[Ubuntu-be] A lot of software free laptop

[Jan Claeys]

Op wo, 28-06-2006 te 07:20 +0200, schreef Laurent:
> Jan Claeys a écrit :
> > Weird, I saved exactly 124,45 € by refusing Windows XP Home on my laptop
> > from PointerSystems.be (I bought it through OpenMinds.be, but all their
> > dealers should be able to get those laptops Windows-less).
> > 
>   (20 euro is probably less than the cost of installing & pre-configuring
>   Windows...?)
> 
> I don't think so because I know that university of Louvain-la-Neuve pays 
> exactly 20 euros for XP pro on each PC.

In general, educational institutions get lower prices than "normal"
people?  And site licenses can also be cheaper than OEM licenses?

> I also know that there are no work of pre-confifuration at all : an
> men in a Excell shop shown me that they received their computers with
> an installing CD : just put the CD in the drive and Windows comes with
> all "usefull" softwares.

Which means you get no Windows CD, so no possibility to do a "sane" and
safe installation...?  *Shudder*

This technique is also only possible for computers that have the same
hardware (most Linux distro kernels boot without problems on other
hardware, but that's not true for Windows!), and requires creating those
image-CDs, which also costs money.

And don't forget that Win XP as delivered by Microsoft can't be
installed on most new desktop/laptop computers, which means you first
have to make your own install-CD with all the drivers needed.

>  On the other hand, 124 euros is MORE than the price of XP home. There
> should be an important difference of support between the two
> situations. Is your experience a *systematic* offer of PointSystem ?

They are a wholesaler / assembling factory, but you can find their
dealers on their site (pointersystems.be).  Their laptops are based on
barebones from MSI and other Taiwanese/Chinese manufacturers, and
according to the price-list it looks like Windows is an option, just
like more RAM, a faster CPU, etc.


-- 
Jan Claeys