Rumor: $99 Acer Aspire One At Radio Shack

Last month we reported the possibility of $99 subsidized netbooks, after rumors had surfaced that cell phone carriers might begin subsidizing the cost of netbooks in exchange for signing up for a monthly data plan. Today it looks like those rumors might be true, well that is if the leaked RadioShack flyer that has popped up on Engadget is legit, and it certainly does look it.

The flyer pretty much speaks for itself, stating that beginning December 14 RadioShack customers can get an originally $499 priced Acer Aspire One equipped with Intel Atom processor, a 160GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM, and Windows XP for $99 after signing up for a 2-Year $60/month (or more) data plan through AT&T.



The product code list "AOA150-1987" doesn't match anything currently listed on RadioShack.com nor does it appear in any Google results, however the ad looks pretty convincing to me. I'd be the first to say the AT&T contract price of $60 a month for connectivity to only one device seems pretty steep.

If your netbook is going to be your primary mobile device then the fee might make a little more sense, but if you have another laptop you wouldn't be able to share the 3G connectivity with it. In that case it would probably make more sense to wait for a deal on the Aspire One and just grab a mobile broadband card.