[slornie]

Quote

Computer giant Dell will start to sell PCs preinstalled with open source Linux operating systems, the firm has said.
The second largest computer maker in the world said it had chosen to offer Linux in response to customer demand.

http://news.bbc.co.u...ogy/6506027.stm

[Zipster-PG]

Wow, Dell customers must be really lazy if they can't download and install a free operating system themselves

[darth_yannick]

Zipster, on Mar 29 2007, 05:51 PM, said:

Wow, Dell customers must be really lazy if they can't download and install a free operating system themselves

No, this is what they call "customer service"

[slornie]

i suppose it does mean that people can get their PCs a bit cheaper, cos they arent paying for the Microsoft licence...

[(DoV) Tokakeke]

Yet, Dell is still overpriced and proprietary crap.

[Gray__Fox]

what planet are you from dell is probably the cheapest of all PC companies... but it is a big hastle...
and it probably has a lot more to do with how if they don't want to buy microsoft windows they wont have to anymore not that they're lazy...

[Foshjedi2004]

Depending on which Linux OS they use I may get one. If it is a laptop at least. Then I will probably change it to being either Ubuntu or Fedora Core 6...

[Loth Don]

Gray_Fox, I think Tokakeke is saying that you can build your own for less. If that is the case, then let me just say that moving responsibility and consequently liability for your computer to yourself has a risk and a price. Some people, I'm guessing Tokakeke is one of them, know what they are doing and can take that risk and certainly reap the price benefit. Others like the nice, though short-term, safety net of a warranty. I would like to be cut out the PC company myself, but I'm not that confident yet since it is not something I've spent enough time to learn about.

This post has been edited by Loth Don: 29 March 2007 - 12:27 PM

[darth_yannick]

I have to disagree with Gray Fox, Dell is definately expensive. When I buy a PC I just go to my local PC dealer, tell him what I want, and about 1 week later (depends on when the next delivery of goods is) I just pick up my PC. And it definately costs less because there is no "state of the art brand name" like Dell on the case. This is definately the case for desktop PC's, and for laptops I guess it's the same story. And I believe Acer is cheaper as Dell...

But back on topic, I think it's a good initiative to put also other OSes than Windows on PC's.

[Duke]

Some of the deals Dell has over here are unbelievable. Ie. theres no way I could build one for that much. A friend of mine recently bought a core 2 duo desktop recently and before he did I made up a spreadsheet of all the parts in that pc and tried to see if I could build one for the same price or less just using local retailers prices.

There was no way. Not with the 20" monitor that came with it, or windows vista. Dell buys and builds there stuff in serious bulk, its the only way they can do it. Otherwise they'd make no money at all.

[(DoV) Tokakeke]

Dell gives you stuff you can't do shit to (e.g. upgrading) if you don't buy their >$1000 models.

You might as well just buy a laptop.

[Zaknaril]

(DoV) Tokakeke, on Mar 29 2007, 03:31 PM, said:

Dell gives you stuff you can't do shit to (e.g. upgrading) if you don't buy their >$1000 models.

You might as well just buy a laptop.

Dell does sell some systems that do not have much in the way of expansion. However, if you know what you are buying, you can buy Dell machines that aren't as such. I have purchased nothing but Dell machines for quite some time (I can build them and tear them apart again blindfolded) because no matter how you slice it, it's cheaper. Also, as someone mentioned, liability is an issue. I like having a warranty because when I have had problems with hardware...it was out of the box, not a year later. They are VERY inexpensive. I am looking at purchasing a high-end gamer soon to the tune of $5,000-$7000 and Dell's pricepoint is quite impressive. I will likely not be purchasing a Dell, however, because the motherboards they use on their high-end XPS machine only supports RAM clock speed up to 667Mhz (which is subpar IMO). Of course, they also own Alienware, which will probably be the way I go (their highest end systems are overpriced, but they have a SLI system that is quite nicely equipped and a great deal).

At any rate, Dell builds solid machines using quality components (well, most of the time...a few of their optical drives are crap) and are among the highest rated computer manufacturers (Cnet, Consumer Reports, etc.). I find it ironic that you say "you might as well buy a laptop" because laptops heave even less expansion possibilities than desktops. The system I had before my current one was a Dimension 9100 and had 4 PCI slots, a PCIe x16 slot, and a 700 watt power supply. I'd say it was quite upgradable and handled everything I slapped in it quite well.

Their Linux based systems will probably only be offered to businesses. Most home PC users wouldn't even know how to spell Linux, much less what it is...

[Gray__Fox]

TY Zaknaril!

BTW you mention Alienware, I've had my AW for 4+ years now one ram upgrade and one vid card upgrade and I can play everything even F.E.A.R. at high settings on 1024 x 768 (and higher when I actually have more disk space) and my systems getting to 5 years old. IMO it's truely worth the money, too bad the forums have been corrupted by people who spam their one problem on every page... all the good users have abandoned the forums.

This post has been edited by Gray__Fox: 29 March 2007 - 09:47 PM

[(DoV) Tokakeke]

I bought a Dell with no upgradeability whatsoever, except the RAM. Even down to the damn CPU fan. All proprietary.

Explain how that's not comparable to a laptop.

[MarbleRye]

(DoV) Tokakeke, on Mar 29 2007, 12:07 PM, said:

Yet, Dell is still overpriced and proprietary crap.

I have 2 dells....they are not crap, maybe the parts arnt gaming parts, but their computers are extremely stable.

As far as linux goes...kinda dumb unless they plan to use those dells for school purposes.

[Admiral_Antilles]

well thats intresting......

[Gray__Fox]

(DoV) Tokakeke, on Mar 29 2007, 02:31 PM, said:

Dell gives you stuff you can't do shit to (e.g. upgrading) if you don't buy their >$1000 models.

You might as well just buy a laptop.

I want to reply and put you in your place... but I don't have the time right now... dang it! Go do research on the parts they use and you'll understand exactly why.

[Master of Tofu]

Zipster, on Mar 29 2007, 08:51 AM, said:

Wow, Dell customers must be really lazy if they can't download and install a free operating system themselves

Think about those people who don't know how to make a new partition on their computer

[Zaknaril]

(DoV) Tokakeke, on Mar 30 2007, 03:02 AM, said:

I bought a Dell with no upgradeability whatsoever, except the RAM. Even down to the damn CPU fan. All proprietary.

Explain how that's not comparable to a laptop.

Everything in a Dell is *not* proprietary. Dell is like Walmart. Ever notice that Walmart has sizes of products you can't buy other places? It's because they use their marketing muscle to make distributors make those sizes just for them. Intel (just to name one manufacturer) makes equipment specifically for Dell computers (I suspect) exactly as Dell requests. If you understand the actual definition of proprietary then you would know the hardware in Dell computers is not. That's why you are allowed to crack one yourself while it's under warranty. In fact, they ENCOURAGE you to do it yourself. If it were proprietary, opening the computer at all would void the warranty completely (Gateway used to be that way years ago). Now, the issue of whether they are proprietary are not doesn't affect whether they are upgradable. A particular Intel motherboard may just have less expansion slots than another (for instance, my buddy bought a Dell a year and and it only had 2 PCI slots with no PCIe slot or AGP slot). This is probably the case in your machine. If you couldn't upgrade the processor it probably meant that there were no faster processors than the one you had for your chipset.