barebones laptop (was:Re: Apple or Ubuntu)

[Richard Bennett]

On Mon, 17 Sep 2007 12:50:14 +0200, Eberhard Roloff <tuxebi at gmx.de> wrote:

>> So I have now ordered a barebones PC laptop from
>> http://www.rkcomputer.net/rkcnotebooks/index.php?l=product_detail&p=3
>> and don't have to pay for OSX or Windows - should have done that from  
>> the
>> start.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Richard
>>
> Just out of curiosity.
> What is the advantage of a barebones laaptop like this?
> Out of interest, I filled in the basics that a "normal" laptop nowadays
> offers and, no surprise, I am at $1450 and more, Operating system and
> office excluded.

The point is that you are free to choose which operating system you would  
like to pay for.
When I bought a Macbook from Apple 129 euros worth of OSX was included by  
default, even though I didn't need it.
When I order a laptop from almost anywhere else at least $119 worth of  
Windows is included, whether I need it or not.
There are only a few ways of getting a laptop that doesn't come bundled  
with Windows or OSx, one of them is buying barebones (also known as  
barebook or whitebook), the other is ordering from
http://system76.com/index.php?cPath=28 (Who only ship inside the US, and  
their Darter model is the same as the barebones MSI), or from
http://www.shoprcubed.com/products.asp?cat=15  who do it the best way of  
all, offering 2 operating systems of choice, sadly they don't have an  
ultra-portable in stock.
There are a few other Linux stores, but you have to be carefull, some will  
take a laptop pre-loaded with Windows and add Linux to it, so you are  
still paying to Microsoft to use Linux.
Lastly there is Dell, HP and Lenovo who offer some laptops with Linux  
pre-installed. Sadly they can't just offer Windows as an unselectable  
option for all their Laptops, no, they have to pre-install Linux on one or  
two old models, hide them away somewhere, and make the people who do order  
them wait for weeks.

> Is this a good deal?
> Kind regards
> Eberhard
I would have preferred a Lenovo X60 ultraportable laptop that I could have  
bought locally, but it was not possible to buy it without Windows  
installed on it, so I ended-up ordering from rkcomputer, having it shipped  
 from USA to Europe for $140, and paying extra 21% VAT on it, just because  
they will sell me a laptop without windows pre-installed.

Yes, it is a good deal, as long as my money goes to a company that support  
freedom of choice!

Richard.