The Return of the Free PC?: Bank Gives Away Eee PCs with New Account

Some of you may remember a brief period back in the late 90's where you could walk in to a computer store and sign up for three years of dial-up internet service in exchange for a new, "free" eMachines computer. I was in college and working at Circuit City at the time and I seem to remember that the actual deal was a $400 mail-in rebate in exchange for signing up with CompuServe at around $22 per month for three years. The computer system itself cost $399 and canceling the CompuServe service before the three years were up carried stiff penalties. Other similar deals existed from companies like PeoplePC and Free-PC. Remember?

Well, those deals didn't last too long. For starters, three years of dial-up just as broadband was starting to become more widespread seemed like an awfully long commitment. Plus, the computers themselves were woefully underpowered, even for basic tasks. Finally, certain deals from various manufacturers entailed taking a loss on the hardware and making up for it via banner ads on users' desktops. Sometimes the company that sold the computers would go out of business in less than three years, too. It was an okay idea backed up by a shaky business model.

Today, though, I'm starting to see a familiar trend involving machines like Asus' Eee PC. Except this time, it might actually work. Case in point, a bank in Canada is giving away a free Eee PC to people who open a new account. The catch? There are only two eligible accounts to choose from and the least expensive one costs $13.95 per month. However, you only need to keep the account open until the end of December and you actually get pretty decent banking features like ATM fee reimbursement and free checks.

Another deal comes from UK-based PowerupMobile.com; the deal is for a free Eee PC with a two-year contract for T-Mobile's Web 'n' Walk Max mobile broadband service at £35 per month.

I'd expect to see more and more of these deals in the very near future. The bank deal is kind of a nice surprise, but the wireless deals shouldn't be too surprising at all. Mobile providers are used to subsidizing hardware devices and oftentimes those devices cost more than a 2GB Eee PC anyway.

So why not push some wireless data packages by including a little laptop? Maybe even offer some deals on higher priced UMPCs. These devices are made for mobility and it'd be easier for people to justify the relatively expensive monthly fees ($60 to $80 per month for unlimited access on most American networks) if they could get a couple hundred bucks off of an ultraportable laptop.

Comments

Post a comment Post a comment

0 / 1000 max characters