[ubuntu-uk] buying a laptop?

[Alan Lord (News)]

On 17/01/11 09:58, Sean Miller wrote:
> That's always been a concern of mine... they always seem excessive in
> terms of price vs. specification and I don't understand this, because
> surely building a machine WITHOUT Windows (and its costly licences, even
> considering OEM) ought to be CHEAPER?

Nope. That is quite far from the truth...

The MS OEM license for Windows is probably about 50% of the retail price 
for the same software.

When the major vendors bundle in all the crapware that comes with 
pre-installed systems, the vendors of the crapware actually pay to get 
their software bundled so in the end, the cost of the Windows license 
for the PC vendor becomes virtually zero or it even turns into positive 
margin in some cases.

> So why do Linux Emporium laptops not start at about £225 (if we consider
> that you can buy a Windows one from Tesco and/or PC World for £299 ?

Erm, I bet Tesco/PC World buy a shedload more machines than Linux 
Emporium could ever do and so will get much better volume discounts on 
the hardware even before you take into consideration the crapware 
kickbacks I mentioned above.

Al


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