Redten is a new internet service provider operating under the umbrella of Watford Electronics, and it has a gimmick no other ISP can beat: sign up for three years of internet broadband and get a free PC worth £500.

The monthly subscription of £20 is competitive with most other providers, but it probably won't look as attractive in three years' time when the fees charged by rival operators have inevitably drifted downwards.

However, if you accept Redten's claim that the free PC is worth £500, all you're really paying for the broadband connection is £7.49 a month (a sum which takes into account the £50 connection charge).

The broadband service offered by Redten is provided by BT - meaning you need a BT landline - and promises speeds of up to 8Mbit/s, dependent on distance from the exchange and local line conditions. Actual speeds may well be much lower than this.

Redten offers 10MB of web space, five email addresses and an internet portal with webmail facilities. These services were still not fully operational in early January 2007 but the core broadband service has proved reliable. Telephone support is charged by the minute on 0871 numbers.

Our PC arrived a month after signing up, but you can have the broadband service in advance of the PC if you already have a suitable computer.

The desktop computer contains a reasonably fast 3.06GHz Pentium 4 processor, a 160GB hard disk and a multi-format DVD writer that handles all disc formats. The monitor is a magnificent 19in TFT model from LG, with a crisp, bright picture but fiddly controls. The wired keyboard and wired mouse are adequate but the speakers are feeble and will need to be upgraded.

Early versions of the PC are being supplied with Windows XP Media Center Edition and an upgrade voucher for Windows Vista when it becomes available. Later models will have Vista pre-installed.

We installed a review version of Vista Premium and were able to use the transparent Aero interface but the standard 512MB of memory really needs to be doubled to eliminate performance bottlenecks, and a plug-in graphics card will be required if you are keen on 3D gaming.

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