If you're willing to provide a lot of personal information, and view astaggering volume of ads, you may qualify for a free PC. Or, if you'rewilling to sign up for three years of high-priced Internet service, you canget a $400 rebate on a PC.

But lately, the airwaves have been saturated with a somewhat different kindof offer from a new company named PeoplePC. It's promising a new,brand-name, well-equipped desktop PC with monitor - plus free, unlimitedInternet access - for $25 a month, to be paid over three years. Put anotherway, the PeoplePC offer costs just $3 more a month than the monthly feeyou'd pay America Online or MSN for net access alone, and you get a new PCin the bargain.

The offer includes a three-year warranty; free technical support on atoll-free number 24 hours a day, seven days a week; and in-home repairs forhardware problems. There are no ads to view, and there's no personalinformation to provide to advertisers - in fact the company swears it won'tever give out your personal data without your permission. Instead, the offeris a straightforward financing plan at a pretty good price.

Total cost over three years is $898, consisting of $762 in principal, plus$136 to cover the 11% annual finance charge, lower than many credit cards.Shipping is an extra $48, and you have the option of paying an additional$99 to have a technician come to your home to set up your machine. Otherextra-cost options are a larger monitor and a printer.

You can probably find an even cheaper deal somewhere. But this one comparesfavorably with many of the heavily touted $400 rebate plans. For instance,CompUSA is offering a similarly equipped Compaq PC online -- with a slightlyfaster processor, but without a monitor - for $499. After a $400 rebate fromCompuServe, the machine costs just $99. But you have to add $163 for even acheap 15-inch monitor, and pay CompuServe $792 over three years. So thetotal three-year cost is $1,054 (before taxes), compared with $898 (beforeshipping charge) for the PeoplePC deal, which includes a superior serviceplan.

I've studied the PeoplePC offer and tested the computer the companyprovides, and I think it's a good machine and a fair deal. However, thePeoplePC program isn't merely a way to buy a PC. It's a sort of cuddly,hand-holding online service that even supplies the hardware - and promisesto keep it running.

What's more, the company plans to treat its subscribers like a giant buyingclub, offering them discounts on various goods and services bought via theInternet, such as a $100 rebate from E*Trade and a $10 credit from Buy.com.In fact, this buying-club concept is the way the start-up company hopes tomake money, though subscriber participation is purely optional.The deal even allows you to substitute any Web page of your choice for thePeoplePC page as the start page in your Web browser.

For my test, the company sent me a standard system: a small Toshiba towerwith a 366 MHz Intel Celeron processor, 64 megabytes of memory, a sixgigabyte hard disk, CD-ROM and floppy drives, a 56 kilobit modem and a15-inch monitor. This is an adequate configuration for mainstream computing,though the monitor is a bit small.

Setup took me about 45 minutes, from opening the box to getting onto theNet. The instructions were unclear in a couple of places, and my localdial-up phone number wasn't set up correctly (a problem the company says ithas fixed). A Sunday call to customer support was required to get a username and password for Internet access. But I got through quite quickly andthe woman who helped me was knowledgeable and friendly.

I installed various software programs and attached my own printer, and allwent well. My Internet connections went through without a hitch, and thespeeds were quite good for a dial-up modem. The only major gripes I had werethat you get only a single e-mail account, and there are no parentalcontrols to shield kids from porn. Also, the fan on my Toshiba was quitenoisy, a condition the company insists isn't typical. It's too early to sayhow well PeoplePC will solve its members' PC problems, or how well thebuying club will work. But this is a promising idea that's off to a goodstart.

Addendum: The PC and Internet industries have done shamefully little to helpbridge the so-called "digital divide" -- the vast gap in access to computersand the Internet between rich and poor American families. But this week,some key players in the industry took a big step toward a solution. Theylaunched PowerUP, a program that will set up computer centers with freeInternet access at housing projects, schools and other sites servinglow-income families.

Spearheaded by America Online's chairman, Steve Case, and his wife, Jean,whose family foundation provided $10 million in seed money, the program willoffer 100,000 free AOL accounts to the PowerUP centers. Gateway's chairman,Ted Waitt, is donating 50,000 Gateway computers.

For more information, check out the group's Web site at www.powerup.org. Ifyou want to become a supporter of the venture or set up a local center, sende-mail to ContactPowerUP@aol.com, or call 831-431-1390.

--www.ptech.wsj.com