http://www.hp-at-home.com/products/pavilionPCs/specifications.php?modelNumber=ct923 They have this computer bundle at Circuit City for $399 after all rebates and deductions. The catch is that you have to sign a 3-year contract with Compuserve for their internet service @ 21.95/month. This seems like a pretty good deal, but I don't know much about computers and would like some opinions on whether or not this is a good buy. Currently, I am using WebTV to surf the internet and that is all I have ever owned. I am completely lost when it comes to (Mhz), (MB), and (Disk Drive Space). I would mainly be using the computer for surfing the net, recording CDs, and typing documents for classes in college. Anybody ever sign up for one of these deal with a retail store? $400 is my limit right now as far as spending money on a computer, so this seems to be perfect. What do you think? Please don't ignore this, and reply if you can because I want to make a decision by mid-day. Thanks!!!
That's a good system. A bit overpowered for what you'll be using it for, but you never know when you'll get hooked on a cool new game or something that requires a lot of processing power and RAM. Two things 1) Watch out for those mail in rebates. Sometimes, you might not get them for six or eight months, if at all 2) $21.95/month is way too much for dial up internet access...Plus, if you decide to cancel before the three years is up, there's a hefty cancellation fee, or you might end up having to pay the rest off anyways...be sure you read all the fine print...There are plenty of ISPs that you can get for 10 or 15 bucks per month...
I would say that is not a bad deal if you don't have a computer at all. Obviously, the computer will have mediocre performance compared to what is available today. However, the fact that you get a 40Gig HD, 15" monitor, and HP CD burner along with it is nice. It appears the motherboard has both integrated audio and video. Don't plan on upgrading your video to the best as you can only possibly upgrade to a PCI video card where everyone knows AGP video cards are the best. If your a gamer, then this computer may be adequate for playing some older games but will probably not do so well with the latest computer games. I would like to see this computer play Max Payne...that would be a laugher. Maybe if you turned everything to low settings it would be acceptable. On the other hand, if you just want a PC to surf the Net and use for MS Office and other productivity software, then this is more than adequate. Hell, my parents surf the web on a 200 Mghz Pentium Pro and run productivity software. They are more than fine. Windows ME is probably not the fastest OS for this system. I would probably go with Windows 98 as it performs better and I believe it is more reliable than ME. All in all....$399 for a Celeron system is not too shabby with the add-ons. I don't know if I could build the same system that cheap from just buying components....it may be possible but I doubt it. Surf
do the math... the internet contract alone is almost $800!!! if you add that to the price of the PC you get about $1190... I personally wouldn't get a Celeron, but for the basic to average user it would be fine... that internet contract would kill me though, that's half the cost of dsl or twice as much as a basic ISP... good luck in your decision. rH
countingcrow, whatever your decision may be, you are not showing numbers that are hard to come by. Why are you saying, "I have to make a decision by mid-day." Are you saying you have to buy a computer, and this is the best deal? Or are you saying you have to jump on this deal? This latter reason is incorrect, imo. This is a common deal. personally, I would not recommend signing a 3-yr deal for a slow connection ISP, especially if you main use for the computer is for internet use.
400 is not bad at all for the system, but DO NOT sign that contract!!! Even though Compuserve/AOL are not as bad as they used to be, dialup is on its way out the door. You could build a kickass system for about $700 ... (monitor always kicks my ass) But as CrackHEAD said, the 800 for the ISP is not worth it at all!
Yeah...I missed the contract part...I thought it said 3 months. The actual price of your computer is pretty high if you take into account the stupid internet access overpricing. That is how they get the last laugh and that is why they have all the add-ons to make it appear to be a good deal. I almost fell for it until rockHEAD pointed out my error . I would have caught it eventually. My advice would be don't do it. Pay a little more to buy a PC without an Internet contract. $21.95 a month for 56K dial-up may have been a good deal a few years ago but not any more. I pay $30 for cable and I think that is still too much. Shop around for a refurbished at Dell or something. I doubt you will find a similar price to this one without requiring an internet contract. 3 years is a long time....damn rip-off artists at work here. I found a refurbished Dell 933 PIII but it was without a monitor and you won't get the CD burner, either, at $599. I think you need to go down in speed to a Celeron 500 or so with a 75 Mghz front side bus and a smaller hard drive on e-bay or somewhere. good luck, Surf
