BlueHippo No-Credit, No-Problem Computer System Rip-off- Page 2- MozillaQuest Magazine

MozillaQuest the on-line computer magazine

11 July, 2005

Office and Productivity Software

SCO IP, SCO v Linux, & Caldera v IBM

BlueHippo: A No-Credit, No-Problem, Computer System Rip-Off

The final price of the BlueHippo system is nearly $2,000. But, . . . the $299 system is better than the BlueHippo $2,000 system . . . Armed with this information, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to fall for the BlueHippo scam and buy a BlueHippo computer.

Mike Angelo -- 11 July 2005 (C) -- Page 2

Article Index

The BlueHippo Scam

Better Systems for Less Money

The System We Recommend -- Pogo Altura64

Resources

Books

About Corel WordPerfect

Corel WordPerfect is part of WordPerfect Office 12 Home Edition which includes: WordPerfect 12 Home Edition (word processor), Quattro Pro 12 - Home Edition (spreadsheet) WordPerfect OfficeReady Personal Finance Essentials and more for $89. Microsoft Word is priced at $299. You get lots more bang for the buck with Corel WordPerfect and the WordPerfect office suite than you do with Microsoft Word or Microsoft Office.

About the Author

Mike Angelo has written hundreds of published newspaper and magazine computer and technology articles. He has more than 40 years experience using solid-state, digital computers.

Mike has written lots of computer programs in assembly, BASIC, FORTRAN, machine, and several other languages -- on a variety of mainframe and desktop machines. He has designed and built some special purpose computers, and does PC upgrading and building. Mike also creates, designs, and maintains Web sites.

In 1993, Mike Angelo started writing a print newspaper computer column, About Computers. He has written articles for top-tier magazines including Byte, Computer Buyer's Guide & Handbook, DOS World, I-Way, Laptop Buyer's Guide & Handbook, Linux Journal, Maximize, MozillaQuest Magazine, PC Novice, and PC Today.

Despite Mike Angelo's extensive computer experience he has a real life and uses computers as tools. Therefore, he approaches his computer writing from the user's interest and point of view.

Better Systems for Less Money

A $299 system

Here are the specs for a system that is comparable to or better than the BlueHippo, Gateway rip-off system for a total price of just $299. That's about $230 less than the upfront charge for the BlueHippo rip-off system and about $1,670 less than the total cost of the BlueHippo rip-off system.

This $299 PC is from a well-known computer vendor and was found on that vendor's Web site. The $299 system claims a 2.4-GHz Intel Celeron processor, 256-MB RAM (memory), 40-GB hard disk drive, and a 17" CRT color monitor.

That 256-MB RAM for this system is twice the 128-MB RAM of the BlueHippo system. Moreover, this competitive $299 PC system comes with a 48x CD-RW drive. Thus you cannot only play CDs with this $299 system; you also can burn (record) CDs. There is no CD drive of any sort listed with the BlueHippo system.

Software-wise, the competitive $299 system comes with Microsoft Windows XP Home and Corel WordPerfect. Corel WordPerfect is a very nice word processor program that is comparable to MS Word -- yet less expensive than MS Word.

Clearly and on the basis of the information supplied on the vendor Web sites, the $299 system is better than the BlueHippo $2,000 system. It has twice the RAM (256-MB v. 128-MB), a CD reader and burner (the BlueHippo Web site does not indicate a CD reader or burner with its system) and Corel WordPerfect (the BlueHippo Web site does not indicate any word processor software let alone a top of the line product such as WordPerfect.)

Even better -- a $469 system

Here are the specs for a system that is better than the BlueHippo rip-off system for a total price of just $469. The $469 system is about $60 under the upfront charge of $530.88 for the BlueHippo, Gateway, rip-off system. And it is about $1,500 less than the total cost of the BlueHippo rip-off system.

This $469 PC is from a well-known computer vendor and was found on that vendor's Web site. The $469 system claims a 2.4-GHz Intel Celeron processor, 256-MB RAM (memory), 40-GB hard disk drive, and a 17" CRT color monitor. The 256-MB RAM for this system is twice the 128-MB RAM of the BlueHippo system. Moreover, this $469 PC system comes with a 48x, CD-RW drive. Thus you cannot only play CDs with this $469 system; you also can burn (record) CDs.

Additionally, the $469 computer system also comes with a 56K, PCI, data/fax modem and an Intel Pro, 10/100 Ethernet Adapter.

Software-wise, the $469 system comes with Microsoft Windows XP Home, six months of AOL, and MS Works. Microsoft Works is more or less a stripped down version of MS Office and it is cheaper than Microsoft Office.

Just as with the $299 system, the $469 system is less than the $530.88 upfront cost of the BlueHippo system. And it is about $1,500 less than the BlueHippo el cheapo system. However, the $469 system has more and better hardware and software than does the nearly $2,000 BlueHippo ripoff system.

Armed with this information, there is absolutely no reason for anyone to fall for the BlueHippo scam and buy a BlueHippo computer. Please note that we have not tested any of these three systems mentioned so far.

Therefore we are not making specific recommendations as to the $299 or $469 systems mentioned. Thus we do not mention the vendors or provide links to their Web sites. However, just check with your favorite on-line or storefront computer, technology, or electronics vendors. You very likely will find they have offerings for only $300 to $500 too that are comparable to, or better than, the BlueHippo, Gateway, rip-off system.

See The System We Recommend -- The Pogo Altura64 on Page 3 ----->