Redten Internet giving away PC and broadband for £20pm. Good deal?
Redten Internet have announced a new deal primarily aimed at people without a PC who want to get into broadband. For £20 per month, they’ll get a LG Pentium 4 3GHz PC and 19 inch LCD monitor and an ‘up to 8Mbps’ broadband service.
You become tied in to the service for a three year contract, after which you either cancel – in which case the PC is taken away – or you continue in which case Redten say they’ll upgrade the PC.
The spec of the PC isn’t bad, though it’s a Pentium 4 PC deal that you become stuck with for 3 years at a time when a lot of the PC world is going dual core (maybe this is old stock, he says cynically).
As with all packages like this, you may not get the full 8Mbps, but that’s mainly down to BT and the quality of your cabling, distance from the exchange, and so on. Redten say they’ll upgrade customers to a 24Mbps service when the technology allows it – again that’s likely down to BT to sort out.
There’s also ongoing customer support thrown in, and a free upgrade to Vista when it comes out.
Is it a good deal? Well, you could probably get a higher specification PC for less money, but you’ll have to pay for it up front. You can also get cheaper broadband deals. There is also £49.99 initial charge for installation.
Being tied in to a plan for three years also feels a bit risky, but then they have to recoup some cash from you. And you never own the PC, it’s effectively rented to you.
What do you think?
Redten Internet
4 comments
I have had my Redten broadband and PC since January 2007 but have not yet received my Vista Home Premium upgrade although their distributor, Buhl Data Service has taken payment from my account, however this was a couple of weeks ago and it stated that I should receive the upgrade within 3-4 weeks.
It seems that whenever they “run out” of PCs they cease responding to e-mail and telephone queries. I was on the verge of taking County Court action earlier this month when I suddenly received an e-mail from one of their staff who referred to my e-mail query dated 06 February regarding the upgrade. I received another reply confirming that Buhl would be sending my upgrade in 3-4 weeks time.
They have since stopped responding to e-mail again and I learned that they have suspended the package deal as they have run out of PCs, this is poor customer service and totally unacceptable.
On the plus side, however, their broadband service is not bad, although I have yet to see the kind of speed they promise, I do not get more than 400+ kbps when downloading some updates.
Found this in the FAQ’s
Are you really giving away a £500 PC for free?
Yes, everyone who signs up to Redten Internet will get a brand new PC absolutely free. You’re free to do whatever you want with it, and after three-years, it’s yours!
The info clearly states that as soon as the PC arrives it’s yours to keep, and do with as you wish ! (provided you keep up the payments !)
You dont have to give it back after the 3 years. If you stick with them for the entire 3 years – Its yours to keep.
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