Since you have done similar deals in the past, I am sure you are aware that all the interest from Day 1 will need to be paid if you go past the 12 month time period.

If this is money that is not needed for an emergency during the next 12 months, it is a good deal. Ideally, you would have the total amount now and would place is in a money market account until it is due to gain a little bit of interest.

I don't have any experience with the Intel Celeron chips but any Pentium will be a big improvement over your 486/33. I always try to buy the most computer I can afford so that I can extend the life of the computer.