PC prices falling again

The deal's not a clear-cut as the headlines would suggest - the machine costs USD299 and then there's a mail-in refund (termed a "rebate") of USD100.

But this trick is not new in the computer market - it's what Microsoft did to get IE into the market place, pushing the product through the distribution channel so that the cost of that channel was paid for by the end user - but the end user got his money back with a voucher.

It means that shops can be relied upon to stock the product even though its sales potential is uncertain.

"Our system builders have been forging new ground in the low-end Linux PC market for over 5 years now," said Larry Kettler, President and CEO of Linspire, Inc. "This latest system from Mirus Innovations is the most robust hardware and software configuration, and offers the best value for under $200 to date."

And the machine's not rubbish: Linux is generally not as resource-demanding as Windows (although there are signs of bloating in an increasing number of applications developed for Linux) and so a Linux PC can use some components that speed freaks might turn their noses up at. But for office work, they are easily sufficient.

The machine's specification is

Intel Celeron 420 1.6GHz processor1GB Memory80GB Hard DriveCard ReaderModemCDRWKeyboard, Speakers, and MouseFreespire 2.0

And coming with Linux already installed is a bonus as the installation can be a little daunting for first-time Linux users.