[ubuntu-uk] buying a laptop?

[Bruno Girin]

On Mon, 2011-01-17 at 09:58 +0000, Sean Miller wrote:
> On 17 January 2011 09:53, Barry Drake <bdrake at crosswire.org> wrote:
>         On Mon, 2011-01-17 at 09:29 +0000, Scrase, Eddie wrote:
>         > Although I haven't bought a laptop from them, from past
>         experience I can
>         > recommend the Linux emporium (linuxemporium.co.uk).
>         
>         
>         I've heard very good reports about them, but looking at their
>         website, I
>         thought they were a tad expensive.  Is their stuff higher spec
>         than your
>         average Computer World items?
> 
> 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?
> 
> 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 ? 

Because they sell Lenovo laptops, which you rarely find at Tesco or PC
World because they tend to be considered as part of the business range
rather than the consumer range. This means that those laptops are
slightly more expensive to start with but are a lot more sturdy and
better built. If you compare the LE prices to the prices on the Lenovo
web site, you will find that the markup is not that high.

I use IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad laptops all the time (home and work) and I can
guarantee you that the build quality is extremely good. The 6 year old
machine on which I am currently writing this still has all its original
components (apart from the HDD that I upgraded), the keyboard is one of
the best ones I've ever had on a laptop, everything else works like
clockwork, and it definitely feels a lot sturdier than any of the cheap
plastic boxes you find at PC World.

The other advantages of choosing Lenovo as far as LE are concerned are
that they are machines that are very easy to upgrade, easy to find spare
parts for and are known to run Linux well.

So yes their machines are more expensive than what you would find at PC
World but a good part of it is down to the choice of hardware. They
could choose cheaper hardware but as a business it's probably better for
them to stick to a brand they know and have experience with.

Bruno