Dell Sells Open Source Computers

Lo5 writes with the excellent news that Dell is selling desktop computers without Windows preinstalled. They are called "n Series"; you can choose from Dimension E520, E521, or C521 desktops. The hard drive comes unformatted.

Comments

This is not news.

[harks]

Dell has been doing this for a long time.

Re:This is not news.

[wellingj]

Ubuntu laptops. http://system76.com/.
Cheapest linux laptops around although R Cubed
is a litte bit more pricey but had better OS selection.
http://www.shoprcubed.com/

Re:This is not news.

[ph43thon]

Not sure where everyone is doing their cart comparisons... but I'm getting cheaper n-series with direct comparisons. 520n ($509) vs 520 ($589) (through smallbusiness which is a little cheaper than home) with:

Pentium® D Processor 820 with Dual CoreTechnology(2.80GHz,800FSB)
1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2DIMMs
256MB nVidia Geforce 7300LE TurboCache
No Monitor
48X CD-RW/ DVD Combo Drive

The big difference in them would be HDD upgrades since the n-series had a free upgrade to 250GB, but I just left the Windows 520 with the default 160GB HDD. Also, the n-series forces you to buy a FDD and a modem. The Windows 520 did not.. if I'd added them to make it more even.. that'd be an extra $50 on the Windows system.

Either way, this is better than in the past when the n-series did appear to cost more no matter what you did. Also, this is a system that's $80 cheaper and it comes with 100 more GB on the harddrive and has an FDD, modem. (not sure what to do with that though).

If you run a cart through the Home section, the price comes to about $609 for the 520 (using the above mentioned setup) with Windows though you do get a 320GB HDD in the deal.

Re:how PCs shipped without Windows will destroy yo

[KillerBob]

is there a web archive somewhere of http://www.microsoft.com/OEM/nakedPC.htm ??

Why yes. Yes there is.

http://web.archive.org/web/20000818081805/http://w ww.microsoft.com/OEM/nakedPC.htm