Free Laptops

For some time now, mobile phone networks and retailers have been offering free or subsidised handsets when you sign up for one of their plans usually for a period of 12 or 18 months. Its great for consumers since they get the latest handsets without having to pay the full price and the networks are happy since they are assured custom for the stipulated length of the contract, in other words, the customers are locked to the network. However, the market for voice and text services is riddled with competitors and is also becoming saturated since there is a limit to how much people would talk or send text messages.

However, many people are now beginning to access the internet for applications such as chatting, e-mails, local maps, etc. via their mobile phones. But, the mobile phone has limitations, the most obvious being processing power and screen size. Laptop computers have become the new "handsets" which mobile networks are now offering for free when you sign up for one of their mobile broadband deals. It all started about a year ago when Carphone warehouse started offering a Dell laptop when you signed up for their Talk Talk or AOL broadband package. Now, Orange, T-Mobile and Hutchitson 3 have joined the bandwagon with their own mobile broadband deals offering free laptops. More networks offering such deals would force them to reduce prices on their tariffs. This would be beneficial for those looking to surf the internet on the move as they wouldn’t have to invest in a laptop, especially for those who don’t already own one or are looking to upgrade theirs soon.

However, with the credit crunch affecting high street sales, it is likely that stores will offer heavy discounts on consumer electronics making it cheap to buy laptops which might deter people from signing on to such deals.