ANTenna Blog -- Hardware & Software

As vendors look to keep revenue coming in the door, prices on hardware and software are plummeting. For small and midsize businesses who can afford it, now's a great time to buy.

Major software and hardware vendors haven't reached the same depths of desperation that U.S. automakers have … at least yet. Don't expect to get paid to drive away with a new application or a server, but you can score some major discounts that will bolster your IT infrastructure.

Some of these offers are overtly positioned in response to the financial crisis, while others make no mention of the economy. But make no mistake tight spending is driving price cuts targeted to small and midsize businesses:

HP's "total financing for small and midsized businesses" program delivers exactly what you'd expect -- HP carries 100% of the financing load for 12 months and after that you can keep the equipment for just a $1. There's also a 3-year leasing program offered at 0%. The offer's good purchase of lease of HP products from $1,500 up to $150,000.

HP's trying to inject some humor into the plight of tight financing with a video featuring an office car wash raising money for new computers -- Michael Scott of The Office would approve -- click the image to go to the video (HP didn't set it up for embedding).

Over at Intuit, the QuickBooks crew has unveiled "Small Business United." The so-called stimulus package offers a host of free software offerings (estimated value of approximately $1,000), including:

• QuickBooks Simple Start Free Edition


• Free year of Intuit Web site service


• Six months free Intuit Online Payroll service


• Free incorporation service


• Six months free credit card processing


• Free retail management software (QuickBooks Cash Register Plus)

Naturally, the intent is that the free stuff will hook you and in 6-12 months you'll buck up for the paid version. Not to be outdone, Intuit has its own video offering, though it's earnest rather than funny. (click image to view).

These two discount offerings are hardly alone. Earlier this week, Intacct announced lower priced offerings that bring their financial package into range for more customers, Toshiba slashed prices on notebooks for SMBs, and AMD rolled out lower power Opteron processors with corresponding price points.

And there will be more...

More From bMighty: Financial Crisis Survival Kit