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.]"

Comments

Resell Windows

[ajwitte]

So.. the logical thing to do is buy the PC with Windows and then resell the Windows license. Or is that not allowed?

To heck with Dell

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously. If there's one company in the world which would win an obfuscated price contest, it's Dell. Circuitous menus that seem to simultaneously tweak prices and options depending on who you are and where you're from is deeply suspect. You never get the actual price on anything until you're ready to punch in your credit card number. Advertised prices are pure fiction. I cannot imagine any reason for being so inconsistent about pricing. It's dishonest. I no longer do business with them.

Re:To heck with Dell

[DrEldarion]

They do have REALLY messed up pricing, and an even more messed up coupon scheme. They'll be offering a monitor with a base sale of 25% off, and then give out coupons to get the monitor at 15% off. The coupon replaces the base discount. It's like one hand has NO CLUE what the other hand is doing, even though they're working on the same thing.

Re:Obvious, actually

[peter_gzowski]

We're bitching because we don't want to give Microsoft an automatic cut of every PC sale on the planet. Every PC sold by Dell is $50-$90 in MS's pocket (all numbers pulled from the recesses of my memory, so someone can correct me if I'm off). Other posts have suggested that this cost is recovered by companies who pay Dell to put trial versions of their software on the computer. It doesn't seem enough to account for $50-$90 + $75 per PC, but I suppose this could be the case. I would prefer that Dell just come out and say that the "Premium Software and Security" that comes with the PC is really just commercials, and not some actual value that is being added to the computer.

Wasn't there some period of time where you could redeem unused Windows XP licenses for cash from Microsoft? Whatever happened to that?

Doesn't matter

[Rocketship Underpant]

It doesn't matter. First sale doctrine says you can re-sell anything someone else has sold to you. That includes your software, no matter what some silly sticker on your computer says. The only party facing any restrictions is Dell; their contract with Microsoft says they have to bundle the cheap OEM version of Windows with a computer and not sell it separately. The user is free to do with his copy as he wishes.

Guess Microsoft Windows has really become a tax

[Rolman]

I guess Microsoft Windows has really become a tax, when you see manufacturers doing similar things to what they do to avoid paying a duty and convert that to profit instead of passing the savings unto the customer.

For all we know, it's supposed to be the other way around, because Microsoft shouldn't be offering the nice and heavy OEM discount to Dell anymore since they're violating Microsoft law by not selling PCs exclusively with Windows. Of course, most probably Dell is doing this on purpose, the ulterior motive being to put some pressure on Microsoft or other PC manufacturers.

It's a strange world we live in...