Comments on: Sprint sells Netbook for a buck

Sprint and Best Buy are selling a Compaq Netbook for 99 cents as the wireless operator tries to entice subscribers to sign up for its two-year wireless data plan.

[monkeyfun14]

Do these things work on Wifi?

[Vegaman_Dan]

They do indeed and have normal ethernet ports as well.

[jaguar717]

200 and 250 megs per MONTH? That's nuts. These days that's effectively zero, both in terms of network capacity and in terms of content. That'll get you, what, 1 movie?

The 5 gig plan should be the barebones one, and the other option should either be unlimited or some value high enough that it's effectively unlimited unless you're using the service drastically differently than intended. Say 50+ gigs.

[monkeyfun14]

I think they plans are so stringent cause of cellular network congestion

[pianom4n]

I agree, 250MB is nothing. That's not even enough for web browsing. Your average page (like this one) is 1MB nowadays. That works out to $0.16 for every page you visit.

I know they're networks are congested, but the problem is that the only people who would by the baseline plan are the ones who don't realize how little 250MB is.

[ittesi259]

A netbook isn't designed to for intense multimedia anyway, but for browsing and productivity work.

[pianom4n]

Yeah, but 250MB is 8 pages per day. I don't know about you, but I visit 8 pages just reading news stories before I start to work.

I don't have a problem with price discrimination, but the base plan is there just to catch fools.

[faceless128]

250gb a month?

thats a dozen youtube videos...

[Draxon]

First off I'm sure you meant to say MB not gb, second off you tube videos run about 2-5mb so 250MB is about 100 you tube videos, finally the 250MB plan is designed for people to check e-mail, stocks, etc. You'd be surprised how much work you can get done using very little bandwidth, its the slacking that requires lots of bandwidth.

[sinrtb]

I have to say if this was in GB rather then MB or if one of the plans was unlimited it would be tempting. But there is no way i'm paying for both the netbook and a service plan that doesn't offer any real service. 250MB is only a couple hours of surfing at best. You wouldn't even be able to use it as a Skype cellphone replacement.

[Random_Walk]

There's no way I'd pay for a data plan for something that isn't a cell phone. No frickin' way.

There are too many free WiFi hotspots in my area (including PDX airport). Also, if I'm away from a wifi hookup, I can't think of anything at all that I need online that I can't already get with my Crackberry... certainly nothing worth shelling out an additional $$$ per month for.

[heavydevelopment]

A couple medium to large size images and you are over 250MB. 5GB at $40 a month and I would consider it. LOL, I wonder when tethering will be allowed on the iPhone? Ummmm.......never? Or wait, AT&T will charge $75 for that service in that it's unlimited data.

[da_bombdiggidy]

Truth be told, they already allow it. You just have to have a means to do it. I have Netshare on my iPhone and surfing is blazing fast. You can also use hack to allow an iPhone to do it without jailbreaking and so far AT&T has said they won't pursue offenders. Enjoy it while it lasts.

[jhhooeyy]

Anybody who buys the hardware they personally use from the very same people who supply the connection, isp, cell service, cable tv, whatever is getting ripped off, plain and simple. Most people already have a home connect they pay for. So now you get charged double for when your not at home? CRAZY. When I leave my house, I am NOT daydreaming of what's happening on the internet. Besides, smartbooks are next, incorporating gps AND cellular capabilities. Those two features are much more useful than some corporate slave contract that allows you access to youtube.

[jhhooeyy]

Anybody who buys the hardware they personally use from the very same people who supply the connection, isp, cell service, cable tv, whatever is getting ripped off, plain and simple. Most people already have a home connect they pay for. So now you get charged double for when your not at home? CRAZY. When I leave my house, I am NOT daydreaming of what's happening on the internet. Besides, smartbooks are next, incorporating gps AND cellular capabilities. Those two features are much more useful than some corporate slave contract that allows you access to youtube.

[Dan7637]

instead people should just get a smartphone , they do all the things netbooks aka weakbooks are designed to do plus its more portable and include data plans

[forever4now]

The new generation of smartbooks/netbooks running Android are likely to support mobile phone calls, SMS/MMS, etc. anyway, so they will essentially be smartphones with bigger screens & keyboards. I would expect such devices to be more attractive to companies with a mobile workforce (e.g. realtors, service & repair companies, etc.) than general consumers.

[jscott418]

Unless your liking your carrier a LOT. Your better off buying a net book on its own. These deals are such a rip off that its scary.

[ubfresh12]

There are some excellent and cost effective ways to reduce your data transfer amounts and never exceed the 5Gb max. We are using these Netbooks very efficiently with all our remote users through our CaaS hosted solutions.

[da_bombdiggidy]

Makes me laugh that everyone looks at the wireless cost and not consider the overall cost. These devices a pretty much a waste in the consumer market. When you compare the cost of this device and a low cost laptop and then factor the limited usage, ability to upgrade hardware, loss of HDD space doing service upgrades, missing components... This is a bad deal all over.

[ubfresh12]

You have obviously not explored these devices as a thin client appliance. You don't need much if any harddrive space to speak of as the data resides in a secure facility with as much disk space as you will ever need. All the apps and services are delivered in a hosted model. We deliver this to our clients and It works! Change your paradigm.

[da_bombdiggidy]

ubfresh, please note my comment above "consumer market" Who are your customers?

[ubfresh12]

Our customer is anyone who wants to take all the guesswork out of computing. A "consumer" in the market is anyone with a dollar who needs someone to tell them where to spend it, right? Take a look at a the total cost of ownership be they a business consumer or an individual. Computing as a Service is a very attractive model, period!

[i_am_still_wade]

Since you have to use Sprint, this is still not worth it. Anybody who has ever tried Sprint help knows exactly what I am talking about. They are both rude and incompetent. Oh, and the actual service itself is bad too.

[hk2000]

That is absolutely not true! I've had Sprint service for over 4 years now with no issues whatsoever- never needed their Tech Support though. AT&T/ Cingular on the other hand was a recurring monthly headache around billing time. they never got the bill right. and their customer service was just as bad.

I agree with hk2000. I've used Sprint for 10 years, Verizon for 3 and Sprint is way better in almost all aspects. Better service and honest. (Just look at Verizon broadband coverage map S of Tulsa. It is not accurate at all, and Sprint has even better coverage than their map implies.) My wife loves the netbook I got her (though with 16 GB flash & we use it with the MiFi). Rapid boot, extreme lightweight and does exactly what she needs - email & web surfing. There is a place for most everything in life - some people prefer laptops, some prefer netbook. My kids used the netbook/MiFi combo in the car on a roadtrip across the US. Coverage everywhere. Don't get that with just wifi. For some the 5GB/$60/mo is worth it. According to both Sprint & Verizon calculations, it's worth it enough for enough people to make a profit from it.

[53645]

Not sure if anyone else jnoticed this but I copy/pasted the laptop model into bestbuy.coms search and the notebook that came up has a 16g harddrive. Not a 160g

[ubfresh12]

HP's come in a variety of HD sizes from 16Gb solid state to 160Gb SATA drives.
The Verizon version has an 80Gb SATA drive. You really want to make sure you get the 6 cell batteries and not the standard 3 cell (8.5hrs versus 3hrs is huge), especially if you are running the 3G service and Bluetooth at the same time...ouch!

[chuck_whealton]

Absolutely incredible. What a bad deal.

How is Sprint still in business? I'm sorry, but I had these guys years back. Towards the end of my 2 year contract, the hinge on my flip phone died. I asked them if they would give my wife and I a deal on two new phones IF I SIGNED ON FOR ANOTHER 2 YEARS. They were more intent on screwing me over for the cost of a new phone then having me for another two years. Somebody needs to explain the lifetime value of a customer to them.

5GB of data? That's absurd - whether it's AT&T, Sprint or any other carrier. I'm using T-Mobile with a G1 now and so far, I'm VERY happy.