AT&T Selling $49 Netbooks, ThinkPad X200 at Select Retail Locations

AT&T announced that it is selling subsidized netbooks for between $49.99 and $349.99 with the purchase of a two-year mobile broadband contract. AT&T will also offer the Lenovo ThinkPad X200 with an integrated 3G modem for $849 with a 2-year AT&T DataConnect plan. The netbooks and ThinkPad will be available in a handful of AT&T stores in Philadelphia and Atlanta on a trial basis.

AT&T is selling the Acer Aspire One, Dell Inspiron Mini 9, Dell Mini 12 and LG Xenia netbooks. In order to get a subsidized netbook you’ll have to sign up for AT&T’s ‘Internet at Home and On the Go’ package or a DataConnect plan. The Home and On the Go packages start at $59.99 per month and include home DSL service and 200MB of of mobile bandwith. A 5GB DataConnect plan is available for $59.99.

All of AT&T’s plans include unlimited usage of the company’s 20,000 Wi-Fi hot spots.

I like the idea of netbooks and notebooks being available in more places and hope the trial goes well so we can see AT&T expand the program. Before you buy a netbook or notebook with a carrier subsidy you should be absolutely certain that it meets your needs for the length of the contract.