Who sells laptops with Ubuntu?

[JockMullin]

Well over a year ago I refitted an old Dell Inspiron 8200 laptop with Ubuntu 8.04, and have been very happy with it as a laptop OS. However that venerable system is now dying and I want to buy a new laptop.

I heard Dell now sells Ubuntu systems, but I'll be darned if I can find any on their site (Dell.ca at least).

Sure, I can buy one with windows and just convert to Ubuntu, but it burns my butt paying for Vista which I have no intention of using.

I don't need anything fancy just a basic laptop/notebook.
Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Well over a year ago, Dell was selling Linux laptops.
I think they may have stopped.
Or, maybe you just have to call up and ask a phone salesperson real nice.

 

[engjohn]

you can still get it on Dell XPS laptops

http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/xpsnb/ct.aspx?refid=xpsnb&s=dhs&cs=19&redirect=1

 

[JockMullin]

Thanks for your replies, guys.

Yes, there are Dell laptops with Ubuntu pre-installed on the US Dell site, for example a cheap one is the Inspiron 15n. However, those do not exist on dell.ca. And, as Engjohn points out there are higher performance alternatives also.

I guess I will have to take MikeHalloran's suggestion and spend some time hearing about how important my call is to them ... sigh.

I was hoping for Dell alternatives as well.

Thanks again, Jock

 

[Noway2]

One reason why you might be running into difficulty finding a system without it is that the hardware prices are heavily subsidized by the bloat ware that it is anticiapted that you will buy.

I agree that it sucks to pay for a copy of windows that you aren't going to use, but it is possible that you are saving money by going that route.

I recently bought a cheap desktop PC, a dual core AMD with 3 GB of ram, 250 GB hard drive for $250 (USD), which is unthinkable even a couple of years ago. It came loaded with "Vista Home Premium" (choke cough) and between it and the bloat ware took up about 112 GB of disk space.

When I purchased the PC, the sales guy tried to sell me a $30 program to remove the bloat ware, claiming that I will only be able to get rid of about half of it by uninstalling and that their program will remove all of it.

I wiped the hard drive and it is now running Ubuntu Juanty server (64 bit) and is using a mere 3 Gb of hard drive and on average 50% of the memory.

 

[JockMullin]

Hi Noway2

Good point. However it still rankles to add even 1 tick to MS's phony sales stats. However in the interests of expediency that is what I will likely do - find a good deal on a Vista home pathetic machine for which all necessary Linux drivers are available and zap it.

Thanks, Jock

 

[tlcscousin]

http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/ubuntu?c=ca&cs=cadhs1&l=en&s=dhs

This should take you to dell canada and ubuntu laptops.

 

[JockMullin]

Hi, Tlcscousin

Yes, I have seen that page. And when you click on either "Shop for Ubuntu" button, you get a page with no systems on it and just the standard Dell header and footer with none of the links leading to Ubuntu based systems.

The equivalent page on the US site however does lead to Ubuntu systems.

This is what led me into this discussion in the first place. I still haven't had the time to call Dell, but intend to do so when I can free up some phone time.

Thanks anyway,
Jock

 

[DonQuichote]

If you cannot find Ubuntu preinstalled, you might find a machine without an OS or with a different open source OS. I have Xubuntu running on an Acer Aspire One netbook that came with Linpus Linux. That way, I did not have to pay the Microsoft tax, and I have a good system that is made for Linux (it even does not have a crippled keyboard with MS keys). Off course Ubuntu preinstalled is better, because it works (out of the box) without tweaking. But if the hardware drivers are open source, your hardware is almost certainly going to be supported by other distros as well.


+++ Despite being wrong in every important aspect, that is a very good analogy +++
Hex (in Darwin's Watch)

 

[iolair]

MSI, Acer, and ASUS (EEE) do.

Iolair MacWalter
Network Engineer

 

[Bong]

When I bought my ASUS eeePC it came with XANDROS which is an UBUNTU-based OS but visually constrained.

_________________
Bob Rashkin

 

[BadBigBen]

JockMullins - when I use that link, I end up with the following:

http://www1.ca.dell.com/ca/en/home/...adhs1&~oid=ca~en~70702~inspnnb_12u_en_rbp_1~~

after clicking the Shop Ubuntu link, then on new page click the Laptops & Mini, then on the next page, click under Product Catagory - Inspiron Laptops, and under Operating System - Linux Ubuntu...

but that is probably too small for what you want...

also have a look at:

Laptops/Notebooks with Linux Preinstalled

http://mcelrath.org/laptops.html

http://linux.dell.com/wiki/index.php/Ubuntu_7.04

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[JockMullin]

Thanks to everyone for your responses.
BadBigBen, you are right, I missed the mini because I didn't really want that model. I have since been in communication with Dell Canada and they ONLY offer Ubuntu pre-installed on the Atom processor based minis. No other Ubuntu systems are available from Dell Canada, and Dell USA won't ship to Canada. I could get one shipped to friends in NYC and then import it, but not sure about warranty implications in that scenario.

So that's the end of that option. I will look into other brands (Acer & ASUS) as suggested by Bong and Iolair. I checked with HP and their Linux offerings seem to be minimal to nonexistent as well. I don't see anyone selling laptops without an OS.

I guess M$ has the industry in a headlock. Pretty sorry state of affairs, really. I'm surprised some independent integrator doesn't put a package together. Might be a business there.

Jock

 

[lgarner]

Like

http://www.system76.com

?

Personally, I suspect it costs a company like Dell or HP more to maintain a separate catalog of non-windows laptops than the revenue that they lose by not selling Linux. I doubt the demand is sufficient.

 

[JockMullin]

Hi Igarner

Probably true, but it's also a bit of a Catch-22. They don't sell Ubuntu because it doesn't sell, and it doesn't sell because they don't sell it.

system76.com is the sort of thing I was expecting to find more of. Thanks for the link.

Brgds
Jock

 

[iolair]

Oops - you're right, the Asus eee comes with Xandros, not Ubuntu. My mistake. Thanks for the correction, Bong.

Iolair MacWalter
Network Engineer

 

[JockMullin]

Just to close off this thread, here is the final result - I fixed my old laptop.

I had a Dell Inspiron 15 (Vista Home Basic) about to order with the intention of wiping and installing Ubuntu using the 15N drivers from Dell US, when I decided to take the old unit apart and have a look (I don't usually do laptop hardware as the old eyes aren't that great anymore).

Pulled the HDD and tried it - that wasn't the problem. Pulled all the other devices and it still wouldn't stay powered on or even go to POST. So I decided to take it apart and see what it looked like inside.

I found when I removed the keyboard that the connector to the touchpad thingie was loose. So I put it back on and reassembled the machine (not easy) and SOAG it works! Ironically I have the touchpad disabled in the BIOS because it is such a nuisance so I didn't know it had failed.

So the question of finding a Linux/Ubuntu laptop has become moot for the moment. Thanks to everyone for their input - it has been very informative; it turns out by far the cheapest option is to buy Windows and scrap it.

Jock

 

[BadBigBen]

LOL... that will teach us, that a small problem can have a huge impact...

glad you got it up and running, and that in the end you saved some cash...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"