Dell makes 30-minute gaffe on prices

Dell Computer sold flat-panel displays and other computer accessories for pennies for about half an hour on Wednesday. The Round Rock, Texas, PC maker posted erroneous pricing information on its software and peripherals Web site during a pricing update, which occurred Wednesday morning.

As a result of the error, some customers were able to order products such as flat-panel displays for a few cents each, versus their normal prices, which start around $250. Dell discovered the problem after about 30 minutes, a company representative said. But the company will honor a small number of orders placed in the period before it caught the error, the representative said.