• by Paul Gough , December 4, 2003

Through the end of the month, you can buy a new PC for $299.

It's a pretty good deal for the price, with a 1.7GHz Celeron processor, 256MB of RAM, an Ethernet card, a 40GB hard drive, monitor, even a printer and a 56K modem.

That's right, there's a catch. You gotta commit to AOL's dial-up service for a year at $23.90 a month. You may get an Ethernet card with your new computer, but you're going to be using the modem to access AOL.

Like other Internet providers, AOL has been trying to fend off attacks from not only broadband Internet but also from the discounters like NetZero, which are offering dial-up for as little as $9.95 a month. AOL lost 2 million or so subscribers in the past year, dropping to 24 million overall, and no one thinks that's the floor.

It's a good price for a computer, and even if it isn't the latest model, it's a pretty good second or kids computer. I know, because we have almost the same computer for the kids at home, buying all but the printer for about $400 last year at Circuit City. But on the other hand, when you factor in a year of dial-up, then the $299 PC actually costs more. Or not, considering that we pay $40-something a month for broadband at home.

So while AOL's decline is real, it's a bit unclear whether a bargain-basement price on a PC is enough to get people to stay with dial-up. It can't be any kind of incentive for most people to switch from broadband back to dial-up, unless you're on a severe budget.

You can make the decision yourself. Check it out at 299pcdeal.com.

But hurry, because as they say in the business, the offer's good through the end of the month or while supplies last.

--Paul J. Gough