Customers pre-registering with the Carphone Warehouse for AOL Broadband can get a free DELL laptop worth £500+ for absolutely nothing.
AOL Broadband costs £19.99/month for 8Mb broadband and 50Gb download limit.
Broadband news and comment from Broadband Genie
Customers pre-registering with the Carphone Warehouse for AOL Broadband can get a free DELL laptop worth £500+ for absolutely nothing.
AOL Broadband costs £19.99/month for 8Mb broadband and 50Gb download limit.
40GB Limit not 50GB and it’s likely to be for customers on the unbundled service only (LLU).
Plus it’s a minumum 2 year contract, so your paying for the laptop in the long run.
offer available to everyone …extra tenner if not in LLU area
carphone warehouse - p.c world same company same crap service
Behave - everyone is always on these crappy forums slating companies. if you don’t like it don’t buy it
PC World isn’t the same as Carphone warehouse you muppet. It’s part of DSGi. And who cares if it is crap service the LAptop is free and the service with AOL so your response is a about as useful as a chocolate fireguard. However this offer is only worth it if you need a laptop and Broadband as there are cheaper ISP’s out there
Hi, i want to get the internet at my house but i can only get 2 gig broadband due to the area. will this AOL thing work at my house, it sounds like a good deal for me as i can use the laptop for the internet. I basically just want it so i can set up my itunes. Can anyone give me any advise if this is a good deal for me?
Thanks x
SOMEONE SAID YOU PAY FOR THE LAPTOP IN THE LONG RUN…
OF COURSE YOU DO, BUT DON’T FORGET YOU GET THE BROADBAND.
SO YOU ARE EITHER:
PAYING FOR THE LAPTOP IN MONTHLY INSTALMENTS FOR TWO YEARS AND GETTING FREE BROADBAND.
OR://
PAYING FOR THE BROADBAND IN MONTHLY INSTALMENTS FOR TWO YEARS AND GETTING A FREE LAPTOP.
SAME THING INIT LOL
I didn’t need the laptop, but hey its cheap (the FREE 1 was crap) you spend £100 and you get a HP laptop so not bad and because i’m on the internet 24/7 £19.99 per month for unlimited 4mb connection is better than my perious ISP could offer
So thiis off only suited people who were heavy internet users; in 2 years time I will just change ISP again depending on best offer at the time
There might be cheaper isp’s out there, but they aint worth a damn if you are using the internet for anything other than looking at web pages. some other isps might say they are unlimited, but throttle P2P. I have the only isp in brittan that doesnt throttle P2P and thats Aol, we have 8 meg Bt in the shop, and on uterront the best I can get is 20kbs, where as on 2 meg aol i get 200’s all day long on the same files. I just wonder if this aol service that comes with the lap top will be the same aol lovelyness. as Carphone Whore house is the same company as talk talk, and they left me without a phone or internet acess for 3 whole months!!!!!!!
I want to sign up to AOL and get a free laptop how do i do that?
Does anyone know when the offer begins?
I’m so signing up for this i think its an awesome offer as im well in need of a new laptop….
xx
All this blog makes me feel so sad!
we are getting orange broadband with the free laptop! we signed up to it, middle of auguest, and we gave the wrong mac code by acc and then WE had to fone them to find out whats going on after 15days and then they tell us and then we provide them with the right mac code and they do not no what to do with it :S nd i called them about 10x and all 10 people telling me different things to do and then i went currys today and foned them and they tell me again to come back tomorrow :@:@:@ so now we are thinking about getting the aol offer which seems much better!!
which offer is better? orange or AOL
and i am willing to spend £150 to upgrade the laptops to better 1s
ORANGE - 8mg broadband with livebox which gives you free calls
custormer service is POOR!!!
any laptop within £450
AOL - 8mg broadband with netgear wireless router with no free calls
Dell laptop
which 1 is better?
##### Plus it’s a minumum 2 year contract, so your paying for the laptop in the long run. #####
Correct you are paying for it in the long run but if like me you are on a 8mb - 30GB capped package and paying £25 a month ,in theory you are getting the laptop for £5 per month over the 2 year period. = £120 well worth it.
ORANGE CUSTORMER SERVICE IS SHIT!! I RECOMEND YOU DO NOT GET IT! THE CUSTORMER SE3RVICE IS THE WORST! OUT OF ALL THE BROADBANDS
Just think of these deals the same way you purchase a mobile phone! free phone and you pay for the line rental for a minimum term, same with this, free laptop and you commit to pay for their broadband! same thing
Shambles. I was on cable but converting back to BT. Orange indicated I could ‘book’ a laptop/broadband package. Grumpy PC World employee done up in Orange livery refused impolitely. BT chaos meant I missed out. Was this a happy release? Who else is coming up with a sensible offer at a similar price?
well im paying 15 pound per month and getting 5gigs downloads, i think i will most deffinatly change to this even if just for the massive download limit.
I’v pre-registered for the aol laptop deal. They sent me an email telling me that they would email me again when the deal actully started. They havent yet sent me one. Can anyone help me?
I am with AOL at the moment paying £9.99 a month with cable modem. If I take up the offer, I will get better Broadband speed and a £ 500 Dell laptop that will in effect cost me £240 . Cant be bad, can it?
Everyone tells me orange is a complete disaster - waiting for the aol deal, latest email says end of September - if his helps, although I can find spec anywhere
pls, i need a laptop for my project. how do i get a free laptop?
I also tried to sign up for the orange deal and had to get my mac code - the ISP I am with - toucan - messed me around and by the time I had the code - the deal closed. I believe it closed much quicker than it was supposed to. I have also registered for the AOL deal and am waiting to hear. Has anyone got any comments on AOL as a provider - good or bad.
Thanks
shut it you idiots no one cares wot you think
i think its good and ive got one and had no problems so shut it twats
loveyah
Folks,
I have spoken with Carphone Warehouse and they tell me that the AOL deal starts on the 5th of September.
So, to those of you in the know…
What are your thoughts on the Dell Inspiron 1520 (the free laptop provided with the above offer)?
Regards,
Whizzer.
Aol deal starts on the 5th of september apparently
The deal with aol is GREAT!
It will launch on the 5th of sept,
you get a laptop 600 pounds NOT 500 as first shown
CARPHONE WAREHOUSE AND PC WORLD ARE NOT THE SAME COMPANY!
the laptop is of great spec and also upgrade offers will be possible.
Also the laptops are DELL not some random un-heard-of company like pcworld’s
Carphone warehouse have been voted as one of the best in customer service for mobile phones for the last 16 years and they can only to continue this into the computer market.
the price..
19.99 in LLU areas (80% of uk)
29.99 in others
the package is aol’s top package so even at 29.99 is a GREAT deal.
im currently with bt broadband which is RUBBISH! you pay just as much for half as much!
i WILL be changing to aol.
PLUS aol offer great extras for parents to protect themselfs and the children online.
the is also information being past thatdell will be setting up store’s with carphone warehouse to sell laptops of all specs.
SO here is to an isp that is going to offer great customer service and great value for all its customer. forward thinking.
has anyone been conacted yet with what to do
I am an AOL platinum user with wifi router, paying £24.99. We phoned up AOL for the mac codes so we could go to orange for the free laptop. They told me that AOL was doing the same offer for the price we were already paying. We were told it was a 1 year contract with a netgear router and free dell laptop worth over £500! we signed up back at the start of August and was told our laptop would be here by the 6th September! We phoned AOL yesterday and they said there were problems with getting the laptops out and this was due to the Carphone Warehouse!
My Partner then phoned the Carphone Warehouse to see what the problems were and they said because there isn’t a “hub” in our area it would cost us £35 a month because we have to pay for them renting the equipment from BT! BUT they said verbally that the price will go down within 6 months!!! Then they did a security check on us and said we couldn’t have the offer because we have moved too many times in the last 5 years (2) and that we hadn’t been with our bank for longer than 2 years and because my partner was a housewife! But we could still stay with AOL on the price we’re paying now and my partner told them where to shove it!
My partner then phoned AOL back to get MAC codes and was told it will be 2 days instead of the 2 weeks we were told when orange were doing their offer! She told them what Carphone Warehouse had said and AOL said that it was out of order and asked if she wanted to be put through to the department in AOL that deals with Carphone Wharehouse! She Hung UP!
Make sure you are told by Carphone Warehouse if you can have the offer first. ALSO the customer service at the car phone warehouse is absolutely terrible, when they told me there was a problem, like I dont have a BT line (which I do have) all the guy on the phone said was nothing I can do, you cant have the deal…… VERY helpfull ….
PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT GO WITH AOL I AM IN THE PROCESS OF CHANGING FROM THEM AS THEY HAVE A RUBBISH SERVICE,THE BROADBAND RUNS VERY SLOW OR YOU GET CUT OFF ALTOGETHER AND I AM NEAR A BT EXCHANGE WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO RUN A BIT FASTER SO I WAS TOLD.WHEN YOU PHONE YOU GET PUT ON TO THAT MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE WHO TELL YOU DIFFERENT ANSWERS.I WILL BE GLAD TO SEE THE BACK OF THEM.
OK! heres the deal (from someone who works for cpw)
We are lauching the free Dell laptop offer tomorrow (5/9). Its on AOL which means you get a good quality ISP, speeds of up to 8Mb and an excellent branded laptop for nothing. ALL you pay for is 15 pounds for delivery. The prices start from 19.99 per month and go up to 24.99. 19.99 with no calls for free, 22.49 for off peak calls for free and 24.99 for anytime calls for free. Youll need to select which laptop you want. free one is a basic model but is great for everyday use, 49.99 for updated model which has Vista premium and 120 gig hard drive and 149.99 for the top model which has Intel core2 processor so will rum much more intensive programmes. All these come with a free wireless router also. Anyway, we have loads of stock and Dell have promised us more when needed. Just pop into your local carphone warehouse and speak to a sales consultant for help and to place an order. ps. You need a Bt line to take out this offer and prices are subject to your exchange and whether it has our equipment installed. Anyway, pop into store for full details guys……
starts on the 5th ..free laptop…and it is free..yes you pay for broadband service but are you not already paying for broadband…and hay aol provide a great service(most of the time)noone is perfect..so all in all its well worth it….ITS FREE!!!
I think this deal is grat but there has to be some sort of catch to it,like the cpw employee said we have to choose the laptop the he goes on to give us prices next to the laptops. Please can someone advise me the exact price and plan
its a farce.
spentabout 5 hours on the phone to carphone warehouse only to find the inspiron 1520 i was told i would get free would cost me an extra £150!!!!
what the hell is going on?
they pass you around between depts with 20mins waiting time each time only to get an idiot who doesnt know any details.
anyone know where i can get the free inspiron 1520 they promised?
went to day to get my free laptop what a scam was told i was not able to have it been with aol for 3 year was happy with them till now dont’t go with them they will just rip you off i was going to go with orange but aol said they were doing this offer and i stayed with them what a fool i have been.
Hey, Tony (carphone employee)
Sounds like a good deal to me, is it really worth upgrading to the 149.99 for the top model which has Intel core2 processor?
I can see from the Carphone Warehouse that the deal £19.99. The computers that have Celeron processors are not worth having as these are Intel’s budget basement processors. The laptop that you pay an extra £149.99 extra on top is a good spec. Does anyone know if the line rental is included in the £19.99 a month.
Richard
Thanks Richard… No you have to pay BT for your line rental.
I wouldn’t bother my arse, SHITE internet, Utterly SHITE bottom of the range laptop, and a scam of a 3 year contract.
However signs up for this are:
1- Idiots
2- Complete Mugs
3- Working for them
.
The laptop is a decent laptop if you upgrade and pay £150
also it is a 2 year contract not 3..Bacca
Any one who thinks a 24 month contract is a 3 year contract is an idiot!
The process includes a credit check that 45% of people will pass, AOL don’t want to expose themselves to risk, and that makes sense.
Free lap top will give you
Word processing
Web Surfing
Email
Home banking etc
£49.99
all that and extra 40Gig hard drive, ideal if you want to store photos and MP3’s
£149.99
Duel core 2 processor, ideal for
A bit of gaming
streaming video (my space, utube bbc news etc)
Doing two things at once bettter (downloading an MP3 whilst surfing for example)
All packages cost 14.99 for delivery, and you require to have your line rental billed by BT
If you are in an unbundled area the cost will 19.99 a month, 22.49 a month for all your weekend and evening land line calls or 24.99 for ALL land line calls.
A ten pounds surcharge applies if you are not in AOL’s ‘Unbundled’ area.
The package includes a free wireless router, and you will be connected in 7 to 10 days of sign up, The Laptop is delivered in around 28 days.
pop into any of Carphones 800 stores, for more information or to sign up today!
please all you mugs out there ; it is cheaper to buy a black berry for 69 pounds ; and buy a vodaphone sim on pay as you go you get free eveing internet on the sim from 7 two 12 am and the way you go
Ok, So We All Keep Saying The Same Things, Just Note These Points :
1. Free Crappy Laptop
2. £50 Out Your Pocket And You Got A Crappy Laptop With A Bigger Hardrive
3. £150 Out Your Pocket And You Go Back To The Smaller Hardrive But Get A Better Processor In Your Laptop.
I Would Personaly Upgrade, Why Not?
What I Would Like To Know Tho Is :
1. What The Hell Does Unbundled Area/Bundled Area Mean?
2. Why Bother Signing Up For A Capped (40Gb) Download Amount Anyway?
3. Should We Wait For Phones For You To Do A Deal With Gateway/Tiny With Tiscali?
4. Think All This Talk Has Put Me Off The Idea…..
SOMEONE ANSWER MY QUESTIONS PLEASE….!!!
This is a total scam.
I was so happy with AOL until I heard about the Free Laptop deal with Orange so I rand AOL for my MAC Code. I was told then that they were bringing a similar offer out and to cancel my broadband with AOL and to re-register the following monday with CPW. This was 8 weeks ago! I lost my broadband connection straight away, so on the monday I went to CPW to register and get back up and running with broadband, only to be told the offer had not yet started and would not start for another 8 weeks!
I rang AOL who told me they mis lead me with the information and that I first need to register on the website of CPW (which I had to now do on dial up!)
I waited and waited for an e-mail of the launch offer to be sent, and it wasnt until I read the newspaper last week that I noticed you could now sign up!
So I went back to CPW and registered and gave them my bank and credit card details as requested only to be told they wouldnt accept my chip and pin (even though the pin was accepted!).
My boyfriend went in the following day with his and he got knocked back too! ALl this despite already having had a previous AOL account 8 weeks before!
Both of us have good credit - and i can only put this down to a scam! Even my boyfriend 8 weeks ago said it sounded too good to be true and it is!
I would rather now take my business elsewhere (and there are companies now giving broadband for free) and buy a computer as and when I actually need one.
If you dont need a laptop then I would advise against this offer. Several broadband providers I have spoken with have said that broadband will be free from most companies over the next 12 months anyway and so being tied in for 2 years may be a waste of money for what will be for most another computer sat in the corner of the room gathering dust!
Kate
Grantham Lincs
I have just ordered my free laptop with carphone warehouse. I think the free model will be ok for me only use it for basic things anyway.
I only saw the advert for a free laptop on the bus today! -I thought ” I will look up this deal and see what the catch is,”- I was looking into getting a laptop, but now I will decide against it and just keep my free broadband connection.
And Bingo I found the catch I have to join up to AOL.AND pay for a service I get for free.
I’m on AOL too and I’m not happy with the service and the software is too intrusive and collects too much information for their marketing. Carphone warehouse have bought AOL, so its the same thing.
I tried to move to carphone warehouse because its cheaper than AOL and Carphone warehouse couldnt get the order right although I gave them a MAC code and the MAC code expired and I got no broadband from Talk Talk and I’m still on AOL.
Take a look at Redten internet, which is giving free laptops and free PCs. I’ve signed up to them and I’m getting 2 free laptops and an 8mb line for less than the price I was paying AOL for a 2mb.
I trying to enter a nursing school and I’m trying to get a laptop.
Hi Andy,
Just to quickly answer some of your questions,
1. Local loop Unbundling (LLU) Is when the cables at an excange are unravelled from the BT connection and made useable by other internet service providers. It basically means that if you live in an Unbundled Area you will have the choice of many more providers and packages than if your area is still bundled.
2. Download capping is a method employed by many internet providers that can a) help make a distinction between their various products, and b) help controll the bandwith which subscribers are using. It should also be noted that a 40Gb download limit is pretty big, and would be more than enough for all but the heaviest users.
Can’t say I’m sure what the phones for you deal is that you mentioned though??
Hope that’s helped you decide about whether to go with the AOL deal or not!
Well, I’m signed up £20 a month, and I opted to pay the extra for the Core Duo. Still don’t see why I only get the 80GB drive with option 3 though…
So am I a mug? Don’t know! I was with Bulldog, with no capped limit, but only 2GB DL speed, paying £24.99! They offered to drop the price to £14.50 months ago, when I wanted to leave them, but I have continued to be charged the full amount month after month, even after calling them… I was going to leave them anyway. Shame, I enjoyed being with them, the line service was good.
I’ve fancied a laptop for a while now, but always thought of one as a luxury… It will be nice to be able to chill on the sofa and surf, or take it to work at the weekend and watch movies…I mean do work on it. ^_^ The wireless router will allow me to give my daughter a net connection to the PC; that I just installed in her bedroom.
So, for me, I get a Dual Core laptop for £150 (yeah, I know £150, but what good would the Celeron have been?!) , cheaper and faster net access, and a Wi-FI router (I can watch video streams in my bedroom!
). The capped 40 GB is the only thing worrying me…but I worked it out and I think I should be ok. I’m also slightly unsure how the PAYG phone part of this works…but I don’t use the phone a lot anyway…I’ll worry about this later.
I received a leaflet today from AOL / Carphone Warehouse titled ‘Count Down to your laptop’. That’s a good sign to me that I am getting one. I better too; I paid £150!! lol Yeah, how does that work, if it is limited and you’ve paid for either of the upgrades, what happens then? I noticed nothing in the terms and cons which I DID read. Maybe the stock IS limited if you want a totally free laptop? Hmm.
Despite calling between Bulldog and BT, then finally AOL and The Carphone Warehouse, all has gone fairly smoothly… I’m waiting for my MAC code from Bulldog, which I expect to have by the end of the week.
So, I’m happy so far, I can’t wait to fondle my spanking new laptop!! LOL
Please guys you might think this is a good offer but it isnt! your actualy paying for the laptop as the contract is long for the broadband. if you work out how much you are paying you can get a better LAPTOP with good specs also with a decent good BROADBAND. Companies such as carphone warehouse pc world orange etc are ripping of thoustands of there OWN customers. the laptops they provide would be the best laptop you can just add a few quids or a hundred i should say and get a top 1! i hope this info helps you!
Is the CPW dell celeron model good enough for email,surfing and downloading the odd mp3 track. the deal looks alright to me as i pay £14.99 per month for 2mb with orange (the company where nobody speaks english). For £5 per month extra I get a laptop which i fancy but can,t afford.
has any one had there laptop delivered 28th my delivery date
hi i subscribe to the cpw emails and they sent me one couple month ago teling me bout free laptop so i waited and said goodbye to the orange one (thank god) but hey i get my email a week late telling me the deal is now on, so i phone aol checking if this was ok even though i am with them already they then said i was on contract with them for having a wireless router which i never recieved, i was promised a reply to this problem within 48 hours great aol never replied! so rang them again today at my expense again? (where have the free phone numbers gone? ripoff) and have spent 3 hours on the phone aol told me they DONT do a credit check they only refuse if your still in contract with them! so now have to wait til sat morning to see if i can now get the “free” laptop, just checked out redten website previous person mentioned and what an amazing deal apc and a toshiba laptop for 25 quid a month may not be calling cpw on sat morning…………
I don’t have broadband atall, so thought this would be a good deal as I don’t even have a computer! Went to CPW last night and signed up, upgraded to option 2 laptop (£49.99) and £22.49 a month! I was told by BT that the speed line in only 0.5mb….is this going to be to slow??? Have I been a complete muppet for signing up to this offer??? I’m a little worried now, all I will use it for is surfing the net and photos etc! Really basic stuff!!
Some important things to consider BEFORE YOU BUY:
1. The free laptop offered is 4 years out of date and bottom of the range. I can only assume Dell is trying to get rid of obsolete old stock which is not selling.
2. A Celeron processor with with only 1 Gig of RAM will struggle to run Microsoft Vista and AOL. You will need a minimum of 2 Gig.
3. According to independent customer surveys AOL is one of the worst Internet Service Providers.
4. You will be locked into a lengthy 2 year contract. Broadband is likely to get cheaper in the future as broadband companies compete aggressively for more customers.
Dont get suckered into this deal, its far too good to be true!
Thanks for reading……..Manni
If I got Laptop my life willbe changed I like it but I didn’t get it,so I wat to get Laptop.
erm i orderd my laptop on the 5th (when it came out)anyone know when i will get mine?
How many people can go out and buy a laptop without burning a hole in there pocket, there’s not many, not with the standard of life we try to compete with.
If you are intreasted the contact no for CPW Sales is :
0845 655 0845…
Nothing stopping u from enquiring about it…
Was going to go for this offer they even took my money off me for the top spec laptop which was £165 with delivery, but been messed about that much by carphone wearhouse that i cancelled the order. That was over 2 weeks ago and still waitin for a refund, now they are sayin they have lost my details. Can’t belive wat a joke the so called company is and as for the call center, it has got to be the worst i have ever rang and that saying something! My honest advice stay well and truley away.
I have just signed up to the AOL package, I am currently with AOL and pay 29.99 a month. (the reason it is so expensive is because I live in a remote area). I used to be with BT Broadband which was slightly cheper but a lot slower, every night at 6 pm and every weekend it would grind to a halt.
Now I pay AOL £35 a month for the same broadband but now I get free landline calls. I already have a good laptop and wireless router so the AOL ones went on Ebay where I got £500 for them. If I deduct this from the price of the two year contract and factor in the £30 a qtr I now save on my phone bill I think for me anyway it is a good deal.
I reserved my laptop weeks ago and received it straight away with no hassles. The Celeron proccessor is slow to run Vista but no slower than the Centrino Duo in my Sony Vaio, better off with XP IMO.
You people are so easy to fool… i am an ex-employee of aol, in the customer service dept, you think that aol is free?..yeah right… that laptop is just another excuse for aol to take you money you idiots…besides the fact that you will pay for the laptop you will never cancel you aol account, only after paying a truck load of money will you be able to cancel the account, but if there is anyone of you interested in how you can cancel an account quick and with minimum expenses, contact me at dj_weedmaster@yahoo.com… i am willing to tell you all you need to know, i hate aol now… damn it…
DO NOT GET IT. IT A SCAM YOU DON’T GET A FREE LAPTOP
DO NOT GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I signed up to AOL after aload of trouble with Pipex and all I can say is i’ve never been so happy. AOL has had this stigma surrounding it for years and yes I believe most of it was merited.
What I will say is since I changed over I haven’t been disconnected once and I get nearly a 5meg connection, a 40gig download limit, a free wireless router and a “free” laptop all for 20 quid a month for the next 24 months from CFW/AOL. Pipex were charging me exactly the same and I got not even 1 meg connection, a 20 gig download limit, slow speeds and constant disconnects.
Of course I know I am paying for the laptop over the 24 month period thats why I signed up for the offer! I don’t have £350-£600 pounds to fork out all at once for a new laptop. Ok the spec isn’t that great but pull Vista off and load dual boot XP and FC6 and you’re laughing to be honest!
You do get a laptop just not a very good one, Dell have really trimmed down their Inspiron 1520 especially for AOL.
How they reckon it’s worth £450 I have no idea, the screen especially is very poor, difficult to see properly and highly reflective.
There does appear to be better spec laptops for sale elsewhere these days for £300 - £350 and that includes other offerings from Dell.
Personally I think AOL has comissioned Dell to make a really cheap laptop whick is simply OK but never worth the £450 they are claiming.
Hiya
has anyone had trouble getting this ‘Free’ Laptop.
i have been waiting since 6th September and have had to phone them 15 (yes 15 times) to be told we will call you back. I’m really frustrated now. Does anyone have any ideas of whom i should complain to??
hay im haveing the same problem with getting the free laptop Form 24th september
been with aol for 2 years and thay messed up my account when i moved now i can only get 2mb when i was getting 6mb in the other house
o and yes thay cap you if your a heavy user or not i d/l in the day about 200kbs and when 6:00pm comes im stuck wih 50kbs unitll 12:00 under the FUP ( Fair Use Policy )
now im stuck with 24mouth contract for aol to cap my speed
It has now been 2 weeks since my line activation and sure enough I got an e-mail from CPW this evening about my order being placed etc with my order number, they gave me a tracking number for city link so I could see my order and apparently it should be delivered today (time 01:09). I will post back and tell you if I have received my laptop or not.
Hi can someone give me the EXACT spec of the inspiron 1520 that has ben commisioned by carphone warehouse.I am looking at signing up for the highest spec model they do but I want a DETAILED spec for comparison,not just the vague description on their website.Tried to access in the store but was restricted.Im looking for graphics,memory type,upgradeabilty,screen resolution and display quality,dvd drive type,battery life,ram speed,hard drive speed,processor speed and model number,usb capabilities,etc etc
Can someone give me these please ie, a belarc audit print out
thanks
Yes Deborah C I have been waiting for my laptop since order placed on September 6th. Have been given the run arround fed up of calling. Nobody seems to know anything or are not telling. Carphonewarehouse told me AOL have not sanctioned it. Why they insist on being two different companies when they are the same I don’t know? I was also given a non existant out of order number by AOL to check where it was. Somebody at Carphonewarehouse told me they were having trouble with supplies. (Is that coded for we have ran out but took your order so tough). If the laptop doesn’t turn up I am wondering if I am still in contract with AOL ? As the laptop was part of the deal. If no laptop they can whistle if they want to hold me to AOL contract. Waiting in anticipation.
Same problem here,
Had letter on 18th sept saying i would receive my laptop within 20 days, still nothing!
Ring aol, they told me to ring dell, Rang dell they refered me to aol and carphonewarehouse.
Cant seem to get a straight answer about my laptop and I cant find an email address to email thme about it.
getting very annoyed now
Hi Deborah C and Nick
Have you guys heard about spidermail.com They are offering a free laptop and a broadband service, and promise to deliver the laptop and activate the broadband service in 7 working days. I contacted one of their customers, and have placed an order. You might want to cheack them out.
Where are you in your CPW adventure?
u get no warranty with the ornage deal on the laptop tho cuz its pcworld n u av to pay extra. Dell offer from aol comes with 1 year free warranty
I signed up for the offer on 11th September and have had nothing but trouble ….they cancelled my order without telling me because my Bt line had not cleared.
Then took another 5 days to get CPW computers to allow me to resign.
passes all credit checks - but it then said that my debit card wasnt registed to my home address ??????
I had NO calls from AOL or CPW to say that orders handnt gone through….spent total of 15 hours in shop & about 4 hours on phone @ home at 5p per minute
Husband now has order in his name - odered on 23rd October ….lets see if we actually get any where !!
had been with NTL for 5yrs with NO problems other than paying £18 for 2mg.
now been with no broadband for 2 weeks !! only changed cause of free laptop offer.
WHY THE HELL didnt i find this information earlier !!!
has anyone actually managed to get the broadband and laptop YET ?
Signed up three weeks ago, line activated and up and running within six days, laptop arrived this morning. Its a fantastic deal if you are looking for a basic laptop and a broadband service, I would highly reccomed the customer service I have had and the ease and smoothness of getting my service up and running.
I got my laptop and wireless broadband and calls unlimited packag up and running no bother but since then have been having problems with AOL.
1. They changed me to ‘evening and weekends package’ at my request apparently even though I have made no such request.
2. They threatened to stop my service because of incorrect direct debit details even though they are laid out perfectly correctly on the contact I signed at CPW, the CPW guy even did a transaction for a couple of pence to ensure everything was OK, their policy to ensure correct account details apparently.
3. They have been charging me an additional £7.49 for talk unlimited even though it should be included in my package. Alledgedly this has been rectified and a credit will show in next months statement, we will see.
It looks top me like AOL have not even seen the contract I signed at CPW because so far they have ignored everything laid out on it, namely the agreed package, the payment amount and the payment method.
My e-mails go unanswered or only concentrate on getting my account details which is also the same when I phone their customer services, they appear to be more interested in getting money off me even though it is incorrect rather than rectifying their mistakes.
They assure me everything is now sorted but I have my doubts.
Does anyone know how many of these free laptops Orange and or AOL have shifted so far?
A fairly good barometer of success i’d say?
HI I signed up for AOL laptop offer on 02/10/07. I am still waiting with no internet service since I moved from BT to join Aol for any sign of a laptop. Any time I caqll them |I get a different excuse and told it is being dealt with and it will be another 14 days. Someone please advise me on how to deal with this. I do not recommend anyone sign up for this offer as it is a con I doubt there is any laptops or they are oversubscribed, Carphone warehouse blames AOL and vice versa. waiting patiently Lisa.
no more orange laptop deals all went in the first 15 days, orange are crap anyway
Hey Guys,
I, like most others saw the AOL deal for the free laptop and thought I’d take a punt at it. To my surprise when contacting BT for my mac address they offered me a similar deal for an Acer Laptop EX4220: http://www.bt.com/broadband/laptop4220. They’ve even lowered my option 3 price to £24.99 from £26.99. It seems this deal is only open to current BT members under no current minimum contract agreement. I’ve had a bad history with AOL in the past (pre-broadband) & I’m relieved I never got chance to sign up to them again.
Rick - Grantham, Lincs.
Like at lot of people I was looking to get a cheap laptop (for my wife really) and I saw this offer and thought this was great. I was with BT paying £25 per month, so same price but with a laptop. I changed from BT to AOL broadband with no hassle (apart from AOL disconetcing my phone line, but this was fairly easily resolved after speaking to BT to have it reconnected.) I had my broadband connected 2 weeks ago and I have today contacted AOL to find out when my laptop will be delivered and have been told the laptop will be delivered tomorrow. With most issues that I have been reading you do need to have a bit of common sense when talking to AOL and CPW as they can be a bit confused. I shall post comments once I have received my laptop and let you all know what it is like. AOL’s customer service is pretty good and I am getting about 6.5 download speed on a 8MB contract which is no less than I was getting on BT.
I originally ordered this offer at the beginging of september had it cancelled 3 times because of a supposed fault on my bt line never informd it was cancelled only found out when i calld to see how order was going. There was never any fault on my line as i contacted bt warehouse and they confirmed NO FAULT. I then finally managed to get the order up and running after cpw blaming aol and aol blaming cpw. got my router finally on 25 oct. Still waiting for my laptop was told thurs 15 nov that i would get it no later than 22. called today(19) to check how it was going ( as by this time i didnt trust them and wanted to keep an eye on the situation) was told that there was a prob with aol. Aol had not informed CPW that my cooling off period had elapsed and they could send my laptop to me. CPW said they would call aol and would phone me back within half an hour. I have been told so many different stories each time i call i have lost track. I have been told so many times that they will call me back and they never do. Then to top it off my phone bill came in the other day and all the calls i have made to aol and car phone warehouse have totalled over £30 and guess what? When i tried to get it reimbursed from CPW they blame AOL.
HERE WE GO AGAIN.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE anyone considering this offer think again i wish i had it has caused me nothing but stress and made my life hell and i still dont have my laptop. It is now 28 minutes since the man from CPW said he would call back and guess what he hasnt yet and i dont expect hime to either.
I have today received my free laptop !!!! I have not yet looked at it but I guess I must be one of the lucky ones who have not experienced very little issues with CPW and AOL. Good luck to everyone who are still having issues. From my experience this process has gone quite well.
HI Please help!! I posted a few weeks ago. I am still waiting for this laptop. I am told Lie adn lie from both CArphone warehouse and AOL. Yesterday I spoke to a really obnoxious woman at AOL. She resued to lister to me gave a rehearsed spiel about a technical fault, told me I wouldnt under stand it. I asked for her name, she refused three times then said I don not have aname and hung up. I am spending hours on the phone trying to find out waht is going on still with no internet access. I signed up on teh 02/10/07. I am told each time that is it dealt with you should receive it within 9 days or 14 days or 3 days depending on what they feel like telling you and guess what the next day I am told the same thing. I am constatly put on hold then the line goes dead. It is costing me a fortune. I am already paying for the service and have paid the delivery charge. I am told there is no one I can complain to , they dont have any supervisors or yesterday I was told the guy andy who is delaing with all these complaints was in I asked to speak to him and guess what in the space of the 3 minutes from her speaking to him and me asking to he was is a meeting for thE rest of the day.
iT IS STILL ADVERTISED . THEY ARE JUST TRYING TO PUSH UP THEIR SUBSCRIPTION TO RIVAL BT BY SIGNING UP AS MANY AS POSSIBLE, THEY DONT CARE THAT THEY DONT HAVE THESE LAPTOPS AND THAT YOU ARE LEFT WITH NOTHING, ITS ALL TO DO WITH THEIR FIGURES ADN HOW IT LOOKS ON PAPER. AVOID THIS OFFER IT IS A SCAM, AVOID THIS OFFER IT IS A SCAM, AVOID THIS OFFER IT IS A SCAM, AVOID THIS OFFER IT IS A SCAM .
YOU WILL NOT GET A LAPTOP
ALL YOU CAN DO IS CANCEL
IT IS A CON
DONT LET THEM KEEP YOUR MONEY ANY LONGER
ANYONE ON THIS WHO SAID THEY HAVE RECIEVED ONE ON THIS SITE OBVIOUSLY HAVE AN INVESTED INTEREST IN THESE COMPANIES.
I have no vested interest in CPW or AOL, but I have received the laptop today, I can only tell you of my experience that I have had personally.
I recieved my laptop 7 days ago - no issues - its a basic model but is ideal as a 2nd for the house - does what is says on the tin - Had a few issues with the internal communication between AOL & CPW but overall no bad or better than any other. This is not a scam - they cant advertise something and then not give it to you - breach of contract and covered by various regulations - If you are not happy got elswhere….this is an perfect deal if you need broadband and a laptop for your house…..I would reccomend but shop around and compare….
hi , i would to have a free laptop cause going back to school and have a working laptop would be nice, i have a ibm 600e 232mh laptop and the fan is dead so it gets hot and im thiking of doppering out of school cause i need a laptop for my classes , so it would really be nice to get one.,.
if you have a old one and it works you can send it to me or if you want to send me a free one i would love it
david gibas
1004 s. 57th
west allis, wi 53214
thanx
It ain’t a scam, I have waiting 8 weeks (Patiently), dealt with AOL & CPW, they were helpful. My delay was because AOL did not let CPW know that my 7 day cool off period was over and that I am now in a contract with them. The reason why was because I was already with AOL and just renewed my contract and it caused some problem. Everyone ‘ere seems to think it’s a rip off, it ain’t I got mine. Only nick nack is that I have had to upgrade the RAM from 1gb to 2gb so that Vista runs better.
If you ain’t got it yet, be patient a little more, keep calling them. Infact call this number 08700870168 and choose Option 0 when it becomes available. Explain calmly what the problem is, you will find that person on the other end would be more helpful than the standard customer service staff because it’s the number for the big guys, they will help you resolve this.
I posted here on 18th Sept.
Like others, I had some issues with comms between AOL and CPW. Basicly, you need to contact AOL for everything, unless it’s regarding the laptop.
I’m actually with AOL now, I was activated on the 4th Nov 07. It’s 24th Nov 07 today. I have received an email telling them that my laptop is being shipped next week. I was expecting it this week (as it said within 20 days of activation in their letter) and was going to call on Monday, but as I’ve received the email, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.
I have to say, I didn’t get anything to tell me that I was active with AOL. When my broadband stopped working I figured it had switched to AOL, so called them and was given my screen name and password over the phone. I still haven’t received this in any written comms. When I became active with AOL, I still hadn’t received their router; it came within the week however. I’m actually still using my old un-wireless one now…may switch them tonight in anticipation of my laptop.
I upgraded my laptop to Dual-Core, and the money was taken from my card on ordering with AOL. The email I have received today shows a £0.00 cost! I’m slightly worried about this; hope I’m not going to receive the basic free one!! It doesn’t mention the upgrade in the email. I’m assuming the nil cost just means I’ve already paid for it. There is only a letter beside the laptop model number, the letter ‘C’. I’m hoping this ‘C’ means option ‘C’, in other words the upgrade to Dual-Core. Guess we’ll see what happens next week!!! Yay!
Hi am very surprized about what i’ve heard about AOL, i thought its gonna be better compared to Uk Companies which are (ROTTEN)
The system in this Country derives from Efficient sales staff to sub zero service then either unobtainable Customer line or thick Customer reps finally when they have dragged you through the mud backwords you are told that what you thought was free is not !!!!!! because talk talk is on A complete (LLU) System which means the only way you can leave them is to pay £125 to another Crap Company (BT) who will provide you with a line for which you can then search for more competitive company but will be charged a cancelletion fee for leaving (BT), if you dont believe me just ask (Ofcom) something i should of done before signing with TalkTalk
BY THE WAY THERE IS’NT A FREE THING IN THIS WORLD ESPECIALLY IN THE UK…..
hi
i go for it
at this stage i’m happy i recive router after 10 days and laptop after two weeks from moment when i place the order
i have only one doubt maybe anyone here known how works warranty on laptop basically i have another 2 laptop in my home and i consider to sell dell but i don’t have any receipt or warranty card maybe someone have any clue if i sell and someone have technical problem how warranty works then ??
thanks
Update to all the interesting posts… Recieved my free laptop Dell 1520. Initiated the Windows Vista start up and the system crashed with the Blue Screen of Death. Attempted windows repair to no avail. Managed to run a chkdsk and found the hard drive to be totally corrupt. After 5 hours being passed between AOL, Carphone Warehouse and Dell, no-one would accept responsibility for laptop. Support level is Zero, Even operators I spoke to at AOL stated that they could not believe the concept of support from CPW or AOL. Have now bought a new Laptop from PC World and am in the process of attempting to return faulty laptop. This should be fun… to be continued!
can you buy it with the webcam in it or csan you buy it with the free offer?
I have now had my laptop for a couple of weeks and for basic bottom of the range laptop it does what it needs to. My wife is over the moon with it as she only uses it for email and internet !!!
so fed up with cpw and aol as its cost me up to now 45pounds in phone calls to get my laptop its working 4 them as how many more are like me they are making a mint out of it because you have to phone them they dont phone you .and they know that .9 weeks and still not got it but paying from 1st november 32pounds so fed up (we are the ones that suffer as a paying customer lol hope to get it 2008
I too heard about the AOL/CPW deal back in August when I phoned requesting the MAC code so I could transfer to Orange. I was promised by AOL that there wouldn’t be a problem with me upgrading to this new deal.
4 months later and hours of phone calls I’m still waiting for the laptop to appear!!!!!. Have just been told by CPW who were told by AOL that because I had been in contract with them since August I was not eligible for the deal……
It’s the only reason I stayed with AOL in the 1st place, to get the laptop, should have stuck to my original thoughts and gone with Orange - missed that laptop too!!!!!
Very dismayed with the service from both companies
Well, I received an email exactly 20 days after my activation with AOl, telling me my laptop would arrive shortly, and it did arrive a couple working days later!
All is fine, it’s the correct one and all is fine!! It’s great! I connected via Wi-Fi within a half our. Vista takes some getting use to (unless you already have it), but I’m actually beginning to prefer it over XP. Vista could do with some extra RAM, so I am considering upgrading to 2GB for about £35 (or even 4GB).
I did call AOL to ask them to move my direct debit date, but I was told this could not be done, there is no facility to do it.
I’m having some difficulty keeping within the 40GB cap, unless the software I downloaded to monitor this isn’t working correctly…40GB just goes so quickly! Way faster than I had estimated.
All in all, I’m happy!
so is the offer good or not
when does the offer expire
So it is a good deal then… thinking of getting it, but need a decent laptop
I think that carphone warehouse is silly because they dont give Broadband to pay as you go people
will people stop saying you are paying for the laptop!!!!!! dumasses just say the broadband is 10 per month and your paying an extra 9.99 per month for the laptop over 24months means roughly 240 intrest free credit for a laptop worth 350!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now that’s a good deal!
Negative pommies your all the same-the weathers ****- we got too many-immigrants-everthings a rip off- da di da di da- you wanna focus on some posatives.
like free laptops (well not free but ***** cheap)
I have AOL since 1 year and then I signed for Laptop free deal. Realizing it’s a 2 years contract, I cancelled my order in a week. Both AOL and CPW assured to me that order has been cancelled and AOL told me I’m back to my old aol broadband only package with no contract.
Then I went for holidays out of UK, then on my return ( i.e Three weeks after cancelling that laptop free offer order), their was a note on my door that theirs a package for me and I have to collect it from royal mail delivery office. I guessed that it was free laptop and didn’t bother to collect it. After a week the delivery guy came again and nobody was home, so he left the laptop with my neighbours without getting a signature from them (very much wiling to leave that laptop with me).
So finally I got the laptop which is not mine. For two weeks after getting the laptop I called AOL and CPW to confirm that if I’m on any contract with AOL or CPW for that laptop free offer deal . They said no and they told me I’m still on normal AOL broadband package without any contract as I’m using it since 1 year.
One of the AOL customer service agents told me to keep that laptop even If I’m not on the laptop free offer package. For this type of service from CPW and AOL, I gave them 200% on their customer service.
Somebody please suggest what to do (Apart from taking the ownership of the laptop).
I sold the laptop for £480 and using the money to pay off the 24 month contract = free broadband for 2 year.
i am thinking of taking it as i pay £29.99 a month anyway on aol platinum, so if i dont take out the calls package it will cost me the same, and ive been with them 8 years and i dont want to change isp theyve served me ok
the only thing that will change is this 40gb cap, is there anyway of finding out how much you use currently?
also how do you find out if your a llu area?
I’m already a customer of aol an have been for some numerous years now is it possible to me to benefit from this free offer without cancelling my sevice?
78NAM9 hi great site thx http://peace.com
Nox - You did well to sell your laptop for £480, I sold mine for £280 and still felt guilty that was too expensive for it.
Nuttynelly - if you are in an LLU area you will already be paying the extra £10 charge with your current setup anyway. I live in an LLU area and was paying AOL £29.99 for their platinum service. Now I pay £35 (an extra £6 for unlimited calls to landline numbers) I pay BT £11 a month for line rental and have reduced my phone bill by £60 a qtr.
Without the LLU charge I would be £25 for broadband and unlimited calls.
Include the money I saved by selling the free laptop and wireless router
this deal made sense to me, I live in a rural area so choice is limited, I hope in two years when my contract is up that the Sky TV Broadband Phone package is available to me by then.
There is no penalty for going over the 40 GB cap nd you can go over it without any problems, AOL say if you do it persistantly all that will happen is your connection will get slower as your priority will be reduced but I go over the 40GB cap all the time and have yet to notice any difference.
I’ve had the deal for about 3 weeks now. The laptop is fine and the router is fine but the speed is rubbish!!!!
I was previously with Virgin Media which is so fast in comparison. Im gonna go well over my download limit so i hope Scuzzle is right about the download cap.
If you can get a cable line then i’d suggest virgin rather than aol or any phone line broadband supplier, its so fast and no limit.
Chris21ph - Just phone them up, im always moaning to companies. The worst they can say is no!
i am a talktalk customer in the UK, which is part of the CPW, and the small print in their March 2008 offer for a free laptop basically means that you have to cancel your contract with them!?!, go back to BT, who charge £50($100), to re-connect you, then sign up to AOL (crap in the UK), re-register with CPW, wait 14 days for transfer to BT, wait 14 (yawn) days to get your AOL account, then they can sign you up for the “gift”(will there be any left?)….my concern is…i get my broadband via a dedicated cable company, Virgin (NTL), i will now have to SHARE a new connection via my phone line with AOL/BT if i go ahead…i am worried, it just sounds like i am going back to Dial Up!, no wonder most of the post’s are about crap connections…the 40GB don’t bother me because i’m not stealing MP3’s all the time, it just seems i am going back in time with my Internet speed…nothing is free, i will pay for the laptop in my contract, only a fool would think different, just don’t want to lose a comparitively good service…any thoughts to put my mind at ease???
was paying 29.99 aol platinum Now paying 24.99 free laptop new router and all national calls free laptop turned up within 7 days……..so five pounds a month better off and all my phone calls paid for !!!!!!!!
The lap top is NOT free. You have been deceived You pay 19.95 a month for the broadband plus talk talk and they stick you for a 2year contract.
However, you can get the same deal off AOL for 14.95 and only 18 month contract ( actually you get it cheaper for the first six months) if you don’t go through CPW and take the laptop.
Sorry that should have been 19.99 a month. The talk talk is pay as you go.
JUST ORDERED MY FREE LAPTOP FROM AOL/ INTRIGUED TO SEE HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO ARRIVE.
Yeah, right, so you pay a fiver a month over two years for a laptop worth four ton. Or to put it another way, a 1.7Ghz, 1mb laptop for £120 interest free over two years.
Any road up, pretty decent result, Ray.
It’s amazing that a very small post has large number of comments on it. I red all the comments posted and gain a lot of experiences and user views for buying the Laptops. Peoples now a days are so analytical and invest their valuable time for reaserching the product before getting into the buying process.
Have been on this service now since October. Ripped out the Vista and intalled XP into laptop and as run like a dream. Bought some cheap memory and upgraded myself for £17 and added bluetooth modual for £10. Connection as been a solid 4Mb I know it says up to 8Mb but I am far away from exchange. Customer services very helpful and open late no props. I took the unlimted calls for a extra £4,99. Which I think is excellent value. Lets compare this to what I had before Virgin 4Mb @ £24.99 no calls no wifi router no free computer. I think I have a excellent deal. Life AOL contract comes to about £470 take away cost of lappy and £50 wirless router over 24 months means my broadband is effectively free. Oh and another thing you do not need the dreaded aol software when on your computer when conecting by the wifi router. I know theres a 40Gig limit but thats plenty for me and I even down load a large amount in one day with out any throtling like my last supplier. I would recommend this as a good deal. A so far.
I’ve been an aol subscriber for 10 years and had no probs really - In Feb I signed up for their Broadband Wireless Plus with free laptop. I’ve had loads of letters saying my laptop will be arriving shortly but no laptop!!! Anyone else had this problem - will it come eventually?
Sigh……
i signed up to aol and got the free laptop but my speed is at 0.4mb which is crap but on some days i get 3mb so i called aol and they said that they would slow it down like what the hell i don’t want it to be slowed down i want it speed up i’m going to switch to bt because my friend next door gets 3mb all the time can anyone tell me is bt any good
deez that did happen to me but i got it after all if you bought the upgraded laptop it will take longer
i have been waiting for 2 and a half months for my freebie and keep getting told it;s out of stock, and theuy now say will get start of june - if it turns up will only waited 3 months, they then tell me they have the wrong address, and i will have to cancel and reorder - bunch of cowboys
I am currently on Orange Livebox broadband - UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD, UPTO 8MEG DOWNLOAD (ALTHOUGH CAN ONLY GET JUST UNDER 2 DUE TO DISTANCE FROM EXCHANGE….WHAT A ******) £7.50 ISH PER MONTH. NEVER HAD TO CALL HELP CENTER SINCE TRANSFER…….WOULD LOVE A FREE LAPTOP…ANYONE GOT A SPARE????