Sign up with AOL Broadband – get a free Dell laptop

By Stevie Smith Jul 23, 2007, 13:11 GMT

Following on from last week’s news that UK-based Internet service provider Orange is using the promise of a free laptop from PC World in order to lure customers into signing a two-year broadband contract, Dell Inc. has now joined with AOL Broadband for a similar promotional scheme.

From September of this year, customers signing onto a two-year broadband contract with AOL (via UK-based mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse) will receive a special coupon duly entitling them to a free Dell Inspiron laptop.

Unlike the basic 14.99 GBP per month 2Mbit broadband deal on offer with Orange, the monthly fee for AOL broadband is 19.99 GBP. The 2Mbit Orange broadband deal can be upgraded to an 8Mbit 19.99GBP deal however, which sees the customer able to boost the RAM of their laptop or take a 350 GBP coupon against any laptop at participating PC World branches.

The major differences between the two incentive deals arrive in the hardware stakes however, with the base-model Dell Inspiron offering considerably more bang for its contractual buck against the Ei Systems hardware, report online tech gurus PCWorld.com.

While both laptops sport Intel’s value Celeron processor, the Dell deal delivers 1GB of RAM compared to Orange’s 256MB. Signing to Dell will also secure Microsoft Vista Home Basic and an 80GB HDD, while penning with Orange will garner Windows XP Home and a 40GB HDD. The Inspiron also comes equipped with Wi-Fi, which the Ei Systems’ laptop does not have, and it is also upgradeable – for a further fee.

Exclusive benefits connected to the Orange deal include a cheaper monthly rate and a half price payment scheme for the first three months. The Dell deal will see customers incurring an additional 14.99 GBP charge for the delivery of the laptop, though it does come complete with a wireless router.

A spokeswoman representing Dell Inc. has commented that the incentive deal with Carphone Warehouse is an extension of the computer giant’s strategy in the retail arena as it continues to break free of its ‘online only’ image. She also said that other retail deals would soon be making appearances around the world.

Ovum PLC analyst Jonathan Coham has said that such incentive deals cater specifically for "very low-margin customers," namely those who don’t have broadband access and/or capable computer hardware. He also went on to suggest that both Orange and Carphone Warehouse are unlikely to reap a great deal financially "on top of what they are getting from the broadband subscriber."