On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 4:20 PM, Rob Beard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > John wrote: > > I am sorry if this has come up before, also about cross posting, but I > > havent been able to find anything about it, so wanted to as about it. > > > > I am a from the UK, and because of my laptop not being up to Ubuntu > > specs, I have been looking into buying a laptop with ubuntu already > > installed. I have a friend in the USA that has just bought what he says > > is a really good Dell laptop with ubuntu in it for just over $400. I > > have been looking at the UK Dell site to fimd that the very basic Ubuntu > > Installed laptops by Dell, start at £300 plus Vat almost double the > > pirce in the USA. > > Ahh it's the same with everything. The Playstation 3 is about $399 over > there which works out about £250, whereas over here they're about £300. > > The exchange rate at the moment between US and UK is $1.61 to £1, so > just over $400 isn't that much less than £300, I'd say with VAT and > delivery charges on top you'd probably be looking at about £100 > difference between a UK spec laptop and a US spec laptop. > > You'd also have to consider that the US laptops have US layout > keyboards. Not a major problem but can be a tad annoying. > > > How come there is such a huge difference in cost? I know Dell is > > separate company to Ubuntu, but surely Ubuntu must have gone to > > discussions about their software being installed on laptops in this > > country. > > > > I don't think it's anything to do with Canonical. I mean Dell can > download the software for free. Microsoft do special discount deals for > companies such as Dell, and IIRC the crudware that is supplied with > machines (McAfee Anti-Virus trials, Office 2007 Trials etc) helps > subsidise the cost of the hardware. > > Technically it shouldn't really cost any more than Windows to stick > Ubuntu on a machine as I'm sure Dell would create a standard build and > then just stick on a disc image on each laptop (as they would do with a > Windows machine). > > > Being a new user, I really like Ubuntu, but I'm finding it extremely > > frustrating not being able to use it, admittedly mainly due to my lack > > of experience with it, but if I could find a laptop with it already > > installed at a cost like they are in the USA I would dump Windows > > altogether, and be able to concentrate on learning Ubuntu without having > > to get around the problems I'm finding using it in a dual boot > environment. > > Well looking through the Linux Format magazines, there are companies > which do provide laptops with Linux pre-installed. The other option is > to do a bit of research (search Ubuntu forums, ask on here, search on > Google), see what laptops out on the market and how compatible they > generally are. Some laptops you'd probably find would work out of the > box with Ubuntu (my old Dell Latitude D610 was such a beast) whereas > others would probably fall over when it comes to things like wireless > adaptors. > > I'm sure there would be someone local to you should could help install > Ubuntu and provide support. That's one of the things I do in my area, I > help with the installation and give tutorials on how to use it. (I run a > business doing this, although I find that a lot of people just want > Windows reinstalling because they've screwed it up and my suggestions of > Ubuntu fall on deaf ears). > > > Right now, I lost the use of my laptop in the Ubuntu boot, after trying > > to install the update from 8.04 to 8.10. I find it really frustrating > > that to get my Ubuntu back, I have to tell ubuntu not to load compiz, > > which takes up a lot of what Ubuntu is. Which means I'm missing out on a > > lot of the functions of Ubuntu. > > I wouldn't say compiz is a lot of functions. If anything I kind of get > fed up with compiz and turn it off. Sure it looks fancy at first but I > can't say I'm really fussed about eye candy like that. > > Assuming you haven't got that much data on your laptop, if I were you, > I'd boot from an Ubuntu 8.04.1 Desktop CD, copy your existing data off > onto something like a USB pen drive (you'd need to mount the hard drive > first) and then reinstall, copying the data back on afterwards. > > Another thing I'd also recommend is to have a separate partition for > /home. It's not the default as far as I can remember but it's not too > hard to do and it can be done through the graphical installer. That way > if things screw up you can reinstall and just tell the installer to > format / (the root partition) and leave /home intact and mount it as /home. > > > So why, if Ubuntu is trying to get more people to use their products are > > they making it so difficult and costly for people like me who are on the > > lower incomes, to be able to use their products? Is Dell the only > > company selling laptops with Ubuntu already installed? Does anybody know > > of any other company that sells them cheaper, or would I have to get one > > from the USA. If I do have to buy from the USA, will it work in the UK? > > To be honest I don't think it's a fault of Canonical or the Ubuntu > community. It might be that some of the hardware has slight > incompatibilities, but hey, Windows XP doesn't come with every driver > built in, I often find reinstalling Windows XP on my other half's PC is > a chore as I have to find the network drivers BEFORE I can get the thing > on the network to install anything else. For me, Ubuntu just picks up > the network card straight away (and in most cases the wireless too). > > Don't even get me started on Vista. Let's just say, Lexmark X83 > printers and Vista don't mix. > > Pre-installed machines which come with Windows are usually installed > from a master disk image. The drivers and updates are included so when > you turn it on it's ready to go. > > Now if you went down the route of upgrading Windows and sticking > something like Vista or whatever on then you'd either be on your own (if > you bought an OEM copy) or would have to get support from Microsoft > (IIRC you get so many incidents and then you have to pay £££'s for > support). > > I'm sure as Ubuntu gains in popularity it will start to get > pre-installed on some new machines. The problem at the moment is that > most people know Windows and that's what they ask for. Some companies > probably think it's just not cost effective to supply Windows and Linux > (be it Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE etc). > > As I mentioned above, if you get a laptop from the US you will be able > to use it but it can be a pain in the neck (off the top of my head for > starters you'd probably have to get your friend to order it and send him > the money, then you may have to pay customs duty and possibly VAT on the > item, then you'll have to get either a replacement power supply OR step > down power supply from 220/240 volts to 110 volts which are about £10 to > £20, and then you'd be lucky if Dell UK actually honour the warranty!) > > > Its really frustrating. > > > > Yes it can be, your best bet to be honest is to probably join your local > LUG (check out www.lug,org.uk) to find your local LUG. Chances are > you'd have a local LUG nearby who could help you out with the > installation either for free or the cost of a couple of beers at a LUG > meet. > > Rob > > -- > ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ >
I think that the guide to import something from the US is to allow 30% on top of the purchase price for import duty/handling charges. I am off to university next year, so I think that I may make a bit of a trip over there, pick up a Macbook pro, and Adobe CS4 plus anything else I fancy. Even with a return flight around £300 it would still probably work out cheaper than buying it here, and I get a bit of a holiday as a bonus.
-- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
