rebates for computer equipment

I have recently purchased several items of computer equipment. Each had significant multi-vendor rebates that made up about 50% of the 'usual' retail price. Now I need to wait 1 - 2 months for my money. With one item, it seems like the vendor has not received the rebate form I had mailed so I am going to have to refile - another big pain.

I think it would be much better if vendors would simply reduce the price of a particular item. I guess they think sales go up because of the special rebate and this is probably true - but it sure is annoying to the consumer.

impact of pc prices

I have noticed that one can buy a pc for under $300 and a lap top for under $500. One impact of this price drop has been that lap tops are now out-selling desktop systems. I suspect that the dropping price is also getting people with minimal computer skills to buy computers for their home use.

I think that this is going to cause Mircrosoft a few problems since, as the price of pc's drop, the cost of Windows and Windows based applications such as MS Office are going to become a bigger percentage of the total cost of a computer system. This is going to make it easier for vendors to bundel a pc with a Linux distribution as Linspire has been doing.

A $300 pc with an easy to use Linux distribution such as Ubuntu, Mempis, Puppy Linux, etc. that provides the user with Internet applications (email, web access), productivity (word processing and spreadsheet) and entertainment (digital camera support, music, games, etc.) could be very attractive to buyers who have llimited computer skills and money resources. As Linux spreads in use in government, and non-us countries, it will become a more acceptable operating environment.

I suspect that it will not be long before some major discount store such as Walmart, target, etc. will, in conjunction with a large pc maker will come out with an 'entry level', home use oriented system in the 4200 - $300 range and with a bunch of advertising and it will fly off the shelves. This may become the tipping point.