>
>
>>Seems like a waste of time/money on wal-mart's and microtel's part to me.
>>When was the last time you or I or any "tech-savy" customer bought a
>>
Well I would say not often, BUT I think the key point here, was WHEN did 
Walmart offer this customer something were interested in. :)  I know 
that Walmart has ALWAYS been great to me in respect to returning 
merchandise and being competitive on price, if they offerred computer 
equipment I was interested in I would surely give them a chance.

>>computer or computer part at wallmart? The average consumer is not going
>>to buy an OS-less PC and install something on top.  They expect a
>>working solution when they buy a PC, so who is wal-mart going to sell
>>this to?
>>
Im not so sure.  There are A LOT of people in 'small town' america that 
dont have a 'frys' electronics.  So Walmart offering this is great for 
them.  Now you could say yeah but they can order stuff off net and have 
it shipped... Well I consider myself 'technical', but I still like to 
see something I'm spending more than a 100  bucks on especially when 
there is a 15% restocking fee and the hassle of having to ship to return.

I think you are correct the 'average' consumer might not buy this and 
still want a Dell or Gateway (hold my hand PC), but I think you under 
estimate the mildly technical crowd that hasnt had access to the 
computer stores you are used to living in one of the biggest cities in 
the united states.

>4 weeks ago they would've sold one to my grandma. Her old box will be
>running Linux. If it would've saved her $200 ( 1/3 to 1/4 the cost ) her new
>one would too. This allows me to not need to be in the hardware maintenance
>business.
>
In briefly checking, I think these computers end up being like 50 - 75 
dollars more than if you bought them from the cheapest deals at Fry's 
and built your self.  While for my own doings I would save the 50 bucks, 
if Im doing something for a friend or relative, I wouldnt mind asking 
them to get the preassembled job to save me a headache and time.

-Derek