Actually, cheap access wasn't the motivation.  I travel a lot with my laptop and
kind of expected to pay $19.95 a month for the rest of my life to get the nation
wide
access I need.  I just figured why not pay the same amount every month and get a
free computer thrown in.

Mark Willis wrote:

> Mark Jurras wrote:
> >
> > You wrote:
> > >    I have been watching the free/cheap computer deals ad have passed
> > >them up not wanting to pay $30 a month for 36 months of Compuserve.
> >
> > There is no free computers or lunch for that matter. Look closely at that de
al
> .
> > The ones I've seen
> > are for a 3 year commitment to some ISP. In three years most of America will
 b
> e
> > wired for
> > broadband internet access, ASDL, DSL, cable modem etc. Will you still want t
o
> be
> >  using a dial-up
> > then? You want free access? Look at NetZero or the like. I have not tried it
 b
> ut
> >  it is free if you
> > want to put up with a window full of ads flashing at you.
> >
> > - -Mark
> >
> > P.S. I am not affiliated in anyway with NetZero nor do I use NetZero.
>
>   There are at least 3 such services, NetZero.Net, FreeI.Net, and
> NoCharge.Net, that I know of.  All are Ad-based services.  There are
> also free onramps in many cities (like scn.org here in the Seattle
> area), thing to do is really think things through before you sign on the
> dotted line - if it sounds too good to be true, Probably IS!  A friend
> tried NetZero, changed to FreeI, now is off zzn.com (His brother somehow
> gets him free 'Net access off there, using a regular browser.)  Also,
> Juno gets you on free e-mail for free, windows based application (I have
> used THAT, of all these, while down at Comdex.  Eventually, I want a
> nationwide ISP <G>)
>
>   If all you want is e-mail and basic web surfing, an old XT to 386 or
> such and Net-Tamer can get you running, even off a floppy drive, with
> some place like scn.org, for VERY little money (The monitor's the pricey
> item!);  I've given away 14.4 modems to local people needing a modem,
> etc.  You can also get access for completely free in many libraries,
> etc., too.
>
>   Mark