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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: AnnieO who wrote (135521)	7/5/1999 3:00:00 PM
From: DellFan	Respond to of 176388

'Free' computers draw customers to area stores Staff report DAYTONA BEACH - Curious shoppers raced to area electronics stores Friday to check out new promotions offering them a personal computer for almost nothing. America Online, Microsoft and Prodigy, three big names in Internet access, announced rebate plans that in effect provide PCs for free to anyone who agrees to buy their services for three years. Other major Internet providers are expected to follow suit in coming weeks. Jeff Murphy, manager of the Office Depot store at 1560 S. Nova Road, said his store received a flurry of customers Friday morning, the starting point of the promotion. "A free computer, you can't beat that," he said. A corporate spokesman asserted Office Depot was getting a strong response to the offer but he did not provide any national or local sales figures for first-day results. The promotion offers a $400 rebate on selected computers made by eMachines Inc. to anyone who subscribes to AOL's $21.95-a-month CompuServe Internet access for three years. The cheapest eMachines model is $399, in effect making it free. However, a monitor has to be purchased separately. Prodigy announced a similar three-year deal for any brand of computer bought at Best Buy stores. Its Internet access costs $19.95 a month. A spokesman at Best Buy said only about four or five people came in looking for the "free" computers. Charles Field speculated that the slow start might be due to the three-year commitment required. "A lot of people may already have an access service," he added. Another retailer suggested a shortage of local dial-up lines in Volusia and Flagler counties for some of the major Internet providers could also be posing a sales barrier.