[wellylug] Purchasing a new laptop

[Atom Smasher]

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007, Steve Macdonald wrote:

> Is there anywhere one can go to purchase a new laptop without having to 
> pay for the OS as well?
>
> I dont want Vista, nor do I want XP so I dont really want to pay for it 
> either.
>
> I am looking around the $1200 mark. What should I look to avoid in terms 
> of new laptops and linux?
==================

1) it's often cheaper to buy a laptop with a "bundled" OS, all other 
factors being roughly equal (economies of scale)

2) find out from the manufacturer what their policy is regarding returning 
the "unused" software and license for refund, because you don't accept the 
terms of the license (mention that this will influence your purchase)

3) look into selling the sticker/license on trademe

my laptop came with polluted with vista, and acer wanted me to send the 
laptop to them (and pay shipping both ways) so they could remove vista and 
give me a check for $50US (shipping & insurance would have cost about 
twice that). i sold all of the M$ stickers to guy for $80US and didn't 
have to deal with any crap or shipping.


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