

Ask HN: New Laptop, No OS, Where To Buy? - Rhodee

Is there an online retailer <i></i>you<i></i> would buy from if you needed a new laptop as your development machine?<p>Has to be under $500 and no OS. Will just do a fresh Ubuntu install.<p>Thanks for the guidance -
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ebiester
Sadly, computers are cheaper with an OS. The vendors pile junk like 90 day
virus subscriptions (that must be renewed) and Microsoft Office instant
upgrades on to the computer as to lower the price.

I'd pick something off <http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/> and be done with
it.

~~~
Rhodee
This was very helpful thank you.

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fractallyte
Just buy a laptop as usual. But then return the pre-installed Windows to the
manufacturer (not the retailer), for a refund.

Your right to do this is protected by various competition laws prohibiting
'tying' - the bundling of third party products. For generic PC hardware,
Windows _is_ third party - it's not exclusively necessary to run the machine,
since there are many other third party OSs available.

More details are in my comments in previous threads:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2600047>
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642068>

~~~
Rhodee
Thank you so much. I was not even aware of this. I really appreciate it. Opens
up my options.

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palehose
eBay, used computers can be just as good as new.

