I'm seeing something here that is new at least in my country and might add an interesting aspect to the discussion around HSDPA in the so-called N900:

The major carrier here announced today they'd bundle a "Quantum Q10air" (which reportedly is a rebranded ECS G10IL with built-in HSDPA/HSUPA) for €0,- if you sign up for a 2 year data contract. The nice thing is that the hardware is in no way locked to the carriers network. You can use any other SIM card if you want (as long as you keep paying the monthly rate, of course).

What I find interesting here is that they

• start using the traditional "free hardware if you sign contract"-model on data only (the contract is a data plan and does not include voice)
• don't even attempt to lock you to their network, neither by technical means nor by legal terms.

If they'd continue to do this, I'd expect a HSDPA-powered tablet (no matter which brand) to be a hot candidate for their line of subsidized devices.

What I'd like to know is if these offers are popular elsewhere or if providers either dont give this kind of hardware for a contract at all or require you to use their networks.

Yes, we have that too in Bulgaria from some time now. All the carriers offer Asus EeePCs of different kinds, but with USB addon cards. All are with contract and for about $35/month for data.

We had T-Mobile offering the Eee PC, too, but more as a giveaway in addition to the actual hardware you got (the USB HSDPA-modem), which was, AFAIK, locked to their network. (I'm not completely sure about that last bit.)

Whats new here is you don't get just a modem, you get the whole computer with HSDPA access, you get it for free (contract is €25/month) and you're not locked to the network. I think not being restricted on the hardware side is pretty cool.

Yeah, they're locked to the network, even branded with the carrier colors.

It will be great if it isn't locked to the network and probably it will happen everywhere in the EU eventually, since EU probably will require overall carrier lock removal (you must be able to switch carriers with ease and hardware lock is getting in its way, so probably will have to go).

I saw one here in Spain where, first you had to buy 30 newspapers, then you have to be on contract for two years at 32€/month (plus vat, i.e. the total is 37€ month), the connection has a cap of 1GB/month.
The "free" netbook turns out to be quite expensive.

Yes - and no. It's the same with all subsidized hardware (phones too). Of course you pay a lot for the contract, if you add it up over the years, it's usually not a cheap offer at all - for the hardware.

You mustn't forget, though, that usually (at least that's what I do) you don't sign the contract because you want the netbook. Most people need some kind of data plan anyway, so the question is if you spend the money on one with or without hardware. The data plan without hardware might be a little cheaper, but the delta in most cases is worth the hardware. (This way I got my Nokia 6110 Navigator for €137: €17,- for the phone plus 24*€5,- for the data plan. I'd have taken the data plan anyway.)

You're right, but for 37€ a month I would never consider a data plan (with or without hardware), moreso if it's capped at 1GB.
There's a competing offer (from another telco) for 29€/month with a 5GB soft cap. The difference over the life of the contract is 190€, not enough to buy a netbook now but probably enough in a few months and I can leave the 29€/month offer any time (if I don't need it anymore or if it doesn't meet my requirements).
Now, your offer for 25€ is much more interesting, but nothing similar is available over here.

Edit: oh, I now found that if I want 5GB with another carrier (e.g. the one offering the netbook), that's 45€ a month, so the difference in 2 years is 480€ and I can almost buy 2 netbooks at that price.

We're talking about 5GB/month for €29,-/month (24 months)

The same carrier's offer without the netbook is either
10GB/month for €30,-/month (24 months) or
3GB/month for €20,-/month (24 months)

So it depends... you can do the math like "the netbook-offer is only half of what I get in the regular contract, so I have to double the price each month to find out what the netbook costs me" - but thats nonsens. If you know you don't usually need more than 5GB, it's simply the same price and you get hardware you need instead of GB you don't need.

Yes, that's probably convenient where you live, it isn't were I live .... with or without the netbook (though without the netbook you can shop for better offers).

Yes, they do, e.g. with a ADSL subscription. Also, deals with UMTS/HS*PA.