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We've all seen those great $499 computers being advertised by companies with their interns and cute cow colored boxes. Wow! Does $499 sound like a deal too good to be true?
We set out to see if we could really get a brand new computer for $499 so we logged onto their sites and ran through their excruciating online ordering process. By no means are these online ordering sites designed for the pure computer novice because there were items that should have been included but instead were set up as options and there were other items that should have been set up as options but were included.
The conditions we set for ourselves were that we'd pretend to be a novice to average user who would need some help to set up their computer system at home. While a lot of people are capable of setting up their own computer system, we made an allowance for those who just might happen to need a little help.
The first thing we noticed in the case of the interns' computer was that there was no option to instantly buy it for $499. Instead you have to click their "Customize" button to start through the process of building your computer online. We also noted that at this point it is listed as "no floppy disk drive". So much for using all the files you've stored on your 3.5 inch floppy disks!
We ignored all of the tempting "Great Add-ons for this system". There were things listed such as an "all-in-one" printer for $129, an upgrade to their "3-year At-Home Warranty Service" for $139, and Norton Antivirus for $45. We passed on the printer because we could pick one up locally from WalMart just as cheap but without paying for shipping. We also passed on the optional warranty service because most computers will not break down within the first year if properly cleaned and maintained. We also passed on the Norton Antivirus because we know their systems come preloaded with a complimentary 3-month subscription from McAfee and then we could renew at the end of three months for just $29. This already results in 15-months of virus protection for just $29.
When we clicked the "Customize" button to proceed to the next step in this long process we were shocked that the price now shown was a whopping $649. Underneath the price was stated "before $150 mail-in rebate". That's just great! Now we'll have to deal with mailing in a rebate coupon, perhaps cutting out UPC symbols, and jumping through other hoops only to wait 6-8 weeks for our refund. Alright, we'll proceed and play this game to the end.
The only thing we added on this "Select System Components" page was a 3.5 inch floppy disk drive for $20. Even though we already know that the "30Gb Value Hard Drive" is most likely a slow and lumbering 5200 RPM disk drive, we went ahead and left it on without upgrading to a speedier 7200 RPM disk drive for $20 more. Remember, we want to see just how cheap we can get this computer after all is said and done. Selecting the floppy disk drive brought our new price up to $669.
Clicking the "Continue" button took us to their "Select Services and Support" page. We selected the "After-Hours PC Home Installation" for another $139 because our test condition requires that we figured we might need a little help. We left the rest of the checkboxes alone making sure that none of them were adding anything else to the price. We figured the standard one-year warranty would suffice provided we performed our own system maintenance.
Clicking the "Continue" button took us to their "Select Accessories" page. Again, we were presented with a lot of tempting candy items. We also passed on all of these items. We figured we'd use our existing surge suppressor or uninterruptible power supply. If not, we can always buy one on our next trip to WalMart and save on shipping charges.
Next it was time to put the pedal to the metal and proceed to the checkout. We clicked the "Add to Cart" button and after reviewing all the system configuration we clicked the "Checkout" button.
We filled out all of the required fields to create our online account and then verified our shipping address. Next we selected the least expensive shipping option which was $99 for 3-5 day ground delivery. Wow! Hope it arrives all in one piece and that the CRT monitor's color guns don't become misaligned during the bumpy ride in the country to get to us here in Kerrville.
With shipping charges the total cost of the system came to $907 (plus tax). Oops! We almost forgot about the rebate offer. Strangely enough their "Cart" page makes no further mention of the rebate and where to obtain the rebate certificate. How many peoply just might forget about their rebate at this point? Nah! They wouldn't design their website this way hoping you'd forget about the rebate! Or would they? After all the hoops we just went through, we almost forgot to take into account the $150 rebate offer. Now we'll have to track down the proper page to print the rebate coupon and then jump through hoops again while we wait for another 6-8 weeks for our rebate to arrive.
After we figured in the $150 rebate the total cost of this $499 system actually came to $757 (plus tax) including delivery and set up. Even if we didn't opt for the $139 installation charge this stripped down $499 computer system actually came to $618 (plus tax). Before the year is up we'll probably spend more money to upgrade the amount of installed memory, upgrade the operating system, video display adapter so we can play the latest games, and perhaps even add another hard disk drive.
Wow! So what happened to that $499 computer system? Looks like a lot of smoke and mirrors as Alice goes wandering through their Website Wonderland.
Our conclusion is that there are no $499 computers to be had. We had similar experiences with the other big black-and-white logo company's online website ordering system. Unless you have enough knowledge to pick out all of the options you're going to need for your home office or business requirements and know how to set up that computer yourself, you may be better off consulting and buying a computer locally.
Remember the old adage that "you get what you pay for" before you buy that next cheap computer.
(If the Tip-of-The-Week generates additional thought-provoking questions on your part that you would like us to personally answer, give us a call at 895-5016 to set up an appointment, or consider using our online AskBrightIdeas.com service.)
