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Dell debuts iPods-for-cash trade-in
Get $100 back - eventually...
Dell will swap your iPod for $100 if you buy one of one of its own 15GB Digital Jukebox MP3 players.
The PC giant will also chuck in 25 song downloads provided by Musicmatch, its digital music partner.
It's not an entirely straightforward swap. Punters keen to take Dell up on its offer must first spend $199 on a 15GB Digital Jukebox. They then have to download and fill out a rebate form before, send it in with their old iPod, and only then will Dell send them back the $100. Eventually - "rebate checks are ordinarily processed within 8-10 weeks", the company admits.
The offer ends on 11 August. Buy then and you might get your cash in the first week of October.
The deal is intended to push Dell's players, which have been somewhat overshadowed by Apple's iPod marketing blitz. Worse, Dell rival HP will shortly begin selling an branded iPod of its own. Dell's player is believed to be manufactured by Creative, whose own-brand MP3 players are sold by Dell in the UK. Dell stopped selling the iPod back in April 2003 before launching Digital Jukebox and the Musicmatch tie-in store last October. ®
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