Would you rent a PC to save on your electricity bill?

The New York Times takes a look at Zonbu, a Menlo Park, CA-based company headed by Grégoire Gentil and Alain Rossmann that's offering a personal computer for these green times. Their little "headless" machine, also called Zonbu, draws just 15 watts because it uses 4 GB of flash memory instead of a hard drive, is passively cooled (fanless) and employs a power sipping VIA processor. They also throw in an additional 25 GB of online storage for free.

Other features include half a gig of RAM, PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors, an Ethernet port and six USB ports.

On the software side, it comes loaded with Gentoo Linux, Firefox, Open Office, Skype and an assortment of software for a total of 20 pre-loaded apps.

So what does it cost?

There's an upfront cost of $99 plus $12.95 a month under a cellphone-like 2-year contract but with a nicer cancellation policy. Doesn't seem like a terribly good deal for a system lacking essentials like a monitor and keyboard (though available as options). However, compared to the typical 200-watt computer, the 15-watt Zonbu costs $10 less a month to keep powered, according to the company. So, in essence, you would only end up paying an extra $3 a month, less if you prepay. Nice, but are people really willing to ditch Windows and Mac OS to go green?

You can get more information on Zonbu here.