The $150 Medison Celebrity Laptop Scam?

Medison Europe Limited, a Sweedish PC company, is claiming it will deliver a $150 laptop later this month, but the offer has scam written all over it. Many people are being tempted to pre-order the Medison Celebrity computer, but I’m advising shoppers to avoid this company at all costs.

Medison’s founders say they will begin shipping the entry-level notebook by August 15, but I’d be surprised if a single customer ever receives their order. The One Laptop Per Child Foundation has spent millions of dollars and several years trying to reduce the cost of computers to the $100 range. Medison, which didn’t even have a web site until April 2007, does not have the scale or reach to make this happen.

Medison also doesn’t even have its act together enough to accept credit card orders on its own. Instead, it’s outsourced that task to another company that will supposedly hold customers money in escrow until the computer is shipped.

The company held a press conference for Swedish press that was bizarre to say the least. The company’s founder Valdi Ivancic refused to say who would actually build the Medison Celebrity. Ivancic also said his company won’t be making most of their money from direct sales, but instead from ads on their web site that could cost from $15,000 to $3,000,000.

Oh yeah…Ivancic also wants to be Sweden’s prime minister and may declare his candidacy after getting his wife and daughter’s permission.

This deal is too good to be true and probably just some sick ploy for attention. Now I could be wrong, and Medison’s fearless leader has figured out a super-secret way to get components for next to nothing. If he’s that smart he deserves to be elected to lead the Swedes.

via Computer Sweden