The definition of “free” took a bit of a kicking today as British retailer PC World started offering laptops for nothing, or almost nothing, as long as customers sign up for an 18 month long contract for mobile broadband from the 3 network.

Customers will be offered a choice of over ten Advent laptop computers, and get a discount worth £350 on the model of their choice, effectively making some of the budget laptops free, as they retail for less than that.

The only, and obvious, catch to the whole thing, is having to sign up for a £35 a month contract with the 3 network for mobile broadband. You will be tied in to the tariff for 18 months, and have a 3Gb a month download limit.

The thinking behind the whole plan is obviously to increase the sign up rate for mobile broadband, which hasn’t risen to anywhere near the expected levels. And as a bonus, PC World, one of the UK’s biggest purveyors of computer hardware, get to sell a shed load of “highly specified laptops” which no-one else probably wants to buy.

The problem, as The Inquirer have pointed out, is that a quick scratch under the surface reveals this isn’t quite the great deal it claims to be.

The 3gb download limit is the same as 3’s Broadband Plus tariff, which only costs £15 a month. So that’s £20 extra for the same service for 18 months, which unless I’m much mistaken equals £360.

So if you want a free £329.99 laptop for the “free” price of £360, head down to PC World today and pick yourself up a bargain.

If, on the other hand, you actually have some brain cells, just buy the laptop of your choice instead, and then get the mobile broadband tariff separately, and save yourself a tenner.

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Entry was posted on Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 at 6:06 pm under Cell phones, Internet, Opinion, Retail.

Read more entries by Dave Parrack.
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