drewmanson

    I rang them today and got told that stock is coming in on the 16th. I was also told that their website accounts access is down so folk can't log in to check status. Got mine for the £305 price too

    Has anyone managed to order their hamper yet or do you have to wait until the server has come to apply for it?

    • Mark

      Yes, I got an order confirmation for my hamper yesterday. Apparently it will arrive next week.

      • http://twitter.com/drewmanson @drewmanson

        Well that will chuff the Mrs, as long as I get my server in time for the 24th Dec deadline :

  • R.

    Hi

    Just ordered — seems to have all gome smoothly — no mention of an Xmas hamper however. Now seems to only apply to certain HP laptops. It's a pity… but I'm not complaining. £305 seems a very reasonable offer. The only other offer I was lookign at was £429 on Amazon UK with free delivery, so it's £125 cheape than this…

    R.

    • gary_rip

      You can still claim your hamper here: http://www.hphamper.co.uk/

      Even though it does not mention it when you order it does still qualify! :-)

      • R.

        Hi Gary

        Thanks for the tip but… like so many of these things… the HOOPS YOU HAVE TO JUMP THROUGH!!

        Apparently I need my serial number and the vat invoice — neither of which I'll have until after the damn thing turns up. I might get lucky…

        R.

  • Colin

    R. What is your shipping ETA?

    Everyone else. Those who ordered around the same time as myself (7th) and you tracked the order which showed the 16th into the HP warehouse, have you had any email updates? Just interested to see how quick these things ship once they arrive at HP > Customer.

    Thanks, Colin.

    • James

      I ordered mine on the 7th, originally said backorder 9th and then backorder 16th but to my surprise it was delivered on the 10th!

    • Rob

      Mine's saying "backorder, payment open, ETA 16/12/2009"

      I understand the backorder bit, but what does payment open mean?!

  • R.

    Hi

    Seems the same

    "Your order has been accepted.

    We currently expect to have your complete order in stock by 16/12/2009, and delivered to you 1-2 working days after that. This is based on the information provided from our warehouse and factories, but may change. We regret that we cannot guarantee a particular date for delivery to you."

  • Chunk

    Mine is now saying ETA of the 16th (changed from 11th) and also payment has been taken today.

    I ordered on the 8th.

  • Mike

    Out of M&S hampers apparently. ____"Your Hamper will be with you shortly.____ ____We are really sorry the M&S Hamper has all sold out. ____We are sending you an alternative that is of equal value and quality."

  • MandM

    Hm, I ordered one on the 9th Dec as it said available immediately then when it completed it stated on back order to 16th Dec. Humbug!! Looks like HP are pulling a fast one – no excuse acceptable with their technology!____M

    • Colin

      M&M, I wouldn't shout too loudly they might hear you and cancel this offer instead of looking the other way. I think those of us who get this deal are lucky, HP could easily cancel all of our deals and they have no need to honour the deal as we are not staff etc.

      However I understand that you have experienced the same as the rest of us, I think most of us had the "in stock" message and once the order was completed we got an ETA of the 16th. Hopefully we should get our early xmas pressies soon.

  • http://twitter.com/alastairweller @alastairweller

    My order also shows an ETA of today. I rang them earlier and they said they were expecting the order in late afternoon or overnight. Shipping will be tomorrow and should arrive Friday.

    Al

    • Colin

      Cool, thank you for the update. I am off work on Friday, play time hopefully. :-)

    • Rob

      Someone has posted to the ukhotdeals thread on this offer saying they just phoned and HP expect to receive them tomorrow with delivery to us next Tuesday.

      http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/549491/hp-ex490-me…

  • http://twitter.com/alastairweller @alastairweller

    I rang HP again this afternoon and they said they were still expecting to receive stock today, however I've just received the following email:

    We have received feedback from our logistics department that unfortunately we were unable to get this item in stock due to further complications on their end. However they have advised us that we will be getting this product in stock on 21st December and we do apologize for the delay and any inconvenience it has caused.

    If the ETA date gets brought forward or pushed back for any reason you will be informed via email.

    Alastair

    • R.

      Does kind of make the whole hamper thing a bit of a farce. I spoke to their fulfilment people about this and they said I could not get an invoice (needed to claim the hamper) until the goods are despatched — catch 22.

      If and when the actual unit's shipped my window of opportunity for taking up the offer will have passed… through no fault of my own, or anyone else who wanted to take up the offer! Come on HP. Sort it out!

      R.

  • MandM

    Hi Guys and thanks for the update Alastaire.

    I really am not happy. I have emailed HP 9 time without reply so phoned them today also. They told me they had no estimated date for delivery and the back order date of 16th (yesterday) was incorrect. I explained I ordered this on 9th Dec when HP said there were 36 units immediately available. I asked why were HP duping customers in to purchases when they were clearly unable to deliver the item as stated on the web page. I demanded to speak to the customer services supervisor and they refused and declined to give me her name other than Victoria. I expressed my disatisfaction that HP had not been honest and failed to update paying customers, furthermore were continuing to advertise this product. I asked why they had not changed the web page details to reflect its true status and was told this was complicated and lengthy, my reply was rubbish it took a few moments for a web designer to update information. I was eventually put on hold while the assistant or should that be resistant spoke with her supervisor only to have the phone put down on me.

    MandM

  • MandM

    Continued

    I am now left feeling disgusted and disatisfied with HP Stores service and no goods as promised. This was the first and last time I use them! So 'We Got Served' I would very much appreciate any input you may have with HP and expressing what this customer and probably a few more on here think of their poor service.

    MandM

    • Mark

      Are you part of an authorised employee scheme to take advantage of this? Because if you're not, you don't have a leg to stand on, imo. You shouldn't really be "disgusted" with anything if that's the case. If you are part of a scheme, then you have every right to complain.

  • Mark

    Update: Got an email from hamper people saying the M&S one had sold out, but they were sending an equivalent value one. It arrived on Tuesday, and very nice it is too!

    What a fab offer this was. Sorry to those others who are struggling to complete their orders.

  • Colin

    Mark, thanks for the updates.

    @ Alastairweller – thanks for your update I was thinking, damn what happened. Not sure why, but I have had no comunication saying about any delays, this is the only frustrating thing as I have had this week off work. But, heck I aint gonna complain as I am not part of a scheme / hp staff.

    @M&M – Do you really think that HP are going to be bothered if this is the last time your going to buy from them. If you're that upset, go to one of the many online stores / shops, heck PC World if your THAT desperate, and pay the retail price, in the mean time, quit whinging about a deal that maybe you should not be getting in the first place. Oh and WGS has no real reason to fight your case even if they did have contacts within HP, don't you think that IF someone from HP did see this then they might have tried to stop the offer in the first place. Bored now..

    Everyone else, I cannot wait to get this and for me it will be my real xmas pressie. Hope you get yours soon.

    Have a great xmas, Colin.

  • http://twitter.com/drewmanson @drewmanson

    Where on the HP page linked above does it say it is for employees and employee schemes only? If it really is for a select few only HP should be more transparent about it and put some sort of message on the offer page.

    • Colin

      Basically its the URL that takes you to a employment scheme page, if you go to the hp.co.uk website, then traverse the pages using the product names etc, you just dont get to see this deal. I understand what your saying and yes, maybe they could have put a simple header saying "for employees or scheme members only" or words to the effect. However there was another way that HP could have filtered out our orders. During the purchase process you are asked for a company name etc, type of user, this could have been vetted and simply discarded the orders that didnt have a company name selected. Sure its not fool proof, but whatever.

      Just my thoughts anyway.

  • John

    I have had an email overnight to say my server has been shipped and the tracking number link says it will be deilvered Monday. A big thank you to all at We Got Served and any others responsible for pointing me to this offer, cheers and a happy Christmas (this has helped to make mine great)

    • http://twitter.com/alastairweller @alastairweller

      I also received an email and the tracking link shows it as being at my local delivery depot!
      Good times!

      • Colin

        Me Too. :-)

        I checked the city-link tracking and it has already arrived at a depot 20 miles away (my nearest). So Monday should be the day. I just need to buy a USB external box for my blu-ray rom drive and I can start importing my movies. Let the fun begin.

  • Chunk

    ^ Likewise, roll on Monday!

    Merry Christmas Everyone :-D

  • Dave

    For those of you who have received your server can you give an indication how long it took. i.e. date ordered, date delivered

    Also the HP site has updated to say 9 units available.

  • Colin

    Date ordered 7th, email dispatch confirmation 18th (Friday) delivered today 21st Monday.

    Done my claim for the hamper, however I need to print it and send it off, is this what others have done, or did you submit via online? Thanks. To late to play tonight after such a bad day travelling. Play time tomorrow. Hope you got yours to and that you enjoy playing, see you around the forums soon. Happy xmas, Colin.

  • John

    Same here ordered the 7th delivered on the 21st (today). I have posted my hamper claim, I don't think there is an option to send it online as you need to enclose a copy of your reciept.

    I already have a EX470 and I have set up my new server, and can access both through my network. But can anyone help me find a way to access both servers through the connector software and run a web page to outside or do I have to choose one or the other through the discovery application?

    • Colin

      John, this sounds interesting, but I would suggest hitting the forums you will most likely get more help there. I am sure you've already done that. which reciept did you post? is it the invoice one, or the original receipt dated around the 7th or so? Thanks, Colin.

      • John

        Hello Colin, I sent a copy of my final reciept which was sent by email very shortly after my server was delivered. Regarding my query with accessing both servers I have tried reading the forums and it seems you cant access both through the connector software, so it is a matter of choosing one or the other. So it looks like unless there is updated connector software that will manage more than server I will be getting rid of my old EX470, as it will only be useful as networked storage without full functionality of the software.

  • Colin

    PS – Thanks again Gary for the original tip off.

  • Dave

    Morning all received email from HP this morning to say order had been dispatched yesterday (21st Dec). I ordered mine on the 9th. So hopefully will arrive today or tomorrow.

  • http://twitter.com/alastairweller @alastairweller

    I also received mine yesterday after ordering on 11th. Will be posting the hamper claim today

    Alastair

  • R.

    Got the notification today and, apparently, it's being delivered today also…. we'll see!

    R.

    • Ralph Averbuch

      Well it arrived. I'd already assumed it wasn't goign to turn up today but it came in about 6.15pm… obviously my ity Link driver's a tad more diligent.

      Now — hopefully that delivery note on the box includes the docs I need to send for the hamper!

      R.

  • Chunk

    Ordered on the 8th should have been delivered yesterday (21st) but the City Link driver couldn't be bothered to stop on his way past the house (wife saw him pause and continue). Was pretty irate to see a failed delivery attempt on the tracker having waited in all day!!!

    Tracker now say's out for delivery today so let's hope the driver can find his brake pedal this time.

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