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AOL's $299 PC
cmj writes "Internet.com reports 'Looking to attract households that still aren't online, AOL is offering new customers a $299 PC system if they sign a one-year $23.90 dial-up Internet service contract.' A click through AOL's ecommerce site reveals the the specs as 1.7 GHz Celeron with 256 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive, 56K modem, 10/100ethernet card, 17" monitor and Lexmark printer. The PC is running Windows XP, and includes 'AOL Office Powered by Sun'. Also of note is the fact that the $299 appears to be financed at around 22%. The math ( (12*23.90)+299 ) seems to suggest that you can get a $699 computer for $585.80 plus any finance charges. Setting aside the question of whether this is a good deal or not, one has to wonder whether AOL is desperate for new customers and resorting to bribery, or just progressing to the next step of branding. With this action AOL controls everything from the OS to the Word Processor to the web sites their customers browse."
I distinctly remember Microsoft doing something similar with their $400 rebate for signing up for three years of MSN. They dropped it after a year or two. AOL's deal seems more financially risky to me, I wonder how they can pull it off.
Auto-reply to ACs: "Truly, you have a dizzying intellect."
...maybe they could get the price down to $199, hmmm?
;)
Don't flip out on me, it was just a thought...
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
Considering you can get a much better machine for much cheaper. Check out:
http://gotapex.com
You'll find BETTER Dell machines for ~$400 with 6 months of AOL included!
It IS StarOffice (with obligatory AOL logos). One step closer to an AOL-Linux release I think.
"...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
They give you the fine print in gif form just to make sure it's difficult for you to read the text. The resolution isn't really fine enough for the text to be legible at any magnification, but it appears that the finance rate is 23.9% or 25.9%
Democracy Now! - your daily, uncensored, corporate-free
eWorld became a little service called America Online when it merged with the c64 service, Q-Link... See this link for some more info (I can't find any sites online with info.)
So yea, I wouldn't call eWorld a failure...
You really need to review this. I saw the story this AM (EST) and throughly reviewed the deal because I'd like to upgrade my mother's computer which is a currently a pc200mhz with 64mb of memory as a Xmas present.
l egal1.as p?vcid=a2&srccode=subp2b447688
Here's the fine print (beware the fine print is a image file):
http://www.aolcheckout.com/aol-pc/aol01b-
"$299 Financed plus a one-year committment to AOL for 23.90"...did you read financed?
my take on the deal...
according to the fine print, you are issued a Tiger Gold Card with approve credit from Wells Fargo, furthermore, the regular APR is 21.9% (i think, the fine print is very small).
so now you have a credit card from a company with a really high interest rate! "Boom!" as Madden 2004 would say. That is the hook for AOL, they can make some money by establishing new customers for a credit card company.
Its seems like a nice deal on the front end.
-- ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space!
AOHell goes back much further than eWorld. I think you meant to refer to something called "AppleLink Personal Edition," which was available for both Apple IIs and Macs (if that gives you more of an idea how far back it goes).
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
"AOL controls everything from the OS to the Word Processor to the web sites their customers browse."??
Give me a break. AOL doesn't care what you do with the PC. Go ahead, wipe it clean and install your favorite alternative OS. All that matters is that you sign a one-year commitment to AOL's dial-up service at $23.90 per month. That $286.80 commitment subsidizes the cost of the computer. AOL has stated (maybe it's even in a linked article) that a common reason given for cancellations is loss of access to a computer. In a few tests they have offered such users a discounted PC rather than let them become former users. As a result of what they have learned they believe that offering a really cheap computer will attract/retain members. They need to do something as they have lost a couple million recently.
Sounds like a business decision to me. But, hey, maybe it's all just part of a vast conspiracy by a big corporation to control everything we do.
anyone remember the iOpener?
totally hacked
this sig limit is too small to put anything good h
You cannot consider the entire cost of AOL access to be "interest" in this interesting calculation. You must consider that you are receiving something of value in addition to just the computer. THe way to calculate the effective financing rate is to take the difference between the cost of AOL and the cost of another equivalent access service, say, Earthlink, which I believe is $15/mo or so...
So, (12*(23.90-15))+299 = $405.80...
Ok, so let's see what I can buy that system for.
I just purchased two small machines, Athlon 1900+, 256MB Ram, 40GB Hard disks, with integrated I/O and everything for $280 each delivered. A 17" monitor can be had for about $100 and a cheap-ass Lexmark printer is about $50. What's that come out to? $430? and it's a MUCH MUCH MUCH faster machine...
So the bottom line is that this deal is marginal at best, and with AOL's buying power, it's probably very profitable in the end. They can probably put that machine together for about $200-250.
Uh no - it is actually somewhere in the $25 dollar range (plus the cost of any media that they ship along with it, and also first line tech support)
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
Pro includes 3rd-party intellectual property which they (nullsoft) have to pay for per-copy.
This offer is just capitalizing on the prevalence of poor and ill-informed individuals. If AOL is successful, we'll have a rough estimate as to how many of these people there are. Don't get me wrong, more power to AOL--it's their right to market. But it's our right to go around educating people as to why this isn't a good deal.
But I guess posting on /. isn't gonna convince people like my parents...
"The math ( (12*23.90)+299 ) seems to suggest that you can get a $699 computer for $585.80 plus any finance charges"
This math is only correct if you assume that there's no value in having AOL dial access. If you think that AOL access is worth the $23.90 a month that millions of people are already paying for it, you're getting a $699 computer for $585.80 plus any finance charges, plus agreeing to stay on AOL for a year.
This doesn't sound any more sleazy than cell phone companies giving you a heavily discounted cell phone in return for a commitment for longer service. If you don't want to make the commitment, don't sign the contract, and don't take the up front discount.
To me, this looks like a decent way for people who aren't online to get online very cheaply and learn whether they want to spend more for broadband, etc., later.
Enable 3D printed prosthetics!
Systemax pc's are pretty good, been around awhile, basic solid machines. If you already use AOL, thats a nice system with monitor for 299. Wonder how much the ink cartridges are... The mobo seems to be very cheap, would be nice for more specs.
Doing a quick pricewatch search shows the pc is an average deal, and system max uses quality oem hardware, your choice.
But I'd rather go over to Outpost.com (frys) and get something like amd200+mb for 100 bux, get a nice case for 40 bux, some memory, hd and gfx card for about 350 for that price. Pick up a used 17 inch monitor for 20 bux at RePC.
There are good deals, but you have to look. I found used dual P2's for 250 bux with scsi drives. Awesome linux/bsd servers.
Right click, save image, open in Gimp and hit + a couple times...
AOL Disclosures: ELIGIBILITY FOR $299 PC OFFER REQUIRES 12 MONTH COMMITMENT FOR AOL MEMBERSHIP AFTER 45 DAY TRIAL PERIOD AT $23.90 PER MONTH (TOTAL COMMITMENT OF $286.80). TO AVOID BEING CHARGED A MONTHLY FEE OR INCURRING CANCELLATION FEES, (1) CANCEL AOL SERVICE BEFORE 45 DAY TRIAL PERIOD ENDS AND (2) RETURN PC BEFORE TRIAL ENDS OR WITHIN 30 DAYS OF RECIEPT,WHICHEVER IS LONGER (the "Promotional Period"). If your AOL membership is cancelled or terminated for any reason after the expiration of the Promotional Period, but before the 12-month paid commitment expires, AOL may charge a one time fee equal to the number of months left on your commitment x $23.90, plus a $40 early cancellation fee, to your AOL billing method. Premium services carry surcharges, and communication surcharges may apply in certain areas, including in Alaska, even during the Promotional Period. Members using dial-up access may incur phone charges on their telephone bills, depending on their calling plan and location, even during the Promotional Period. AOL may be optimizing some of your computer settings to enhance your experience on AOL. Available to new members in the US, age 18 or older, credit card required.
PC Disclosures: Eligibility for $299 PC offer requires 12 month paid commitment for AOL membership. See details above. You will be charged $299, plus shipping, handeling, and taxes immediately upon shipment of the AOL Optimized PC. Your satisfaction with the AOL Optimixed PC is guaranteed during the Promotional Period. If you are not fully satisfied within this time period, return the PC for refund to payment method of $299 fee plus taxes. Shipping and handeling will not be refunded or reimbersed. You must call AOL seperately to cancel your AOL service, even if PC is returned during the Promotional Period.
Financing Disclosures: Minimum purchase amount to qualify for financing is $299. Excludes tax and delivery charges. The minimum monthly payment quoted above is based on the purchase of this item alone on a new account. Additional purchases may cause the minimum monthly payment to change. The actual minimum payment for the account will be 1/30th of the highest new balance of the account, or $25 whichever is greater. The Tiger Gold Card is issued with approved credit by Wells Fargo Financial National Bank. The regular APR is 21.9% as od October 1, 2003. The APR may vary.
Limited quantity available. Offer expires December 31, 2003 or while supplies last, whichever comes first.
The 17" monitor goes for $83 retail.
The printer is probably worth less than $20.
So, if getting a [$200+$83+$20=] $303 PC for about $600 sounds like a good deal, then AOL is your savior! (!!)
Sadly, AOL is going after those least-informed of consumers with this deal, so they'll probably find a fair number of takers.
For those who don't consider AOL worthless, let's consider the cost of ISP service on top. A quick query here tells me that it's easy to get dial up for $8/month or less.
So....[$303+($8*12mths)=] $399 worth of "internet experience" for $699.
According to this AnandTech article on processors under $100, an Athlon XP 1600 (which actually runs somewhere near 1.4 GHz) would leave a 1.7-GHz Celeron (which will be a P4-derived product, not a P!!! derivative) so far behind that it's almost an unfair comparison. Hell, I'm typing this on an old Thunderbird-core 1.0-GHz Athlon that, between the DDR memory and AGP graphics (Radeon 7000...nothing too fancy), would probably still give that Celeron a run for the money. That a nearly three-year-old system could do that says something.
20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
New Dells (even lowest models) come with 6 months of aol or earthlink dial-up, so this 12 months thing is really not worth it. I'm sure other companies have similar arrangements.
$8.95/mo web hosting
Just so we're clear:
.217/12*299*12+299 = .217*299+299
To determine how much you're going to pay if you buy a $299 computer and make equal monthly payments on an account with 21.7% annual interest compounded monthly, we can approximate with this formula:
Total Paid =
Total Paid = 64.88+299=363.88
Just to be clear.