 |  | By Neil Hawkins Staff Writer Thursday, 6 December 2007 |
BACK in September, few pundits gave AOL a chance when they announced they'd be giving away a free high(ish)-spec laptop with their AOL Broadband Wireless packages. Now - on the back of that hugely succesful incentive - AOL are also offering a PlayStation 3 games consoles as an alternative to the free laptop.
However, if you are thinking of taking the AOL free PlayStation 3 here are a few things we suggest to keep in mind:
The AOL Broadband Contract
You will have to commit to a 2-year contract with AOL, which is a standard agreement amongst ‘giveaway’ offers.
Whilst this may cause concern for some, many people see a broadband connection as necessary for the foreseeable future and are not put off by the length of the term.
It is also worth mentioning that the AOL Broadband Wireless packages are in fact very competitive. While not quite the cheapest on the market (those positions are snapped up by Tiscali and TalkTalk) nor quite the fastest (take a bow O2 Broadband and Be Broadband), AOL Broadband positions itself more in terms of value for money and customer satisfaction.
The AOL Broadband Coverage
To qualify for the £19.99 per month AOL Broadband Wireless package (the cheapest), you must live in an AOL broadband area and you must take AOL's PAYG homephone talk package.
AOL have currently ‘unbundled’ (installed their own equipment on) 1,249 BT telephone exchanges enabling them to offer their lowest prices to a huge chunk of the UK, so there is a high chance that you’ll qualify for AOL's lowest price broadband packages.
AOL Talk home phone package
AOL Pay-As-You-Go homephone call rates are actually marginally cheaper than BT in almost all cases. Upgrading the Wireless Plus package to come with either AOL Talk Evening and Weekend (£22.49 p/m) or AOL Talk Unlimited calls (£24.99 p/m) also proves good value for money.
Subscription-based override services such as 18185.com will not work however, but non subscription-based override providers (ie. where you dial an 08 access number first) will still work.
And a few more things...
There a few other standard terms to the AOL free PS3 offer.
You will need to be credit checked first and there is a delivery charge of £14.99 for the free PlayStation 3.
Existing AOL (and TalkTalk) customers are not eligible, but there have been (unconfirmed) reports of AOL bending the rules here so even if you have been a loyal AOL customer for years, it is always worth trying to see if you can get this good offer.
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The AOL free PS3 comes with