PC Mag wasn't exactly bowled over by the
subscription-based Zonbu desktop, but that didn't stop them from coming back for another go 'round with the similarly subscription-happy
Zonbu laptop, which they found a bit more to like about. While they again found the low upfront cost ($279, in this case) to be the laptop's biggest selling point, they also found it to be a good deal more capable than the desktop, thanks in no small part to its 60GB hard drive (as opposed to the 4GB flash drive and 25GB of online storage the desktop offered). As you might have guessed, however, they found the laptop's VIA processor and graphics chip to be more than a tad lacking, and those recurring monthly bills could have you thinking twice about your decision after a while.
posted Feb 14th 2008 12:27PM
Why would I want to pay per month for a shitty laptop?
if you gotta ask that question, you're definately not their target audience. lol.
I could get a better laptop than that for the initial price only from a pawnshop, or ebay.
=)
I like your picture.
yeah, it's bad ass!
Only saw it in the corner of my eye until I read that comment, thought it was a mushroom haha.
lol.. =)
You two get a room.
actually it's a picture of this chick with a t-shirt saying "i love my geek"
Leasing and renting only benefit the business. Consumers get screwed out of far more than if they bought the unit outright.
Yeah I see no benefit for an individual to lease a computer, not when computers are so relatively cheap now.
Huh? Monthly fees for hardware? Well, if they're going to come to my home and upgrade my processor and video card, maybe. As long as it's at 3:00 a.m. while I'm asleep and it requires a reboot when I wake up! Husker du!
WTF? Obviously geared toward the "Hi, I'm Stupid and here's my wallet" crowd.
Ditto the above on rented software for future posts on that subject.
A "subscription PC" sounds like a fancy way to say "rent to own."
Yea, but do you even get to "own" the pc though?
I -think- you get to own the PC after you pay all of a 2 year subscription. Similar to the US cell phone business model.
I know this is what alot of companies think this is the future (including Nick Carr, as described in "The Big Switch: Rewiring the World from Edison to Google") but I dont like it.
I will refuse to be forced to pay for computing like a subscription.
To me it subtracts from the over all ability. You are truly limited to what they will let you do, and that slows down inovation.
Why won't a company just go ahead and release a cheap [er than the EEE] subnotebook/notebook? "Subscription based Laptop"? W-T-F?
What amazes me is the introduction of these solid state drives when the price point on them is still so high. The AirBook, the new ThinkPad X300, this Zonbu monstrosity... We really have gotten to the point that physical storage is going to cost us more than storing data remotely. Forget the solid state drive; GoogleOS anyone?
Well, I guess in order to have fairly cheap SSD oneday, somebody has to first purchase it right ?
What happens if you load it with ubuntu?
And if you read the original article, it says that "root is locked down", which means they have restricted your use and access on (at least) a software level. This could be fixed by formatting the HD possibly, but why would you pay per month for something that you cant even use like you want to.
Thats like leasing a car that you can only drive on certain roads and at certain times of the day. Pfft. Ridiculous. Im sorry if anyone out there did this, but you got ripped off.
sounds like a certain new very expensive nissan *cough* GTR *cough*
Wow, what a great concept, NOT!
Last week Office Depot had a Compaq on sale for $299 with a real processor. Specs:
15.4" Widescreen
Pentium dual-core T2330
1 GB DDR2 Memory
80 GB Hard Drive
Vista Home Basic
(Okay, so this was after rebate and they tacked on a mandatory shipping charge, but the point is that the price point is very close to what Zonbu is charging for their underpowered unit.)
With the way Office Depot handles their rebates, that is no deal.
I'll give them a month before they come to their senses and drop the subscription thingy...