I will go to great lengths to avoid funding Microsoft or Apple even if it costs me money. That and It's a way for me to signal interest in Linux support to a hardware vendor (whatever that's worth).
Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
41–50 of 108 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
#42Linux might be rare enough that they only make Windows machines and then have someone pull one out of the box put Linux on it if requested.
It’s like why alcohol free beer costs almost same in NZ - because they have to take out alcohol!
Sure, but you wouldn't pay any alcohol taxes, and the alcohol that's taken out can be used elsewhere. So production costs really ought to be lower. Volume might be lower too though.
Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
#43Earlier 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...
Ouch.
For a "just works out of the box" experience, this is why I never went back to Windows after switching to Mac. I did actually wipe a Windows pre-install once to install Ubuntu, but that took forever to setup and fix drivers regularly.
Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
#44More 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.
What is the software that gets installed and what does it do? Do they actually show ads ?
The pre-installed software is the ad. The software manufacturer hopes that consumers will buy their subscription or full priced software.
After all, people believe they need antivirus software to stay safe (the fact antivirus software can be worse than the virus doesn’t change people beliefs) so why not buy the one that’s already installed on their PC?
Or another way of looking at it, Google pays Apple billions each year to make Google the default search engine on iOS, because Google recognises the power of defaults i.e. people are lazy and will use/buy whatever’s in front of them to avoid doing any work looking for alternatives.
Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
#45More 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.
I knew a "business development" guy who specialized in these deals.
Unless something has changed drastically in this space, Dell isn't going anywhere near $200 plus the cost of a Windows license on every machine they sell.
I'm guessing they have higher return rates and higher support calls from people selecting the Linux option who don't fully understand what they're doing. If the Linux option reduced the price, there would be scores of people clicking it just to save a few bucks without understanding the consequences.
You have to keep in mind that technically competent people ordering laptops are actually a minority.
Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Replacing the Killer WiFi card with an $40 Intel one is the first thing I do to every Dell laptop I get.
Yep, totally. I had some issues with Bluetooth coexistence on my Realtek WiFi card, tried installing various different drivers but nothing fixed it. Replaced it with an Intel one and it worked flawlessly.
Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Except that a wifi card costs $20.
Exactly. I feel like the costs of swapping out such components for better ones likely wouldn't exceed $200. Maybe pwg is right and the discounted price with Windows is due to the paid pre-installed software. But that still leaves the customer with complete freedom to install something else on it.
Depends how much you value your time, and how many laptops you’re buying.
Some people want their laptop to work out of the box, and will happily pay $200 to ensure they get a HW/SW combo that’s been validated to work together by the manufacturer.
If you’re a company buying 10+ laptops, paying an extra $200 per laptop is probably cheaper than the faff of separately finding and acquiring wifi cards, then finding the time to swap them all.
Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
#48More 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.
Does Dell offer a "clean" version of Windows for the extra price? I can come up with competing reasons for why they would/wouldn't do this.
Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
#49[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Why the $200 Overhead on Dell XPS Laptops with Linux?
#50Just ran into this buying a laptop! I bought the Windows one, nuked it, and had Ubuntu installed in like 15 minutes :D
Yeah I was kinda wondering, what's their game plan here? Hope that people don't notice the price difference and DIY it? Might just be what someone else said, this is what Dell is not being paid to pre-install whatever
When you work at a big company and put a request in for a laptop with Linux, then IT will just order you that Linux version of it - no one cares that there's $200 to be saved there by reinstalling the OS. IT doesn't have the time nor the need to do that - they will just order the Linux version and be done.