eWeek weighs in with a piece about how rising fuel costs could find their way to PC prices, including small-business desktops now in the $350 to $400 range and $700-and-up laptops.
One analyst says to watch for hidden charges--or hidden subtractions from needed features--as makers hit with higher shipping or component prices use those means to pass them on to buyers without raising list prices: "Often the manufacturers try to bury a price increase by padding shipping charges or by cutting down features, such as RAM allotments, hard drive sizes, or the length of a system's standard warranty."