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Dell's Open PC Costs More Than Windows Box
fist_187 writes "In this article at The Register, they show thath Dell's Open PC costs more than a PC shipped with Windows XP. That's right, getting a PC with a blank hard drive costs more than the same hardware running Windows XP." From the article: "As it turns out, Dell's sales staffers have a secret web page for the product that you can't find with normal search tactics. A kind lass we'll call 'M' pointed us here. On this site, Dell presents a couple different versions of the mysterious E510n. The lowest-end system starts at $774 and is exactly like the boxes above - including the free flat panel - except it has 512MB of memory. For some reason, Dell told reporters that the box starts at $849 - yet another one of the odd sales tactics surrounding this "open source" kit. [Following the publication of our story, Dell raised the price of the PC back up to $849. See the sales pages below for the original $774 price comparisons.]"
Must be that new math I keep hearing about...
If you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people
Heh. Nothing like telling a bunch of open source guys about a bare drive'ed dell to get them to hustle over and check it out.
Look behind you...
I kid, I kid.
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You'll never figure out Dell's pricing policies for any given piece of hardware. It will change randomly from moment to moment. Just when you think you know how to get the best deal, they'll completely change on you. Hell, we effectively resell Dell PCs, and even *WE* can't get a straight price from our rep. Fuck, their corporate customers who buy thousands of units a year don't know how much a PC will cost until they actually get charged for it.
Personally, I use their pricing changes as a source of entropy to help generate cryptographic keys.
Or, if the logic of Dell is to prevail, you can sell blank versions of the same CDs for a slight premium, like $275.
Lets face it a PC with XP is anybody's. I wonder if this system comes in a white box to indicate its virgin status.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Even though Windows has a lot of cost - it adds negative value.
Since Dell (and any company looking to please its customers) will price things based on the value the customers receive, it makes perfect sense that they have to compensate the end user for the negative value Windows inflicts on them (pain, grief, anguish, suffering).
(seriously, however - On the Windoze box there's a bunch of third-party crap that Dell was paid to put on there - I know, I worked for a company that paid OEMs to pre-install crippleware in the hopes for upgrading -- and in effect subsidized the windows boxes. I suspect this is what's happening, and Dell's just passing on the subsidy).
I will never, under any conceivable circumstances, ever need it. I have as much use for a Windows license as your average vegan has for a nice, juicy steak - and every bit as much desire to have one delivered to my house.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Well, I'm glad we all cleared that up. Now I really know what I'm doing.