descriptions that describe nothing...

I saw an advertisement in the mail the other day for Blue Hippo computers. This is one of those companies who state that they can get a computer to everyone, regardless of credit issues or if you ever flashed a bus of grandmothers.
The description for the computer you can purchase from them is something very like the below. I apologize I don't have the ad in front of me, so this is not a direct quote, but the spirit is accurate.

Get a great, VISTA-ready computer, with a fast processor, plenty of memory, loads of storage space and a ton of software.

Fast, plenty, loads and a ton. Descriptors that describe nothing specifically.
So I went onto their site to see the actual specs on the computer they were offering.

Here are the specs:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor
512MB Memory
80GB Hard Drive

So, if you do a simple Google search for AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor, you will find reviews for it after it had been released in 2003. The steam driven Ford Model T was considered fast at one point, too.

They call the machine VISTA ready. With 512MB of memory. While I'm sure VISTA will at least start with this processor/memory combo, therefore accuratley designating the computer as "ready", it sure ain't gonna run good.

80GB is a good size for an MP3 player.

In short, this is not a good computer, but if you be a beggar, a chooser you cannot be.
Still, they want you to just give them 100 dollars to "build a credit history" with them. Then, they are asking for 52 weeks of $39.99 or about 2100 dollars.
2100 dollars? Yikes. This computer is worth, perhaps, 200 dollars. That's a nice markup. I wish I could find out if anyone was buying computers from them.
I would like to open a sandwich shop near where they live. I would offer them:
A great sandwich, with plenty of meat, loads of cheese on a ton of bread.
It would be a Chef Boyardee meatball, with a squirt of Cheez-Whiz, on a saltine cracker. It would cost 500 dollars.

I just noticed Blue Hippo wants 9 weeks of payments before they send you your crappy computer. Before they'll even send you the computer, they want twice what the computer is worth. Genius.
With some more looking around, I see the company was founded in 2003, the same year the AMD Athlon 64 3200+ processor was introduced.
I wonder what they were selling then? Perhaps the digital watch that used to play the horn sound from Bo and Luke Duke's car.