Scam Types dot Com

Medison Europe Limited, a Swedish company founded by Valdi Ivancic, are claiming that they will be able to deliver a laptop by the end of this month for the fantastic price of $150US.

Surely this is a scam?

At this price there must be a huge number of people who are tempted to dive in and pre-order one, so here is a quick evaluation of the laptop on offer, the company and the founder.

The Medison Celebrity Laptop

The specifications of the laptop being offered for just $150 include the following -

• Intel Celeron 1.5GHz processor
• 14″ LCD screen
• 256 MB Ram memory
• 40 GB Hard Drive
• 802.11g wireless networking
• Fedora Linux operating system

As any keen system builder knows, removing Microsoft operating systems from the equation and using Linux offers a huge cost saving, however, this still seems far too good to be true.

It has long been the goal of the One Laptop Per Child Foundation to reduce the cost of computers to the $100 range - has the price of components dropped so much that Medison is within touching distance of that target?

Medison Europe Limited

Curiously, Medison only developed a website in April of this year (wasn’t April 1st was it?). This instantly makes me wonder if they have the capability to deliver on their promises and the undoubted demand for such an attractively priced laptop.

What’s more, their telephone lines are temporarily closed and further details about this offer are scarce. Additionally, they are unable to take credit card orders themselves and, instead, rely on a merchant, 2Checkout, who will hold buyer’s funds in escrow until the laptop is shipped.

2Checkout seem perfectly legitimate so there is unlikely to be any concerns with them but Medison is another matter -

• They dropped the price of the laptop considerably from it’s original $450 tag
• The laptop was meant to be available through retailers but online is the only purchase method now
• There is no way currently to make contact with the company
• There is a delivery time of 4-8 weeks minimum before you will receive your laptop
• The price is too low - the components cannot be sourced anywhere for this price, even if no profit margin is added

Valdi Ivancic

The founder, and CEO, of Medison Europe Limited is Valdi Ivancic, who has recently made clear his political ambitions, suggesting he may stand as a candidate for the position of Sweden’s Prime Minister (if his wife and children give him their permission!).

Previously, he has been associated with several failed businesses, having connections to six Swedish companies of which five are, or soon will be, bankrupt.

Conclusion

It just doesn’t seem plausible that a laptop of the quoted specification can be manufactured and sold for $150. With the total lack of communication available between potential buyers and Medison right now this definitely looks suspect.

Having said that, 2Checkout are a reputable payment processor so no-one is likely to lose their money at the end of the day.

So what’s going on here? Personally, I think the $150 laptop offer is a ruse. Considering Ivancic’s political aspirations, I do wonder if this offer is related? He claims that his company’s profit will come from selling advertising spots on the website for up to $3million but I think there is another motive behind this too good to be true offer…

Verdict : Publicity Stunt