Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 108 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?

#21

Post by Ourgon »

heyitsguay wrote: post #4

Just ran into this buying a laptop! I bought the Windows one, nuked it, and had Ubuntu installed in like 15 minutes :D

I did this with a "Fujitsu-Siemens Scaleo Windows Home Server" some 14 years ago and managed to get the licence fee ($60) back from Microsoft after sending them a bunch of stickers, manuals and assorted included Windows-related guff. I had to hammer them a bit but after a letter or three they gave in. I don't know where you live but if it is somewhere within the EU it could be worth trying this. I have no idea whether such an attempt could succeed in the USA without taking them to some court or other.

Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?

#22

Post by mdeslaur »

pwg wrote: post #2

More than likely, because switching to Linux also drops all the "paid pre-installed windows software" (companies paying Dell to pre-install their software) then this jump in price would give a hint as to how much Dell receives in payment for pre-installing all those windows extras.

Yes, this.

Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?

#24

Post by zaidhaan »

A bit off-topic, but if that's the case, then why don't you just buy the Windows version, then wipe the disk and install Linux on it. You effectively save yourself $200.

Is there something I'm missing? Does selecting the developer version use different hardware that has better Linux support?

Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?

#26

Post by PostThisTooFast »

zaidhaan wrote: post #24

A bit off-topic, but if that's the case, then why don't you just buy the Windows version, then wipe the disk and install Linux on it. You effectively save yourself $200. Is there something I'm missing? Does selecting the developer version use different hardware that has better Linux support?

No post body was provided.

Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?

#27

Post by leetcrew »

zaidhaan wrote: post #24

A bit off-topic, but if that's the case, then why don't you just buy the Windows version, then wipe the disk and install Linux on it. You effectively save yourself $200. Is there something I'm missing? Does selecting the developer version use different hardware that has better Linux support?

the kaby lake xps 13 linux skus had a different wifi card that was more reliable on linux (and arguably in general). could be some other subtle differences like that. to me it's easily worth $200 to not deal with those sorts of issues.

also, I believe they sometimes don't offer the lowest tier windows hardware with linux at all.

Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?

#28

Post by PostThisTooFast »

Hamuko wrote: post #18
acchow wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the software that gets installed and what does it do? Do they actually show ads ?

Lenovo actually used to ship adware/malware that actually broke TLS in order to inject ads onto webpages. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfish#Lenovo_security_inci...

No post body was provided.

Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?

#29

Post by znpy »

pavlov wrote: post #17
dmajor2 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Norton 360, which if memory serves has been a stalwart of the preinstall game now installs an opt-in Cryptominer. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/01/norton-360-now-comes-wit...

Further evidence that crypto is truly a cancer on software.

> Further evidence that crypto is truly a cancer on software.

you might want to correct "crypto" with "cryptocurrency", at least

Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?

#30

Post by caditinpiscinam »

yumraj wrote: post #20

It is possible that it is strategic, to discourage customers from purchasing a Linux laptop. This could be for various reasons, such as: 1) Their production pipeline is optimized for windows, so Linux is a deviation requiring some manual intervention that costs extra. 2) Deals with Microsoft, wherein MS incentivizes them Dell based on some criteria, including but not limited to units sold. This is similar to car deal…

On the other hand, the fact that Dell offers a linux option is still helpful to users even if it's overpriced, since it signals that the hardware will likely be compatible if you go the self-install route. Then Dell gets to sell windows laptops to linux users with a wink and a nod and both parties benefit financially
Post reply on HN