[Haifux] "Windows-Free" laptops in Haifa

[Shachar Raindel]

On Sun, Feb 8, 2009 at 7:27 PM, Eli Billauer <eli at billauer.co.il> wrote:
> As far as I've seen, it tells the user to check the policy for refund.
> It can very well be to cancel the whole deal, for a refund of the whole
> sum. And the software can also be considered a present. I mean, suppose
> that you go to the supermarket, and you get an extra piece of something
> because you bought for X shekels. Do you think you'll have a chance to
> get a refund for that?
>
> And if you bought a travel package, and then found out something was
> wrong about it, wouldn't the best expectation be to simply cancel the
> deal, all money back?
>
> The thing you're missing here, is that when you buy a laptop, you're
> aware that there it comes with Windows. The only thing you can complain
> about, is that you were forced to agree to something you don't agree
> with. The only sensible solution in this case, in normal business terms,
> is to cancel the deal. Completely.
>
> I'm glad that Zvi Devir made some noise, because it got the message
> through, that a computer can run something else than Windows. But as far
> as I'm concerned, that's all there is to it.

When shopping for my laptop (Dell Inspiron 1525) I found out that
windows Vista basic have a NEGATIVE price of 200$ - the N series which
had linux preinstalled cost 200 USD more than the normal variation,
which was (and still is) in a constant "sale", offering it 250$
cheaper. Therefore, I got a machine which had windows preinstalled,
and upgraded to linux upon arrival. On the upper side though, since
Dell officially support linux on their laptops, the hardware support
is excellent, and the laptop is working with Ubuntu 8.10 flawlessly
(except for video tearing due to problems in Intel's drivers).

--Shachar