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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: isdsms who wrote (38866)	12/6/1998 8:49:00 AM
From: rupert1	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

Message from "helpinout" ____________________________ OT victor by: hlpinout You are correct. Irish/Italian Please feel free to edit any posting and to all over there, thanks and my appreciation for an enjoyable thread. I often feel like the guy sitting in the corner of say, Cheers, watching and listening to the regulars. Good Investing

To: isdsms who wrote (38866)	12/6/1998 8:53:00 AM
From: rupert1	Respond to of 97611

Misleading Rebates by: hlpinout So far Compaq seems to be handling their rebates fine. December 07, 1998, Issue: 229 Section: Opinion/Editorial Time to 'Just Say No' To the Addiction Of Misleading Rebates Mark Harrington Two years after state governments cracked down on deceptive zero-percent finance offers, retailers are flocking to offer Internet-service-based rebates with a similar addictive zeal-and may be on the same collision course. As the rebates kick into high gear on low-priced PCs, public disenchantment with terms and advertising tactics could lead to new government scrutiny. In what appears to be the most questionable use of such offers, one retailer during the Thanksgiving day weekend advertised a system with two $100 Internet service rebates. Customers who rushed blindly to the store could not have been happy when they were told the implications of the deal-having to sign up for two ISPs at once-if, indeed, they were told. The problem isn't with the offers themselves. Compaq's $100 rebate is pretty straightforward, for instance. Customers who register on its site receive $100. But other offers that require customers to pay cash for an allotted period before they're eligible for the rebate skirt the line. Similarly, offers that disqualify users who are already subscribers of a service open retailer advertising to valid complaints. With 12 million America Online subscribers in the market, and with second- and third-time PC purchasers making up a good portion of sales, there's a fair likelihood many customers already have the service. That raises the question: Should retailers change the way they advertise the offers? Is it fair, for instance, to make the after-rebate price of a system most prominent, when customers have to jump through a considerable number of hoops to get the $100? It's a question retailers ought to examine more carefully. When there's a fair chance many consumers won't be eligible for some of the rebates at all, retailers would be well-advised to make the rebate offers distinctly subordinate. The real danger with wrongly playing the Internet rebate game is that consumers, drawn to stores by the cash-back incentives, will be left with a bad impression of the retailer, the PC maker, or even the Web. The most straightforward of these offers are aimed at getting customers up and running on the Web. All should have that clear aim. Don't let the lure of the Web draw your store into misleading customers. If significant hurdles exist to get the rebate, don't play up the after-rebate price. We've been down this road before. Some customers no doubt are still working to pay off those "no interest" finance offers. And state governments already know under which rocks to look.

To: isdsms who wrote (38866)	12/6/1998 1:11:00 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Ira, I still like Dell and my sources tell me the server biz is exceeding estimates. I dont know whats up with the new sub-1000 offerings, why they did it, etc. I know last year Dell was opposed to offering anything in that price point, but chips have come down, so who knows? The point is I dont think there is much you can read into that news. Otoh the stock seems to have stalled a bit and there are other stocks I would buy now, in fact my entire portfolio did well last month with the exception of Dell, which was down. Msft is doing great! As is csco. And Im getting into the internets, I had a surprise gain with inktomi and moved a bunch of that into Doubleclick. Dell isnt like the software stocks I used to be in, psft and the like which are completely flat... Im sure Dell will start moving again but for now it just seems like there are better opportunities. BTW Ive always liked Dell better than Cpq but you know how it is once you work somewhere, the enemy is the enemy forever. But I think we can all agree that Dell v Cpq aside, Sun and the server companies are going to be hurting as a result of the server offerings coming from the boxmakers. Im sure this shift will generate plenty of upside in both Dell and Cpq. Michelle