I don't get it

Why do dell do this when they get caught every single time? All PR is good PR?

Actually......

If you ensure that all the Items match up, the charge for the Ubuntu machine is £418.99, while the Vista Machine is £359.00.

I didn't know that Ubuntu cost 60 pounds more than Vista.

Ubuntu Suck

Like I always said Ubuntu Suck! I event get "Blue screen" or "kernel panic" or "what ever that is" when I boot Ubuntu 7.10 into my Latitude D630.
The funny think is, both Vista and other linux (Mandriva) works just fine. Becouse Ubuntu is femous for OOB (Out of the box experience), I hardly like to make any ajusment. The case different with Fedore, I willing to make as much ujusment to make it works on my DELL Latitide because it was power user OS.

wow doesn't make sense

Vista=1.60Ghz Core duo
Ubuntu=1.86Ghz Celery

Vista = 3GB ram
Ubuntu=512MB

Vista=120GB HD
Ubuntu=80HG HD


Ok then just on the premise of hardware specs this ubuntu systems should at least be 150 less then the vista system.... is Microsoft subsidising Vista so that companies force end users to buy it, not to mention making Linux less attractive.

One thing could possibly be the reason, why upgrade hardware when ubuntu or any other distro for that matter runs the latest and greatest on the more minimal configuration.... if people don't have to upgrade they won't, could this be the reason for the high price???

????

:o Did they change prices alreayd for me it says:
Ubuntu
Price From £298.99
Includes VAT & Shipping

Vista
Price £398.99
You Save £39.99
Total £359.00

nevermind

Nevermind it has indeed a celeron , 512 mb , 80 gb hard disk instead of vista t2330 1gb memory 120 gb hard disk . This is just sad or there linux staff is costing a lot of money

Not quite true

Building two cheap systems with identical hardware the Inspirion with Ubuntu is 10£ cheaper (379 to 389).

Hardware:
T2330, 2x512DDR2, Intel X3100 gfx, 8x DVDRW, 15,4" WXGA w/ Truelife, 120GB HDD, 4cell battery, Intel 3945 wlan

makes sense...

Once MS removes their "incentives", the bigger price for the Ubuntu box more accurate reflects the true price of the hardware you are getting.

Unfortunately MS will spin this as a "Machines with Vista are cheaper than those with Linux", and the Dilbert boss will believe it.

Dell and MS

So Dell must be getting some serious kick backs from the MS camp.
Which can only mean one thing....

Vista sucks and MS is paying money to Dell purely to get market share!

...or it could all just be a Dell SNAFU

FREE software...

Under GPL, Dell shouldn't charge anything for Ubuntu at all. They can charge for the service of installing it and supporting it, and they can make claims that it costs them more to support Ubuntu since most of their staff is trained in Windows and getting qualified Linux support is difficult. However, I think there's something more going on. Maybe they've agreed with Microsoft that they'd charge more for Linux machines to put more people off of buying them, while satisfying the open source community that's been crying about a preinstalled Linux from a mainstream company? Think about it... Products like the Eee PC and the OLPC come with Linux because it's cheaper to implement. Then why else would Dell charge more for it?

MS pays

I guess it's 'cos MS is paying Dell 60 quid to install Vista. They have to do _something_ to get the sales numbers up!

I'd pay the extra if...

I'd pay the extra if I could sell the Vista licence on to someone else for £50.

Hang on, why would I buy a laptop with Vista anyway?!?!?

@ Hok - One of the guys where I work uses Ubuntu happily on his Latitude D630, as do I on my Latitude D610.

Rob

I'll pay not to have the Vole

I don't give a Vistendo. I will gladly pay a premium to avoid the Vole. If you think about it, a Dell setup with "XP" will still cost me more than a Ubuntu setup. £20 Vole discount still does not cover the cost of an XP licence.

Be fair!

Not sure how Drithaan gets the Ubuntu laptop up to £418.99, its £379.00 when I try it. BUT you aren't comparing fairly.

The Vista laptop includes a time limited promotional discount of £40 so after 27 Feb the Vista laptop will cost £398.99 so it's £20 more than the Ubuntu machine. I'm not certain what OEMs pay for a Vista Licence but £20 would seem about right.

Nothing to see here, move along.

Its the crapware

I don't know what it is like in the UK, but here in the States vendors get paid to include "crapware" on Windows computers (trial versions and other software you don't want). As they do not get this revenue from the Linux boxes they sell, they raise the selling price.

£40.00 discount in effect

With both systems identically configured(0), except for the OS, naturally, the Vista machine should cost £20.00 more (£509.01 for Ubuntu, £529.01 for Vista Home Premium). But there seems to be a £40.00 discount on "selected Inspiron NT/XPS models" that brings the price to £20.00 less than the Ubuntu machine. The discount expires on February 27th, so anyone who wants to take advantage should move quickly.

Now, why is the Ubuntu machine only £20.00 cheaper? And do all the Inspiron NT/XPS models selected for this discount happen to be Vista machines, perchance? And out of whose pocket does said discount come? Could it be Microsoft...? Inquiring minds want to know and all that.

0- T2330, 1Yr warranty, no webcam, Jet Black with Matte Finish case, 15.4" Widescreen WXGA TFT, 4GiB DDR2-666, 160GB (7200RPM) SATA HDD, no mouse, 8x DVD, 4-cell Li-Ion battery.

Ubuntu costs more

Dell will have to train and hire customer support for Ubuntu. There fore, it cost dell more, so they charge more. Traditionally, Linux cost more in the long run due to the experience of employees and IT. Loss of productivity adds up very quickly. Not all of us are nerds.

prices match

So I wibbled, and found that for an identical spec (processor, LCD, memory and hard drive were different originally), I got an identical price.

(That's T2330, 1280x800 with TrueLife, 1GB and 120GB/5400rpm).

All for £379. And the Vista price includes a £40 discount. And there's a delay on it.

Please not

Why do people always imply that they charge the additional money for the OS?

This is just a allegation.

- Maybe they have a lot more to evaluate what fits best for the customer?

- Education for their employees.

- Increasing Support-Costs because they support now Linux.

- Increasing QA Costs.

They just calculated they price, based on their research.

Maybe this price is just a failure, but only because of the fact that the OS is free, the whole PC has not get cheaper coercively.

Why not both, if vista.

Why not both on one machine? Ubantu must be warrentee problem & constantly unstable enviorment, needing lots 'o minor modifications. it costs same as microsofts' product to maintain,Vista is just better & COSTS LESS.
von drashek

Linux is FREE as in SPEECH not as in BEER

Linux and the GPL are Free as in Speech not as in Beer - it's amazing that people still haven't understood this.

Dell may charge as much as they like for Linux, although it's a bit daft to do so as freely available source code can easily be turned into free-as-in-beer software.

Myself, I like BSD, which you can do what you want to with - free or commercial, it's up to you..

Michael Dell Is From The Evil

Maybe "the Redmond guys" have some contract with Dell Enterprices...

Laptop Ubuntu Base >> Laptop Window$ Base in price.

But, is strange, congrats for discover it:)

For me, ASUS is the best Linux seller (EEE) :P

Ubuntu no suck...Dell does?

I run Ubuntu and its a very stable and well polished distribution. The only installation problems I've come across are on Dell desktop systems, it and Dell's video hardware have a bit of a 'thing' that needs sorting out. (My more limited experience of laptops is that they just work out of the box....less scope for hardware "creativity" on Dell's part?)

It seems that when you buy a PC from Dell you get a Windows license with it whether you like it or not (so Linux is an "extra"). So when I get bitched at by "Windows Genuine Advantage" telling me that the copy of XP on one of my Dells is obviously pirated I just think its another example of the Vole's outstanding software innovation at work.

Ubuntu costs more than Fista

Due to the marketing of "add-on ware" such as real player, wild tangent, etc. Dell is paid to put these "add-ons" onto their windows machines. Since most, if not all, don't work on Linux, Dell gets $0.00 for selling a linux box. Did you ever wonder what was the BIG BOX makers motive for putting all the extra stuff on a "vanilla" PC?
Now you see some of that influence and is one of the main reasons whenever I get a "New" Computer, I wipe it from the adware, spyware and other malware that is pre-installed at the factory.

why not?

why not? vista is worth less than herpes..

Makes total sense...

Yes, it does. Why do you think Dell shoves all that crapware on your new computer anyway? Do you have any idea how much RAM is actually left after your typical Vista-based install? All I can say is that you'd better have TWO GB!

Without that money, Dell has to charge more - simple as that. Don't believe me? Take a look at their Vostro line - no crapware, but more expensive - even when the specs are equal.

Ask for a Dell with FreeDOS

I live in Mexico, and Dell computers with Ubuntu are not available here yet, as far as I know.

The solution? Just ask Dell to deliver the computer you want with FreeDOS instead of Vista. It took me a week of emailing and chatting, but I like to think I have paved the way :-)

For more information, see:http://johnbokma.com/mexit/2008/02/11/dell-vostro-200-windows-tax-free-mexico.html

Dell gets dosh for crapware

Keep in mind that Dell gets paid to install the various pieces of crapware that come with Vista (or XP), including antivirus, DVD player, plus any promotional offers.

Since none of that is needed (or even available) for Linux, Dell gets nothing and we have to pay the real cost of the computer.

Oh well..

You've got to laugh haven't you... ?

It's a matter of real value

It would be fair. Ubuntu worths more than Vista.

AT adds: Free spellcheckers are obviously worth every penny.

Simple Choice...

Quit whining.

Buy the cheaper hardware and install whatever OS you want! :P

RE-FORMAT?!?

I would just buy the cheapest price good spec regardless of what crap comes with it, and spend a couple of hours reformatting and installed what the hell I wanted to use!

Good Catch!

Ubuntu disguises the price discrepancy by offering cheaper hardware on the Ubuntu box. I guess I will never recommend Dell again (or at least for a long while). It's a shame with them finally showing up in retail stores, where people asking for such advice usually want to buy them. Somebody should investigate Microsoft over this. Is Dell really making that much money off of pre-installed spamware, I mean "bundled software"?

I think I would take the Vista version, tell them I don't agree to the terms of service and demand the money back on the software.