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Orange offers free laptops
(23-07-07) - Orange is offering free laptops to customers willing to sign up to a mammoth two year contract in PC World stores.
The deal was launched last week, offering customers the chance to get their hands on an EI Systems 3101 worth over £300 and Orange said: “Tens of thousands of laptops are being made available to support the promotion.”
But is it really worth locking yourself into a two year contract for a laptop that isn’t very good anyway? The laptop has a 15.4-inch widescreen display, an Intel Celeron processor, 256MB of RAM, a 40GB hard drive, a DVD rewriter, and Windows XP Home. But the Orange package it comes isn’t very competitive either. For £14.99 a month (first three months half price), customers will get an up to 2Mb connection and a download allowance of only 2GB.
Read the table below to compare the Orange deal to others on the market.
£14.99 a month. Up to 2Mb, unlimited usage (fair usage applies), free UK weekend calls
£359.76
£359.76 if you live in an LLU area as you won’t have to pay line rental
If you don’t like the sound of the EI Systems 3101, you can opt for Orange’s more expensive package at £19.99 a month (first three months half price). Signing up for this package increases your speed to up to 8Mb with unlimited downloads (fair usage applies) and free calls to national and international landlines.
This will also allow you to either increase your laptop’s RAM, or get £350 off an in-store laptop. However this will also increase your costs over two years to £449.76 and a whopping £701.76 including BT’s line rental.
“There is always more to consider than price. People need to think about issues like customer service and reliability - and the fact that Orange Broadband consistently performs badly in customer polls and surveys - such as the recent Which? Broadband Satisfaction survey, where only 21 per cent of customers said they were ‘very satisfied’.”
The EI Systems 3101 has been taken off most shelves and replaced with newer models such as the 3102 and 3103. “The specifications of this laptop are not very appealing,” said Mr Phillips, “and I would advise customers to take a cheaper, faster package, and put the savings into a better laptop, without having to sign up for two years.
“The broadband market is evolving, with faster connections and better deals emerging all the time. By tying themselves into hefty contracts like this, customers will miss out on new offers with faster speeds, and the savings they present,” he added.
Although customers can get £350 off any laptop (bought in a PC World shop) by taking Orange’s £19.99 a month package, shopping around and buying from the internet can get you much cheaper PCs and laptops than if you bought one in a PC World store.
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