Buying a laptop with no OS (to install Linux on).
in [UK Linux]
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From: Bernard Peek on 25 Mar 2010 14:18 On 25/03/10 18:02, Mark Hobley wrote: > chris<ithinkiam(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/18/dell_windows_7_free/ > > I doubt it is actually free. If you wanted a copy, they would charge you for > it, or if it is free, ask for 5000 copies so that you can resell them on Ebay. > > There is a price to pay and Dell have rolled this into the laptop price. > > This is malpractice, and I would love to see Dell get fined massively for this. It could backfire because IIRC it means that there's no contract covering the supply of the software and so it isn't covered by any sort of license agreement. -- Bernard Peek bap(a)shrdlu.com
From: unruh on 25 Mar 2010 14:38 On 2010-03-25, Mark Hobley <markhobley(a)hotpop.donottypethisbit.com> wrote: > chris <ithinkiam(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/18/dell_windows_7_free/ > > I doubt it is actually free. If you wanted a copy, they would charge you for > it, or if it is free, ask for 5000 copies so that you can resell them on Ebay. > > There is a price to pay and Dell have rolled this into the laptop price. > > This is malpractice, and I would love to see Dell get fined massively for this. Hardly. "Free waterbottle with the purchase of sweatpants". do you think you could go in and get 5000 waterbottles? What it means is that the price of the sweatpants is the same, whether you get a waterbottle or not. Yes, there is a price to pay, but then the price they charge for the laptop is higher than the price they paid to manufacture it as well, and the cost of Windows may come out of that markup. Ie, calling it "malpractice" is going over the top. > > Mark. >
From: Andrzej Adam Filip on 24 Mar 2010 14:52 Poster Matt <postermatt(a)no_spam_for_me.org> wrote: > I'm intending to buy a new laptop and install Linux on it. Searching > around I've found it very hard to find a laptop for sale with no > operating system on it. In fact a company called Novatech (which I've > used before) is the only one I can find. > [...] Personally I would slightly suggest opting for laptop/computer with pre-installed some more popular distribution of (free) Linux. Most likely you will install your own beloved distribution but pre-installed distribution should provide you "assurance" that Linux supports the hardware. [ I can remember a few "ugly surprises" a few+ years ago ] -- [pl>en Andrew] Andrzej Adam Filip : anfi(a)onet.eu : Andrzej.Filip(a)gmail.com Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet? -- Lily Tomlin
From: Tony Houghton on 25 Mar 2010 16:08 In <bMWdnd1cCrC4gTbWnZ2dnUVZ7tGdnZ2d(a)bt.com>, jasee <jasee(a)btinternet.com> wrote: > Acer do supply pcs with linux preinstalled, and one netbook: the aspire one > (but not with Linux in this country AFAICT) eBuyer were briefly selling the Linux AAO for £150 last year. -- TH * http://www.realh.co.uk
From: Tony Houghton on 25 Mar 2010 16:12
In <4baba8fd$0$2539$da0feed9(a)news.zen.co.uk>, Bernard Peek <bap(a)shrdlu.com> wrote: > On 25/03/10 18:02, Mark Hobley wrote: >> chris<ithinkiam(a)gmail.com> wrote: >>> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/18/dell_windows_7_free/ >> >> I doubt it is actually free. If you wanted a copy, they would charge >> you for it, or if it is free, ask for 5000 copies so that you can >> resell them on Ebay. >> >> There is a price to pay and Dell have rolled this into the laptop >> price. >> >> This is malpractice, and I would love to see Dell get fined massively >> for this. > > It could backfire because IIRC it means that there's no contract > covering the supply of the software and so it isn't covered by any > sort of license agreement. It could backfire if MS had any true competition with an effective marketing department. "World's leading PC supplier says Windows 7 is worthless..." -- TH * http://www.realh.co.uk |