 
Boricua65
join:2002-01-26
Puerto Rico | They're crazy A 24-month contract at 60 costs $1440. It would be better to just buy the d**n thing for $399 and forget the contract.
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Yo te digo, el mundo esta jodido | |
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 | Turbocpe
Premium
join:2001-12-22
IA
| Re: They're crazy said by Boricua65  :A 24-month contract at 60 costs $1440. It would be better to just buy the d**n thing for $399 and forget the contract. This is aimed for those who want/need a netbook AND connectivity outside of the home. If your price is correct at $399 (haven't priced them for a few months), at $79, the user who needs BOTH netbook AND connectivity is saving $320
Netbooks are selling well, apparently, and I'm sure some users need connectivity beyond their home. | |
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| robert54
join:2001-12-01
San Bruno, CA | Re: Just one Comment Genius,sir is measured, and you get 100 pct! | |
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| dentman42
join:2001-10-02
Columbus, OH | Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries! | |
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TACSPEED
Premium
join:2001-04-14
Tacoma, WA
 ·Advanced Stream
| Ripoff Can you say Ripoff? I knew you could.
I was listening to Clark Howard the other day and one of the callers had a bill for over $60,000 for downloading a copy of Wall-E using a cell phone data plan.
Buyer beware! Run fast. Run far.
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Fiber Optics is the future of high-speed internet access. Stop by the BBR Fiber Optic Forum. | |
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Hpower
Roflmao
join:2000-06-08
Glendale, CA | pfft Ok I hope no one is stupid enough to fall for this. What a damn ripoff.
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The Internet is about to go down....it is actually. | |
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| fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Re: pfft How is this a rip off? You say it like everyone is in the same boat with the same situation and needs. If you're going to buy a netbook, and you're going to buy connectivity for it, then it seems pretty clear that it's a good deal.
If you're going to buy a netbook alone AND you're trying to reduce the cost by signing up for a plan to say a couple hundred, then no.. it's likely not a good deal for you.
These blanket statements are silly. | |
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| | beaups
join:2003-08-11
Hilliard, OH | Re: pfft Well put... | |
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| | Desdinova
join:2003-01-26
Gaithersburg, MD
| "How is this a rip off?"
I agree with your example about folks who need a hardware / connection plan, but charging the end user $500 for each gig over the five gig limit strikes me as redefining the word "rip-off". As I see it, either they're losing $420 a month with each customer or they're overcharging "abusers".
Yes, I understand that it's their service and no one is forced to get it, but rip-off is still a rip-off whether you get victimized by it or not.
I suspect that AT&T is hoping folks will be ignorant of the cap and how small it truly is and will rack up more modest overage fees. But if they can afford to sell you five gigs for $80 (actually less if you factor in the cost of the netbook), then why can't they bill overages at $16 a gig (the breakdown price) instead of $500? Other than rampant greed, I mean. | |
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| | | fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
1 edit | Re: pfft said by Desdinova :"How is this a rip off?" I agree with your example about folks who need a hardware / connection plan, but charging the end user $500 for each gig over the five gig limit strikes me as redefining the word "rip-off". As I see it, either they're losing $420 a month with each customer or they're overcharging "abusers". You are right, and probably a good discussion for another topic. This is about subsidized netbooks, not necessarily the connection plan itself.  But I do agree that the overage charges are criminal.
They're going push their data plans, and have been, with or with out the netbook involved. | |
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| | ditka_b
Premium
join:2001-10-05
Barrington, IL
 ·AT&T Midwest
| Can't agree more, If you plan to buy a netbook and want access this is a fantastic deal. You were going to pay the 60 a month anyways and use your shiny new net book why not get it almost free? 5GB? The crying over 5GB amazes me.
You can email and surf at will and never reach that. The ones complaining want to use wireless for downloading movies and such. Not possible but normal people surfing and emailing at will this is a fantastic deal. | |
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| | | TACSPEED
Premium
join:2001-04-14
Tacoma, WA | Re: pfft There is already one person who has just been handed a $5,000 bill for overage charges.
This is a ripoff plain and simple. Stay away from these creeps. | |
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| | | | ditka_b
Premium
join:2001-10-05
Barrington, IL | Re: pfft I guess they should read the contract? | |
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| | | | | ditka_b
Premium
join:2001-10-05
Barrington, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: pfft said by ditka_b :I guess they should read the contract? This was referring to the 5000.00 bill comment above.. | |
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battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000
| The only reason I would not buy off on the AT&T combo is that the card is built in to the netbook and I could not share the card between laptops.
The 5GB cap means nothing to me. I've got DSL at home and a DS3 at the office. I currently have a Verizon card and I am a very heavy downloader. I don't think I have hit even 1GB on the verizon in a months time. | |
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| | | | fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Re: pfft I agree with you in your post on all accounts.
I have a sprint connection card and love it. It saves me a lot of money when I travel over the (as some would call it) "criminal" $10 a day internet fees for a heavily shared, under powered WiFi connection that barely pushes 256k.
I get 5gb, loose, on Sprint. (actually, I'm still not yet affected by the caps they imposed on people) I surf pretty heavily when I'm gone.. I do typical email, surfing, PcAnywhere, even watch youtube and stream my sling box.. still don't come close to the 5gb.
And, like you, I prefer having a card to insert instead of it being built in. I can use my card on any computer, and do, and have a portable router for sharing. At home, I have Cable and DSL both for redundancy. I'm killing the DSL since cable has been pretty stable for me. However, IF the cable goes out, I still have a back up that I'm already paying for.
Personally, for me, THIS set up works. The way we all use the internet is totally customized to our own needs.. there is no one way it works for everyone when it comes to connection. | |
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corinthos
join:2007-10-09 | etf? ETF still 175 on it like other phones? | |
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| iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO | Re: etf? You've got a point 
Buy netbook, sign up for data plan, have service for a month, kill data plan, end up with a cheaper netbook. | |
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Hpower
Roflmao
join:2000-06-08
Glendale, CA
·Charter Pipeline
| netbook Too bad I can't check to see what the limitations are on that wonderful two year 3g data contract. That would determine for me if its a good deal. $79 is pretty cheap but if its too good to be true, it probably is.
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The Internet is about to go down....it is actually. | |
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corinthos
join:2007-10-09 | etf? My work reimburses me for a tethering package anyways. Depends if they still have the decline etfs and they aren't too much I might get this. I want a decent etf so if I get fired I can just cancel the damn thing. | |
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davidpaj
join:2002-04-22 | Sprint Version? Well, I travel a lot so it would make since for me... Problem is... Sprint is the only provider of high speed data here.... | |
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| xenophon
join:2007-09-17
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Re: Sprint Version? Buy a netbook separately with no contract and get a Sprint USB device or use your Sprint phone. I just use my Sprint phone tethered to my Acer netbook using PDANet on Treo at no additional monthly charge.
Advantage is you can move the Sprint USB device or phone to any computer or use it on a router. Internal 3g devices lock you in and are not movable - not worth it in the end. | |
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robert54
join:2001-12-01
San Bruno, CA | att they love everyone-about as much as a hooker loves a john, in fact, less, as they will try to burgle your pockets. | |
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PastTense5
join:2007-05-15 | How much connectivity time do you get? With a 5 GB limit how much connectivity time does this get you for average usage? | |
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ohellothere
@pacbell.net
| Re: 5GB you can't just buy it then pay the etf, the contract says if you cancel within 90 days you have to return the netbook to the store ontop of paying the etf + 3 months of service you paid for. better off buying the 10 inch version (the att 3g is 8inch) and just tethering a phone with your carrier and paying for the access when you need it. (i work at radioshack) | |
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| TACSPEED
Premium
join:2001-04-14
Tacoma, WA | What a bunch of sleazoids!!! $500 per Gigabyte for overage. | |
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cho0b
join:2006-09-26
united state | raged lol the investors.com article is down. | |
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SSidlov
Other Things On My Mind
Premium
join:2000-03-03
Pompton Lakes, NJ
·Optimum Online
·Cingular Wireless
| It include ATT's WiFi Connect Basic if you can switch to the ATT WiFi connect service like all the other dataconnect plans, it is, I believe, a way around the 5GB cap. ATT WiFi is available at all Starbucks, McD's, B&N, etc.
Even if it is not included, the Premier version is only $19 a month. You could buy the lap for $399 and pay $19 a month for the WiFi service....should be adequate for most people and if it has caps it will be more like regular broadband 20G or better.
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»www.Warpstock.org
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podstolom
@kanren.net
| Americans just don't get it This is hilarious how Americans holler what a ripoff it is, and European providers have been offering subsidized notebooks for about a year now, with tremendous uptake. American telco monthly data fees, caps and overage costs are the problem here, not the subsidy.
American fixed broadband is even worse. TWC abandoning DOCSIS 3.0 because they can't implement their crummy profit-gouging tiers and caps, while European and Asian pipes scream at 20-100 Mbs unlimited at $30-$40/mo US equivalent.
The audacious and shameful extent of American corporate greed is atrociously unbelievable. | |
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| steve19726
bum
Premium
join:2002-01-17
Chicago, IL
clubs: | Re: Americans just don't get it $60 for 5GB a month? What a joke! | |
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AT&T Offering $79 Subsidized Netbook
