$99 Acer Aspire One?

March 10, 2009 in Buying
Tags: acer, acer aspire one, acer mini laptop, acer mini notebook, att, radio shack

AT&T Wireless confirmed this week that it has been selling two netbooks from Dell Inc. and Acer Inc. for $99 apiece after rebates, but customers must commit to a two-year wireless Internet service contract for $60 a month.

But at $60 a month for this data service, a user will pay $1,440 over two years in addition to the $100 for the netbook.

Is this worth it?

There are 2 things to consider. The more important point is if you don’t already have Internet service, this might be worth it. You’ll have an Internet connection anywhere you are near a cell phone tower, which is more everywhere now.  If you transmit more than 5 GB a data per month, you’ll pay overage charges. (How much is 5 GB? Clicking about 30,000 web pages or downloading about 1600 songs.) If you already pay for high speed Internet and you have other computers, probably not worth it.

The second thing to consider is that the price is $99 after the rebate. And rebates generally don’t get processed for 12 to 16 weeks with cell phone companies. If the price was an issue, then think how long you can wait for your $250 to come in the mail. (And with Radio Shack you better believe they are charging the highest retail price allowed for a product.)