RSS
Home
Best Buy, Sprint giving away netbooks -- sort of
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
You had to know this was going to happen once phone companies got involved in the netbook market: Hardware subsidies would start cropping up, and soon the selling price drops toward nothing. As long as you tie yourself into a long contract, of course.
First to the bottom is Sprint, which is teaming up with Best Buy to offer a Compaq Mini with decent specs (16GHz processor, 160GB hard drive) for a buck. In exchange, you have to sign up for a two-year data plan from Sprint, at a cost of roughly $60 a month.
Opt for a similar two-year contract with Verizon or AT&T, and the netbook costs $200. Ditch wireless service altogether, and you're talking $390.
USA Today, BTW, has some interesting analysis of why the U.S. phone industry may have to migrate away from the subsidy-and-slavery model of selling hardware, as more consumers get used to the idea of freedom and transparent pricing.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
