Vodacom PC DEALS Now ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tahir Ally]

Vodacom pc deals will be available from tomorrow only if you live in Cape Town,JHB,Pretoria and DBN.This is a pilot phase and its only available in these areas for NOW.

Currently there are only 2 PC deals and the specs are:

HP DX200 DeskTop

Celeron 2.8Ghz processor
256 Ram
40GB Hard Drive
Mouse+KeyBoard
Windows XP Home Edition
3 Year pick up and deliver warranty.
Vodafone mobile connect card

Subject to a 36 month contract @R716pm(Includes Itemised Billing and 1GIG)

HP Lap Top NX6110
Celeron 1.4Ghz processor
256mb Ram
40GB Hard drive
DVD/CD writer
Windows XP Home Edition
3 Year pick up and Deliver warranty
Vodafone Mobile connect cars

Subject to a 36 month contract @ R816pm(Includes Itemised Billing and 1 GIG)

All PC will be delivered to the customer door at their time and date.Vodashops will give you a voucher for these deals and the customer has to phone HP directly with voucher number.

Vodashops will only give you the Vodafone mobile connect card + sim card.
Your Contract will only be activated once the customer recieves his/hers pc and if you are happy with installaton.

The Technician will use his Wireless connect card to demonstrate to customer.

These deals will be advertised from 23 June 05 in BEELD,BURGER,CAPE ARGUS,CAPE TIMES,DAILY NEWS,ETC.
:eek:

[stormers]

seems pricey

[bb_matt]

Didn't realise this was a place for adverts ?

[ic]

Didn't realise this was a place for adverts ?IMO it's ok - we would've received the same info from v3g, and it's not like Tahir Ally is mentioning his own shop, and this time it is in the correct forum as well :).

[fergus]

Wow, how many exclamation marks is that? Seriously, you're going to wear out your keyboard like that.

[Tahir Ally]

You are only paying R100 extra pm for a desktop and R200pm extra for a Laptop.Those packages includes Vodacoms 1GiG package.....A new cellphone comes out every day but people stilll sign up for a contract...In the begining i mention this is only a pilot phase.Things could get better.

[bb_matt]

You are only paying R100 extra pm for a desktop and R200pm extra for a Laptop.Those packages includes Vodacoms 1GiG package.....A new cellphone comes out every day but people stilll sign up for a contract...In the begining i mention this is only a pilot phase.Things could get better.

So, you end up paying R7200 for the laptop and R3600 for the PC, hmmm.

That laptop retails for R7500

The PC - does it have a monitor ? - that's the crucial factor, as the rest of the specs are bog standard slow.

I never liked those kinds of deals - bottom line, if you decide to cancel the contract before the 36 month period is up, say goodbye to your hardware.

Also, 36 months is THREE YEARS - do you know how much will change in telecomms in this country during that space of time ? - LOTS.

This is the type of thing ICASA should be stopping IMO.

[piranha786]

Damn, 3 year is looooonnggg, after the first 6 months you want a new pc, in three years that pc will be worth 1 of the instalments you r paying. I waited to see this but, now it looks like a definate no go. for my 2 yr cell contract, I never used the free phone.

Rather come down with the cost that giving us subsidised crap.

[Tahir Ally]

So, you end up paying R7200 for the laptop and R3600 for the PC, hmmm.

That laptop retails for R7500

The PC - does it have a monitor ? - that's the crucial factor, as the rest of the specs are bog standard slow.

I never liked those kinds of deals - bottom line, if you decide to cancel the contract before the 36 month period is up, say goodbye to your hardware.

Also, 36 months is THREE YEARS - do you know how much will change in telecomms in this country during that space of time ? - LOTS.

This is the type of thing ICASA should be stopping IMO.
Yes it does come with a monitor.ITS HAS BEEN APPROVED BY ICASA

[bb_matt]

Hmmm, it's all very well giving away phones with a contract, but now PC's as well ?

What next ? - stoves, fridges, microwaves ?

"Sign up for a 500 month contract with MTN and get a free VW Polo for only R200 extra on your account a month !"

"Sign up for a 1000 month contract, and we'll send you a free Russian Bride (who like to pleasure horny men) for only R100 extra on your account a month !"

[Tahir Ally]

Does the price include insurance?
NO

[stormers]

So, you end up paying R7200 for the laptop and R3600 for the PC, hmmm.

That laptop retails for R7500

The PC - does it have a monitor ? - that's the crucial factor, as the rest of the specs are bog standard slow.

I never liked those kinds of deals - bottom line, if you decide to cancel the contract before the 36 month period is up, say goodbye to your hardware.

Also, 36 months is THREE YEARS - do you know how much will change in telecomms in this country during that space of time ? - LOTS.

This is the type of thing ICASA should be stopping IMO.

It actually retails for R6000 at incredible,and they quite pricy

[asmith]

Vodafone Mobile connect cars


Sounds like a deal if it comes with a flashy red Vodafone car. Do we get the keys from the Vodashop or does the HP guy drop that off too?

[asmith]

What next ? - stoves, fridges, microwaves ?
!"

Where have you been? They have been doing that for ages.

[bb_matt]

And the russian bride ? :D

[lilgindauk]

WOW, pc's cost soo much there!
well over here i have my spec(im not bragging)
Intel P-Platinum 3.6ghz ht chip
2gb ram
1TB hard drive(500gb x 2 western digital)
512mb Nvidia geforce 6800 gx(pci express duo connecter)
{that two 256 mb card linked with a connecter- takes up 3 bays though:@)
108 mbps wi-fi, 802.11a/b/g Dlink pci wireless card
Dvd-writer
32-bit Eax 3 sound blaster
and one cool case!:)
Its costs around £1500 thats around 17000 rand, in installments.
For what its worth, its a very good bargain, normally it would cost £3000, but i knew some guys who knew some guys that get ther parts in bulk
I wish you could have the technologies, but i heard ever since the Zuma guy got fired,our strong currency went down:(
anyways g2g, my torrent and coffee should be ready
Auf Vidershien
:) Au Revoir
:)good bye mate

[stormers]

Im just wondering which market this is aimed at.Your average joe cant afford this.

[ScrnScrm]

Im just wondering which market this is aimed at.Your average joe cant afford this.

Quiet right. They are testing the market for a future architectural concept called "PAN" (Private Area Networking). What the strategy basically entails : Corporates do away with networks and supplying staff with computers. We all have our own private networks around us now anyway, so why go through the expense of duplicating this at work. The corporates will give staff an allowance to take care of PC/Connectivity, then all the corporates have to worry about is connecting the PAN back to the UDC (Utility Data Center) where the company ERP applications are located. (This is why stuff like Corporate APNs have suddenly become so important and all the craze!!)
Its a strategy that makes a lot of sense from a business perspective - it allows them to focus on core business processes, and it does away with the need to geographically co-locate business processes with IT processes.
Me thinks this is going to be huge in a couple of years time. Watch this space...

[vodacom3g]

I expected the forum, in general, to be underwhelmed by this offer as most of you will have access to decent computing systems.

However, there is a large portion of the user base who cannot afford to pay out R7K for a laptop and can now take up the option to have it 'financed' at effectively 0%.

Also, most people will not upgrade their PC's within 3 years (once again excluding forumites, who are mostly techno junkies!). It's also the standard write off period for business.

So, we believe, there is a strong market for this product, from individuals to small businesses.

As Tahir Ally indicated, currently this is a pilot phase in the larger cities to allow any hiccups with support, etc. to be sorted out.

[martin]

I think this a bad deal, even for your target audience. Both those specs are already outdated to begin with. I really doubt they'll stand the test of time (and three years is a lot of time). Also, at those monthly prices only the well off will be able to afford them. Unfortunately a lot of people who do not know better will end up going for these deals. I'd advise anyone I know to stay away from it and I'd advise Vodacom to redo their homework.

[neio]

Consider, not all people want to frag folks on the net, this is aimed at the granma's and granpa's who want to keep in contact with the grankids in the UK and elsewhere.

This solution for example would be ideal for folks who are not so techno-savvy.

I do however foresee a lot of support calls coming in to Vodacom with users who download rubbish off the net and mess up their OS's.

Also Vodacom should create a account for each of these users to keep important data on a server somewhere, cause as soon a the restore CD's are put in, say bye-bye to your data. Sell it as part of the service.

[bb_matt]

That's a good point neio - Vodacom may find themselves inadvertently becoming PC support guys ! ;)

[jarr]

...All PC will be delivered to the customer door at their time and date.Vodashops will give you a voucher for these deals and the customer has to phone HP directly with voucher number.

Vodashops will only give you the Vodafone mobile connect card + sim card.
Your Contract will only be activated once the customer recieves his/hers pc and if you are happy with installaton...maybe vodacom has negotiated some sort of support agreement with HP for these clients?

[neio]

maybe vodacom has negotiated some sort of support agreement with HP for these clients?

Probably, the thing with HP is that they are more HW than OS support.
You're going to need quite a big call center for the support of this depending on how many of the units are punted.

My guess is Vodacom will/or has outsourced the call center to a black empowerment company/ makes business sence and is good for sosio-economic responsibility.

[stormers]

Im i correct in saying that vodacom are subsidising phones? If so then why cant they do the same for the computers after all a 3yr contract is along time.

[qDot]

I imagine the deal with HP is sealed and the ink has dried, so there probably is little room for movement regarding the pc spec?

My suggestion, resort to 24 month contract.

[stormers]

I imagine the deal with HP is sealed and the ink has dried, so there probably is little room for movement regarding the pc spec?

My suggestion, resort to 24 month contract.

I second that,i think it would be more resonable with a 2yr contract.

[eye_suc]

However, there is a large portion of the user base who cannot afford to pay out R7K for a laptop and can now take up the option to have it 'financed' at effectively 0%.

Erm, this is disturbing. In many ways.

Mainly, people who cannot afford to pay R7k for a laptop is less than likely to fall for something as expensive as this. R7k for a laptop is relatively cheap. But if they take this, then after 3 years they will be out of a CRAPLOAD of money.

So i gather this is mainly aimed at businesses, people with money would anyway not be silly enough to fall for this (like us "techno-junkies").

geez, another story i can tell my grand children...

[Decotey]

So, we believe, there is a strong market for this product, from individuals to small businesses.

haha you guys actually believe what you are saying. That is scary. Noone in their right mind is gonna even consider this dumb deal.
a) small business dont buy crap pcs like these.
b) Your average person who wants to play some online games isn't going to go for your 3G service.
c) Be realistic

[ic]

Let's not get too fiesty here, I think the PCs with what sounds like collect, repair & deliver maintenance contract:
...
3 Year pick up and deliver warranty.
...as well as a Vodacom 3G 1GB contract, are aimed at a middle-income home market where people haven't really bothered getting a PC for internet bcos there's no Telkomonopoly service available - perhaps townships where there is a desparate shortage of PCs and Internet connectivity...another potential market is students for the laptops/notebooks - any students care to comment?
[not Slimothy - he wouldn't be happy with 1GB of data]

I do tend to agree about 36 months being a long time, and that the PCs will be outdated by the end of the contract, but the PC I am using is also outdated [P4 1.5GHz] and I don't have any plans to replace it anytime soon...I do wonder if the price could've come down if the PCs & notebooks were loaded with a usable Linux distro - like Ubuntu - instead of the pricetag on XP Home Edition...

[Decotey]

Its a terrible laptop. You can pick one of those up from the junk mail for under R4000. A 36 month contract at that price is way more than most student's budgets cater for. Myself, being a student, would rather put money towards a car. A lot of people in townships rely on a government income grant. That will NOT pay for their 3G. Even if it did, are they going to use the system for online banking? or better yet internet shopping with free delivery. The pcs would be stolen long before they have finished paying off their contracts.

[Raithlin]

I just checked the laptop specs online. I wouldn't buy that for my 8 year old son, much less for myself. I think Vodacom has missed the boat this time. Good luck.

[HiltM]

I think the proof will be in the sales... It will be very interesting to see what portion of data card sales use this option !

[lilgindauk]

True:)

[Tahir Ally]

At the begining i said "THIS IS A PILOT PHASE".And by the way Vodacom stores had alot of customers asking about these deals and most of them are signing up. :D

[Decotey]

haha I hope they were shown the specs. Maybe they should take a walk to their local Incredible Connection. They would even get a better deal from them.

[Tahir Ally]

haha I hope they were shown the specs. Maybe they should take a walk to their local Incredible Connection. They would even get a better deal from them.
They also sell contracts for VODACOM.IF you finance a computer it will work out more than Vodacom.Vodacom is not charging any INTEREST

[SJB]

They also sell contracts for VODACOM.IF you finance a computer it will work out more than Vodacom.Vodacom is not charging any INTEREST

Quick calc:

816 pm over 36 months
599 pm normal 3G 1
----
217 pm for the HP over 36 months

HP costs R6 000 at Incredible (http://www.incredible.co.za/services/catalog/moreinfo.asp?sku=53386)

This equals 18% interest. ie you purchased it on budget on your bad credit card!

Summary: Good attempt Vodacom - but lets see some real good deals for a change!

[lilgindauk]

Went i went to s.a on holiday vodacom made an advert where an asian guy was talking to a lady in the tub. lol, cracked up laughing. rolf. you sans make some funny adverts or what!

[caspa]

IC's outdated pc is more up to date then the ****ty celeron 1.4ghz on offer, HP must have a **** load of old stock they are trying to get rid of

[vodacom3g]

Nice lively thread!

Thanks for the feedback. I'm collating the major points and feeding them back. Basically most comments focused around the specs (too low), cost (too high) and the term (too long)

So no surprises here :)

We've learnt a long time ago to be very cautious when rolling out new products and this will definitely be the case here. Especially the issues around support need to be carefully controlled. Supporting millions of handsets is one thing, supporting a few (tens of) thousands of PC's is another.....

We still believe there is a market for this type of product, let's see what the sales show over the next few weeks.

[diabolus]

36 months is too long to be locked in without possibility of an upgrade im sorry. Nevermind the fact that telecoms industry change every 6 months, but the fact that LAPTOPS and PCs generally needs an upgrade at MINIMUM every 2 years [excluding the software upgrade you will need!].

Im not even touching on the specs of those machines [which wont last 3 years].

If the target market is the business/power user, then neither the 36 month contract NOR the machine specs will work or be sufficient.

If it is the home user then it borders on too expensive primarily due to the length of the contract.....lots of risks involved with that too.

[ic]

See also: 2005-06-24/Vodacom’s 3G Expands to Include Laptop or PC

[Strobemeister]

I think there'll definitely be a market out there for this product, but i personally wouldn't go for it, any long-term contract in telcoms is usually to be avoided, given the pace of development, hamstrung as we are by our favourite telkoms company.
As long as its made very clear to the customer how much they'll have to fork out after they hit 1gig, which could've been 3 imho.

[Crash]

For starters its a Celeron M. Not a Celeron. Does anyone in this thread know the difference? You can't equate it to 1.4ghz desktop celeron. I've played Battle For Middle Earth on one of these laptops. Runs fine. ??? Plenty fast enough.

You need to upgrade every 3 years? ? ? Why? You know, you don't need a 6800GT to run office, or play movies.
I've got a 5 year Old Laptop at work. Still does the job. So I beg to differ on that comment.

For Office Suite based stuff and the Internet, it is fine. And will be in 3 years time. For *** sake there are still people out there happily using their Pentium 1.

I don't like the 36 month contract, but I could live with it.

[Crash]

Oh and one last thing. lilgindauk..... where did you get 500gb Western Digital Drives?
Maxtor are the only guys with a 500Gb at the moment.
The largest WD is a 320gb ??????????

[lilgindauk]

external!

[lilgindauk]

theres no 500gb internal yet!

[briantw]

"Sign up for a 500 month contract with MTN and get a free VW Polo for only R200 extra on your account a month !"

Well, 200 a month wouldn't pay the polo off, even if you did it for 1 000 000 months. Key is to cover the interest, for starters...

[VMS]

Keep in mind we are all techno nuts. 95% of the people out there don't know better. You will just hear your uncle telling you, with a smile:"Sonny, come check out my wireless internet, and guess what?? I got a free laptop with it".

We all pay too much for most things in anycase. I understand Vodacom's position completely. Many people have told me that they don't want to get 3G because they don't have a laptop. When I ask them why they don't buy one they respond that they don't know what to buy. You have 2 choices, desktop or laptop. Simple. The one is cheaper, but the other is mobile. So what if you pay a few thousand more.

Keep this in mind. The rates won't come down until Vodacom (and MTN) has reached the required number of subscribers. Someone needs to pay off the millions spent on towers, cards and tech support. If owning a laptop makes all the difference then supply that option. I even feel that Vodacom can effectively charge a R1000 more to allow for better tech support.

For guys like us, buying directly from places like Sahara and Mem. Wizard, the Vodacom option is stupid.

I can also assure you that most people won't buy the cheapy at Incredible Rip-off. The sales team there will make sure about that. The average client will walk out there with a R12 000 laptop and a MWEB 12 month contract (and 2 games, an overpriced bag and a mini optical mouse).

If this works then it will improve the service for everybody.

Don't worry about other people, worry about yourself.

VMS

[ic]

LOL, yes I think I agree with VMS, not everyone needs the highest specd PC or notebook, not everyone is an avid online gamer needing the best rig...

IMO the best thing this deal has going for it, is the 3 year warranty, perhaps v3g or Tahir can expand on that so the details are 100% clear...

People who don't know much about PCs will inevitably run into some sort of hardware or software problem - that's where the 3yr pickup & deliver thingy is more valuable than the PC or notebook itself...[IMO]

[Tahir Ally]

LOL, yes I think I agree with VMS, not everyone needs the highest specd PC or notebook, not everyone is an avid online gamer needing the best rig...

IMO the best thing this deal has going for it, is the 3 year warranty, perhaps v3g or Tahir can expand on that so the details are 100% clear...

People who don't know much about PCs will inevitably run into some sort of hardware or software problem - that's where the 3yr pickup & deliver thingy is more valuable than the PC or notebook itself...[IMO]


I did say in the begining.ITS a PILOT PHASE and so far stores in JHB,DBN,CPT,etc are doing well with this deal

[vodacom3g]

ic, good point on the structure of the warranty and support components. Will see what I can dig up and post here.

VMS and yourself are right (I believe) in the assesment that for a large user base specs carry a lower priority than issues such as the package and support.

As I said in my first post in this thread, I expected the forumites themselves to be underwhelmed by this product as they're a different user community.

I was talking to a guy on the weekend who runs a one man business from home and travels a lot. All he wants is a simple solution. This is perfect for him.

[VMS]

Just had a call from someone wanting get a 3G contract. When I told him about the PC deal he was all excited. The fact that the laptop will have a warranty for 3 years is a plus to him. The fact that he needs to sign a 36 month contract doesn't phase him at all.

Maybe not so good specs, but good on them for supplying the options.

Actually told him to be on the lookout for specials from Makro. They sometimes sell laptops for less than I can get them at dealer price. My friend still thought a system supported by Vodacom/HP was a better bet, even at a higher price.

This morning they had a program on TV. They talked about ads on TV. The one guy said that many times people will flame an ad because it is stupid. The thing is that the ad. is probably targetted at somebody else. We, as tech junkies, are obviously not targetted for these fabulous PC offers. But they do ring a bell with my friends.



VMS

[briantw]

Actually told him to be on the lookout for specials from Makro. They sometimes sell laptops for less than I can get them at dealer price. My friend still thought a system supported by Vodacom/HP was a better bet, even at a higher price.
VMS

You get that too, eh? I've bought a printer and two plasma screens from Makro, 'cos the prices were lower than I could get from my dealer.

Good on ya, Makro.

[lilgindauk]

hve to agree with Vms.
Pc's might give you an egde, but its not the pc, its the playa!

[VMS]

Or worded differently....It is not the size of the tool that counts, but what you can do with it :-)

In this fast paced world people still frown on me when I build an embedded CPU card with a 20MHz clock. Some comment that it is very slow. But then I don't have an operating system to compete with, or hundreds of parallel processed programs.

I have 10mbit/s ethernet on many of my systems (yes 10mbit/s). In many cases it is 20 times more than I really need. The problem facing today's market is that after you have installed Windoze you continue by loading many programs that fills up your TaskMon's list. Eventually you have a 3GHz PC that boots up in 3 minutes

My friend has clear cut requirements. He needs to cut down on Telkom costs for internet, will be nice to have mobile internet, keep his employees from surfing in company time and basically view PDFs and other docs.

If you want to play graphics intensive games then buy something else. Someone mentioned a VW Polo. I could get a free Polo with a contract of some sort, but I like speed so I drive a BMW. Someone else might decide on the Polo for other reasons. Choices, choices. Always provide your client with choices. It might happen that in 6 months time nobody goes for this deal, or HP sells more laptops than ever before. You never know.

VMS

[BTTB]

Perhaps Vodacom is trying to get into the market with this cheap offer, but seriously I wouldn't touch that computer even if you gave it to me for nothing.
What I cannot fathom with them is that they will sell top of the range cell phones, but below standard computers.

But most of all. Do not sign 3 year contracts.

[qDot]

From time to time I make a comment to a friend of mine who is also a techinical guy.

I say to him that you and I will never make money because we are too critical on HiTech products and we take our own skills for granted.

Many here have probably recorded TV programs to their PC's long ago before someone came up with a PVR. Many here have probably been experimenting with Xing's or Even Shoutcast streaming software with Microphones long ago before someone cameout with Skype.

The technical guys in here can most probably come up with a better spec PC+Connectivity product and manage to get it cheaper and still make some profit. But we don't. We sit there behind out Hi Spec'd machines and lament a product we have deemed inferior when someone package's it nicely and makes a killing.

It is just an observation.