H-P and Dell Playing Lowball Poker With PC Prices

As the back-to-school season gets under way, H-P(HPQ Quote) and Dell(DELL Quote) are already wheeling and dealing on PCs. In fact, hardware makers are practically giving away computers as consumers gear up for school.

That doesn't bode well for a second-half rebound in IT revenues, because it shows companies still see weak demand -- even though the heady stock market gains of the past few months suggest investors are far more optimistic.

Monday, H-P said it will offer up an entry-level PC with 128 megs of RAM, plus a printer and free shipping for $499. In rolling out the deal it matched prices with archrival Dell, which has been hawking its own $499 PC with 128 megs of RAM and a monitor (plus a free upgrade to 256 megs of memory and a flat panel monitor) for several months. ...