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You've Got PC
freitasm writes "Geekzone is reporting on the AOL Optimized PC, a 2GHz Intel Celeron PC with 256MB RAM and 50GB ATA-100 HDD. It'll cost US$299.99 from Office Depot stores, with a commitment of 12-month AOL subscription. More information on AOL Optimized website." There's also a Reuters story.
Though I suppose it is actually on target, if someone only has $300 and can afford the $24/month payment, it might be a simple way to get a PC a little "cheaper" up front. Just too bad it has to be AOL.
Full list of features:
Haven't we seen this done at least three times in the past? And hasn't it always been pay cash, give false info, walk away?
It's not a damn cell phone you idjits.
That annoying phrase is not proper english. One can not "have got" something.. I word "got" does not belong in that statement.
Not that there is anything new to the whole "Get a serious discount on hardware if you get a subscription to [fill in blank] online service", but for some reason this one is interesting coming from AOL, since back when they we're Quantum Link (The old commodore 64 online service back in the 80's) they did a similar thing.
Back in the Q-link days, not to many folks had modems or could really afford them, so Q-link's hook to get you to sign up with them was that they would offer you a heavily discounted 300 baud modem when you signed up for Q-link. This seems like a no brainier these days, but back then it was really something because most online services like Playnet, GEnie, Compuserve, etc all charged you a setup fee AND charged you like $30 for their software.
So, like I said, not that this is new, it's REALLY not new for AOL.
Man do I ever still pine for the days of Q-link and Club Carribe.
"The Wright brothers were the first to fly with a heavier-than-air machine, but boy did they have a lousy plane"
Is it just me or does this seem equivalent to signing away your soul to Satan?
I do tech support for HP. AOL uses their own drivers to connect to their network, and also block off the Properties page of their connection. Thus, we cannot enable the Windows XP firewall, so God help someone who hasn't patched their machine (luckily I can get around this by installing Norton Personal Firewall, which is usually included with our machines). I've also heard that if you want, AOL will sell you a firewall for $3 extra a month or something. So to sum up: Block free included product, sell own (probably inferior) product.
Not to mention that AFAIK their entire technical support division is stationed in India, and I think they have a 3 minute call length limit or something. Whenever people call me and say they were referred to us by AOL, I roll my eyes and ask what AOL actually did before referring them to us. 90% of the time, they did NOTHING. They didn't have them click on anything, they didn't check any settings, and they most certainly did not reinstall their own software. "It's a problem with the modem." "It's a problem with the computer." I've actually heard from customers where they had to hand up on the AOL tech because they didn't take the referral to us and he actually started yelling at the customer! And this service is worth $20+ a month?! God help the person who buys this PC and is RELEGATED to these people...
Please, if you use AOL, consider switching to another provider. You're worth more than what they give you.
It's better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
- E. Debs
How about reading the AOL website, dipshit.
"Systemax AOL Intel Celeron 2.0GHz / Microsoft Windows XP Home / 17-inch CRT / 256MB DDR / 40GB HDD / CD-ROM / Lexmark Ink Jet Printer / 1 Year Warranty / Desktop PC"
or further down,
"Of course, the AOL Systemax PC runs on the award-winning Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system for incomparable performance and stability."
or even further down,
"Specifications Operating Systems Windows XP Home Edition"
If you go to the FAQ on the aol page it tells you that it is an office product from sun microsystems, so they obviously liscensed staroffice, and put their name on it.
My Casio PDA had a large AOL setup program built into the ROM. Even in the unlikely event that i would have needed it i would only have ever used it once! Bloody idiots wasted all that space instead of including some useful software.
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
It's even funnier than you think.
For those that aren't aware, this whole "optimized" craze is a reference to something real evil that AOL has been doing for years: having dial up users connect to proxy servers that compress the living fuck out of any image requested from a web page.
Sound like a good idea, no? Make all the images smaller in size so pages load faster. As a friend of mine put it, "Doesn't AOL realize that people like to look at porn?"
If it was some light compression it would be one thing, but images look like something my cat hacks up on the floor after getting in the garbage once AOL "optimizes" them.
"The Wright brothers were the first to fly with a heavier-than-air machine, but boy did they have a lousy plane"
Celeron 2.0: $60
Note that total doesn't include XP license or a 1 year warrenty. You make a good point about people spending the money on an internet connection anyway, but if this is their 2nd PC and they are just connecting it to an existing network, it becomes much cheaper without AOL involved.256MB DDR: $33
40GB HDD: $31
52x CD-ROM: $10
Lexmark Printer: $29
17" CRT: $74
Total: $237
This has been discussed. It's not some conspiracy theory or sneaky DNS redirect.
If you type in a non-valid URL, Firefox automagically does a "I'm feeling lucky" search on what you typed. The first result comes back microsoft.com, for whatever reason.
Verify this yourself by typing the same thing into google and hitting search/lucky.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
I wonder how much of that $299 is for the Windows license?
60$ is the OEM price (per each) for a small distributor (couple thousand PCs) I have no idea what AOLs price point would be but 40-50$ sounds like a good guess.
Cash prize, guaranteed!
It's been done. Not only that it's been patented.
US Patent 6,629,793 The Emoticon Keyboard
Hardware details: * AMD Athlon 2000 Processor * 128 MB DDR RAM * Expandable up to 1 GB RAM * 40 GB hard drive * Includes keyboard, mouse, stereo speakers and Ethernet interface (does not include monitor) * Supports onboard AMD Duron processor * Supports 200 MHz front-side bus * Supports integrated 256 MB SDRAM onboard * Shared memory architecture allows a maximum of 64 MB main memory to act as frame buffer * Linare PC comes with the following types of support: phone, e-mail and web * Includes a 1-year warranty return to manufacturer * Model AD2000 * Supports high resolutions up to 1920 x 1440 Software details: * Linare Linux * Linux-based operating system * KDE: powerful graphical desktop environment * OpenOffice Office Suite * Mozilla browser * Mozilla e-mail
Insert Generic Sig Here:
Ugh. This is a nice and clueless comment. Why? Because AOL PCs are for people who want games (first on the list, look at the sales for Deer Hunter), email, games, a few office programs, and web games.
If you've met the type of AOL user I'm used to, the kind that download anything they can find from AOL games and/or PopCap, including whatever ridiculous games that are included in email attachments, which include viruses, you know that Linux is not an option here.
This is a post that gets moderated high because it praises Linux. But in the real world, the world that I live in and have to support anything from clueless users to family members, Linux is nowhere near an option for AOL users.
I love Linux, but built for AOL-ers it is not (at this point).