Want to stay up to date? Then why not subscribe to the RSS feed?

Or subscribe by email
Interested in Advertising? I sometimes have 125x125 banner slots available for only $40pcm. Reviews only cost $40 too.
I'm nearly fully booked so get in touch now
Latest Content
Related Content
Recent Comments
Posted on Monday 13th of August 2007 at 15:34 in Linux

Dells are this much cheaper with Ubuntu rather than Windows

I've been toying with the Dell site tonight investigating the potential savings that can be made by purchasing their new Ubuntu only machines (which were recently released in the UK). Here I look at two laptops (from their Inspiron range) and see what the price difference is.

I decided to look at the Inspiron 6400 range of laptops that they have recently brought Ubuntu to; a nice model with some nice spec options available. So I set about pricing up my Ubuntu machine:

inspiron

The Ubuntu laptop
I decided to upgrade the processor to the more reasonable 1.74ghz dual core Intel chip from the rather dull 1.6 that was offered as default. This was at an extra cost of ?23.50 but I felt it a necessary add-on.

In addition the default amount of memory offered is a rather disappointing 512mb which I chose to upgrade to the full 1024mb at a further cost of ?29.37. While some may argue that Linux doesn't need as much memory as a Windows machine, I couldn't imagine running a machine with less than 1gb of memory.

Again, the hard drive was disappointing also; a rather dated 60gb 5400rpm hard drive which I felt would need to be upgraded to 7200rpm at an extra cost of ?47.00; I feel hard drives that are less than 7200rpm belong in the dark ages. I added no other extras and was left with a final spec of:

1.73ghz dual core Intel CPU
1024mb of memory
60gb 7200rpm hard drive
256mb of shared Intel Media Accelerator graphics
Final price of ?428.87

ubuntu dell

The Windows Laptop
The default CPU for the XP laptop was the improved 1.73ghz that I opted for as an extra on the Ubuntu version. The memory was also standard at 1024mb and the integrated graphics remains the same. The hard drive was also upgraded to 7200rpm at the same extra cost of ?47.00 and every other item remained the same.

The same laptop was priced, same CPU, same memory, same graphics, same hard drive, same everything. Except price. The final price was ?445.99

windows dell

WOAH! Ubuntu laptop is ?17.12 cheaper!
Indeed. So you get the exact same laptop for ?17.12 cheaper through Dell purely for the pleasure of having Ubuntu installed on it. So that's all the difference? All the extra PR and hassle to offer this in the UK and the real saving you find on this specific product is a whopping ?17.12.

What can I do with my ?17.12 saving?
book Well, there's a lot you can do but my personal recommendation would be Greenstreet Professor Teachers "Windows Vista Home Premium" available from Ebuyer. This has 10 blistering chapters covering all aspects of MS Vista Ultimate. What better could you do with your hard-saved ?17?

So after months of waiting for Dell to release Ubuntu machines in the UK it appears that they are only a "smidge" cheaper. Well, on the bright side they *are* cheaper but the new Ubuntu Dell machines are only good at face value - inheriting their cheapness from rubbish parts. Once you spec them up to the same level as a Windows machine they cost about the same. Still, ?20 can be used to great effect.

Enjoy this article? Why not subscribe to the full RSS feed?


Did you like this article?
If you liked this article then please show your support and give me a Digg. If you'd like to get in touch with me, email me at steven.york@seopher.com
Want to stay updated?
Sign up to RSS updates by email (or subscribe to the full RSS feed)

Enter your email address:


Add a comment






Comments

Showing most recent 4 of 4 comments

Firstly, any Computerist (sic) worth his salt never pays for software, be it windows or Linux. Secondly, Laptops suck in general and you are screwing your self by buying one. But it you have to have one then you need it so don’t bitch about the price just buy it.

Probably 90% of laptop users would be better off with a desk top.
“that is just the truth” Only people that have to travel with their computers need them and most folks just need it for email where a blackberry or something works good enough for that.

I use RedHat, Kubuntu, and XP. Windows has it’s place and so does Linux. Hell even apple is great for some things. ( for morons) I also administer servers and do database admin , server admin / CAD write front end and back end, use illustrator, PSP, PS, and Corel draw. I write Perl, Php, Java. etc and shell scripts. I use windows mostly because it lets me be most productive in the shortest amount of time.

Any body can put together a good box for 3-5 hundred bux US if they will spend some time to learn a thing or two. There is this thing called bit-torrent. Every software dist. Ever made is free for the taking. If you are gonna spend some money, spend it on memory, a good graphics card and a couple of nice 20 inch monitors. That will make everything better.

Don’t get me wrong I love *nix but if it was so freaking good ( and it is free) why do people buy MS? I will tell you . You get what you pay for. In the desk top environment windows kicks ass ( Vista excluded) sure windows is bloat ware but when KDE is as functional as windows it will be too.

Also just let me remind you young’ns of this, when laptops first came on the scene it would cost ya $4000+ for a basic POS model with a 12 monochrome screen and those were circa 1980 dollars.



Greg
The massive amount of posts around the web on Ubuntu being barely cheaper comes as no surprise. As someone pointed out to me once as the main reason for linux staying far behind: "customers that don’t want to pay make bad customers"
Another option is that al these posts come from linux-fans who secretely use Windows on a daily basis for their ’real’ computing. Or maybe Linux fans are dissapointed that there hated M$ Windows turns out te be quite cheap. [no flame intended]
Two things can be said about it. 1. Use linux because you think it is a better system. Personally I would rather by an Ubuntu machine even if it was £20 more expensive. Just to work hassle free, virus free, generally free 2. It’s actually much cheaper. Linux comes with loads of other free software, you will be able to update for free for years and years to come. And it will still be compatible with your hardware. We all know what happens if you try to update a Win98 machine to XP or Vista: it won’t happen. But seven years from now, your Linux machine will still serve you as a file server or aid your little sisters homework or be a router/firewall or you send it to the 3rd world for charity for all I care. It will be of use.
bro
No I have to agree with the post in that £17 does seem like quite a small amount of money to save. But I suppose that does make sense considering the price of an OEM license...
Harpo
Seriously? 17.12 GBP = 34.4394 USD and that’s actually pretty considerable to me. What did you expect it to be, hundreds cheaper? How much do you think Dell is actually paying for an OEM Windows License? You pay $35 USD less (that you can use for a nice case or larger hard drive) for a laptop you know has hardware that works with Ubuntu/Linux (or at least more so than a notebook without Ubuntu/Linux), you don’t get an ugly Windows sticker on it, you don’t have to mess with the partitions and/or reinstall Ubuntu (or Linux) and you are helping show that there is demand for Linux. This post is rather snobbish if you ask me.
Jesse