Retailer offering cash for your old computer just as long as it works

Lots of us have got at least one tired and emotional PC sitting at home gathering dust and not earning its keep. Now it's possible to turn that defunct machine into real money with a deal that gets underway this Bank Holiday weekend. Until you read the small print.

According to adverts in the national press if you hot-tail it down to a branch of PC World or Currys from Saturday 28th you'll be offered a 'guaranteed' fifty quid off any new machine when you part company with that dilapidated old one you've had in the spare bedroom for the last five years.

It all sounds good so far until you read the small print at the bottom of the page, which says: "Trade-in unit must be a laptop and must have an optical drive, power up when switched on," which is okay.

However, the terms and conditions roll on to add: "Include the correct power supply and battery, not be locked by a password and not have any significant cosmetic damage, ie; the keyboard and screen must be undamaged and the casing and hinges intact."

All of which must rule thousands of clapped out computers exempt from the deal. Let's face it; most of us often want to get rid of an old machine for those very reasons, particularly where broken keyboards and screens are concerned.

Anyone going for the deal will subsequently be given £50 off a new computer as part of the trade-in. Dixons says that the defunct machines will be recycled and anyone with worries about what might be left on their old hard disks can also enjoy the benefit of their hard disk erasing process. The £30 fee for that is also being waived as part of the incentive scheme.

Nevertheless, you'll need to fulfill some pretty harsh criteria to meet the terms of the deal. For the sake of fifty quid, it's probably better to avoid the chaotic bank holiday traffic and stick to buying a new machine right here on the internet.