PC World flogs “free” laptops
BRITAIN'S MOST exhalted merchant of hardware, PC World, has announced plans to flog laptops for next to nothing, as long as you remain a loyal subject of 3 mobile broadband for the next 18 months (3 being the name of the mobile comms operator).
The plan is to drive mobile broadband adoption (or just sell a helluva lot of computers) by “heavily subsidising” laptops and the required comms equipment (USB modem in this case). This deal allows consumers to purchase an Advent laptop, from a list of over “ten highly specified laptops”.
In this deal, you get 3GB (the equivalent to 3’s Broadband Plus tariff), but pay £35 for the package whilst being held in place by the 18-month service contract. As a bonus they also throw in 200 free SMSes.
As they put it: 3GB of data equates to sending around 2000 plain text emails AND surfing the web for 100 hours AND downloading 100 two minute videos AND downloading 200 music tracks. On the other hand, if you do a lot of downloading or simply resort to heavy emailing, 3GB will become very short, very quickly.
In fact, “heavily discounted” isn’t a term we’d apply to this case. Let’s do the maths: 3’s mobile Broadband Plus tariff is £15 a month and they offer you the modem if you sign a 24-month contract.
So if we subtract the cost of the mobile broadband, that means you have to pony-up the equivalent to £360 over the course of 18 months to get a “free” £329.99 laptop.
Hardly free at all. µ
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You have obviously not understood anything about their marketing offer.
If you pay 450£ to get this laptop, you are indeed loosing money. Now, it is not question of paying £450 for the laptop, but for the laptop + the service offered by 3 (the operator) for mobile broadband access.
Your article share your incompetency in understanding a marketing offer and I make a call to theinquirer to re evaluate your capabilities in delivering an article.
note: I have no involvement with PC World whatsoever (and I don't support their marketing offer). I am just outraged by this personal attack based on nothing.
Ah, yeah. No connection with PCP World? Damn shills...
I understood the article fine and the marketing is no different to the sofa companies selling you a 100 pound sofa for a 50% discount at 499 pounds?? But I am afraid that Aurelien lost me. Who did you personally attack and where was the 450 pound mentioned. I am personally outraged at the personal attack on the Inquirer based on persononal differences of a personal nature.
It's the same with the free Wii, the free PSP, the free PS3 or laptop, the free LCD TV - all bundled with phone contracts.
If you subtract the normal cost of the contract from the total charged you get.. you guessed it, the cost of the item.
Surely it's misleading, if not exactly outright fraud, to claim these things are "free" or "discounted".
And whoever commented first.. is an idiot.
Laptop + 3G = £35 month x 18 = £630

Cost of 3G internet + 3 gig limit = £15 x 18 = £270

£630 - £270 = £360

Therefore they are charging an additional £30 ON TOP of the £330 laptop for the service + "free laptop"

I think above comment needs to understand marketing and subsidy if i'm honest.......
The article correctly points out that the cost of the service from 3 added to the retail cost of the laptop is still LESS than the supposedly subsidised/free laptop including the mobile broadband service:

Retail price of laptop: £329.99
18 months of mobile broad band from 3 including free modem : £15x18months=£270

TOTAL retail price for the 18 months of service from 3 and buying your own laptop =£270+329.99 = £599.99

OR 'deal' from PC world:

£35 x 18months = £630 total cost for 'free' laptop and the same mobile broadband.

This means that PC world charge FULL PRICE for the laptop, FULL PRICE for the mobile broadband and charge £30.01 on top! That is of course before any kickbacks from the mobile phone operator for selling a contract!!

PC world is far from subsidising any laptop, they are charging way over the odds for a bought in service that you can get directly from the supplier for less money.

The author of the article makes a perfectly valid point ... unlike the flamers here...
The deal is 35 pm for 18 months = 630. 

The rate if you don't take the offer is 15 pm for 18 months = 270

hence the difference is 20 pm for 18 months = 360.

(As per the article)

Not the best of deals if you're getting a 330 laptop, except I suppose you don't pay upfront and you get some sms messages as part of the deal.
Aurelien, you're missing what the author is saying.

If you take the offer, you'll pay a total of £630 over 18 months. you can buy the 3 broadband service for £15 a month without the deal, which works out to £270 over 18 months. That means if you take the offer, you're paying £360 (in effect) for a laptop that you can walk into the shop and buy for £330.

You end up spending £30 more over 18 months if you take the 'offer' than you would if you just bought a laptop and then subscribed to the regular 3 broadband service.

I'm also not en employee of PC World (or The Enquirer, for that matter), I just hate to see an idiot try pick holes in something they don't even understand.
I've just this 3 broadband for my father, biggest problem with it is that you can't send via SMTP, its blocked, and 3 don't have a SMTP server you can use either so the only way you can do email with 3 broadband is to use webmail.
I can only hope that mobile broadband does catch on - a big market leads to competition, which would obviously make better limits, prices, and speeds
Its hardly suprising they have such a terrible reputation. Their "deals" always have more strings attached than pinnochio. You would think their marketing department is secretly employed by their competitors.
Some companies have vision, some are just stupid. They struggle to even get into the latter category.
They think mobile broadband buyers wont check prices?
There is yet another way of looking at it. Which is finance. You have 350 spare cash then buy it. If you don't have the cash there is 2 options buy it on a credit card with 12-18% apr or pay an extra 8.34% (£30) and get the cost spread over 2 years.

£30 for finance over 2 years aint a bad deal in my eyes.

What really scares me though. More than anything else is concept itself. I actually do work in technical support for PC world (currys and dixons) and the concept of a free laptop is scary. They give out the cheap, poorly made advents and ei-systems. 
Why do people accept such poor quality machines? Because they know nothing at all about computers. They think they are getting a good deal (its free) and just want to "Get connected". The same happened when orange broadband were giving them away. We were inundated with stupid questions from people who only bought a laptop because it was free and they had never bought one before.
Aurelien your IQ must be similar to that of an alsatian. And if you do happen to be CEO of PC World, that would link your outrage and your idiocy together nicely -- so I think that's what I'll bet on.
I think the real moral of the story is that pc world should be avoided at all costs 
even though its 3's offer both party are scammin bast**ds who pray on stupid people
'Most exalted'?????

By anyone who has an iota of technical knowledge, pc world is not held in high respects at all.

it is more known for overpriced, under spec'd machines with poor quality components.

only old people with no idea buy from PC world
re the 3 Gig of downloads..
Is this per annum or over the 18 months?
And any betting on how much of this will be taken up by Microsofts updates?
Might be attractive to people who can't afford to front up the £330 for the laptop... Then it looks like a low percentage finance option for buying it: 10% interest, assuming of course that same person wants mobile broadband from 3...
Anyway, most people are too dim to do the math of this offer, so I reckon it might go well.
The last comment is correct. However I thought the same thing as "Aurelien" at first.

The author, Paul Taylor, could have made his point more clear.
I don't understand what the problem is here. The BUZZ word of the offer is 'Contract'.

Most people dont have £330 to buy a new laptop. 

It is the same with mobile phones. I paid £269 for my iPhone. I am paying £45 a month for 18 months. Over 18 Months I would have paid, Into total £1079. Now. Is it really worth it? Yes!

Basically. PC World bundle the £30 extra onto the top as a lending fee, and IF you REALLY think about it, It is a good deal for those to whom it caters!

So yes. The Author is the one picking holes, and the only reason for it is to fill a space on this page.
it seems like a fair bit of data transfer the way they advertise it, but doesn't account for any overhead (-100 mp3s/month to account for windows updates, -all emails for antivirus updates, -25 web pages for 3 hours of video calls, etc. etc.). 3GB isn't unreasonable, but certainly isn't a lot by current standards.
god, if i wasn't confussed about all the small print b4 signin up 2 1 of these deals b4, I am now!!!! I understand how it all works out its basically a sheme 4 all us skint people who r burstin 2 get with the times, and mobile broadband is cheaper with some other companies, but as a 27yr old mum of 3 the option of buyin a computer out right is as likely as me winnin the lotto 2mo, with that and the pressure of the kids needin it for school etc is dawnin. Im so mad that some of u suggested that its just stupid people that sign up for these deals, u r obiously the 1s that r at home comfy on ur own computers. instead of visitin others to get web access. 
Back 2 the subject do the maths on this, mobile broadband with laptop 4 £30 a month 4 18 month ok whatever, or home broadband + gettin a landline + line rental + buyin a computer/laptop + broadband. 
Now some1 do the maths on that, if u can find me something cheaper and better im all ears.xx
The maths in this Article ARE correct, PC world even mention this in the small print of their instore leaflets advertising the "offer"...