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

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

#61

Post by WesolyKubeczek »

leetcrew wrote: post #40
WesolyKubeczek wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that a wifi card costs $20.

the card itself does, but how do you value the time you spend on research and doing the replacement? I bought the windows version of that laptop when I was a student, and replaced the card myself. that made sense then, but if I bought it today to get work done, I'd gladly spend $200 extra to have it ready to go out of the box and not think about it. just my two cents, feel free to do whatever works for you.

To know that Intel is one of the best for Linux? I kinda have known this for years. To find online and buy one? Maybe 15 minutes. To replace? 10 minutes. I do such things without thinking. You can send me your laptops along with a 200 per laptop.

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

#62

Post by packetlost »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #45
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.

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, ther…

I imagine companies with business accounts also receive discounts on the "developer" machines in question anyways, so it's really just an incentive to prevent the extra support overhead.

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

#64

Post by random_dork1 »

jabyess wrote: post #37

This is surprising to me because it wasn't that long ago (~3-4 years) that I bought an XPS developer edition and it was $100 cheaper than the windows version. At the time, I assumed that was just the cost of the windows license.

Same here

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

#65

Post by mrb »

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.

If Norton 360 installed Folding@home, would you call F@H a "cancer"? No, you wouldn't. The true cancer here is pre-installed antivirus software such as Norton.

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

#66

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

danudey wrote: post #54
avianlyric wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I once set up a new Dell system, and it took something like 30 minutes to actually start and get to the desktop, and then a huge amount of time afterwards answering "yes I for really really real don't want your stupid demo" to a dozen pop-ups, and then another hour of uninstalling all the crap it had. I cannot imagine anyone non-technical having to go through that and deal with BS like daily pop-ups "reminding" you t…

When I bought a laptop in 2012, the first thing I did was wipe the drive and install Windows from scratch.

If I were to do that today, I'd do the same thing.

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

#67

Post by terinjokes »

caditinpiscinam wrote: post #30
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

Note that Dell uses different hardware inside machines between the Windows and Linux SKUs for the same model (mostly: wifi and bluetooth, but occasionally other things).

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

#68

Post by Nilrem404 »

encryptluks2 wrote: post #57
nicolaslem wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every laptop is a linux laptop if you stay away from nvidia and get last year's hardware.

Again, no issues on Arch. People running other distros may have issues due to slower package and kernel updates.

btw

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

#69

Post by Sohcahtoa82 »

gambiting wrote: post #50
fnands wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'd think IT would be re-imaging the laptop from a common image before giving it to the user, so they'd still be better off getting the Windows laptop and wiping it.

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

#70

Post by gambiting »

Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #69
gambiting wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'd think IT would be re-imaging the laptop from a common image before giving it to the user, so they'd still be better off getting the Windows laptop and wiping it.

Maybe, but you might be overestimating certain IT departments. At my wife's work everyone uses windows laptops, but her team needed Macs for some technical reason, so they all got brand new Macs that IT basically refused to support, they haven't been preconfigured or anything. I feel like if she asked for a Linux laptop they would just buy her one of these and that would be it. If it breaks then Dell can deal with it.
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