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Lenovo Will Sell Ubuntu Laptops In India

Posted by timothy on from the choice-of-freedom dept.

puddingebola notes the news, as carried by Tom's Hardware, that Lenovo will soon ship laptops preloaded with Ubuntu in India. "The first of these systems will be the Lenovo Thinkpad L450, featuring only one of two CPUs, but the selection may widen over time and expand to other countries ...Overall, switching to Ubuntu reduces the system cost considerably. Currently, the standard L450 system with Windows 8.1 Pro utilizing a Core i3, 4 GB of RAM, and a 500 GB HDD costs 59724 INR ($943.02 USD). An Ubuntu version of the system with the same hardware specs, however, will only cost 48000 INR ($757.91 USD).

11 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. I doubt the hardware is identical by ITRambo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The price difference is over three times what Lenovo pays for Windows Pro. I find it hard to believe that the two machines have identical Core i3 models. The link to Tom's Hardware only states that the Ubuntu version is a Core i3 500U while the Windows machine specs does not state the CPU model.

    1. Re:I doubt the hardware is identical by alvinrod · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It does seem rather unlikely that a copy of Windows is being billed/valued at $185.11 or that Microsoft would even charge anywhere near that much, especially considering how much they've been lowering their product cost in order to stay price competitive lately.

    2. Re:I doubt the hardware is identical by guruevi · · Score: 2

      Some countries don't allow bundling or selling stuff under it's market value in order to prevent monopolies. In those cases, MS would have to sell Windows licenses at full price.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  2. will they stop calling about my Windows machine? by turkeydance · · Score: 2

    i can only hope.

  3. India?? by Dega704 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well when the hell are you going to sell Linux Thinkpads in the U.S., Lenovo? I had to settle for buying an x131e Chromebook and flashing the firmware.

    And what is with this 'Cheaper alternative' nonsense? Last I checked, Linux users don't choose it because they are cheapskates; if anything they are more likely to buy higher end hardware

    Disclaimer: I am fully aware that there is probably a higher demand in India, but I still had to rant.

    1. Re:India?? by sumdumass · · Score: 2

      I don't think Linux users is the intended market here. It's more likely a move to get lower income people to purchase. They might keep linux installed or void the warranty and install some pirated windows version. When i say void the warranty, I mean disqualify the setup for support and make it difficult to get warranty support (because the diagnostic utilities don't run right in user supplied operating systems ).

    2. Re:India?? by Gavagai80 · · Score: 2

      $750 laptops can't be aimed at lower-income people, especially in India. I've never paid as much as $750 for a computer in my life, my laptop was around $300 and my desktop around $250.

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      This space intentionally left blank
  4. Seems a bit expensive by paul_metcalfe · · Score: 2

    And I'm a "wealthy" European.

    --
    Always read at -1, don't let others decide what you should and should not read.
  5. Xubuntu isn't so bad by tepples · · Score: 2

    Set sail for fail!

    If you're referring to the perceived widespread dislike for the Unity desktop environment, it takes about four commands in a terminal to clear that up:

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get upgrade
    sudo apt-get remove superfish
    sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

    1. Re:Xubuntu isn't so bad by tepples · · Score: 2

      Translation into non-technical language: "If you don't like Unity, you can try other desktop environments such as KDE Plasma and Xfce by installing them through Ubuntu Software Center." The difference is that Windows Store doesn't have alternative DEs.

  6. Automating the package manager by tepples · · Score: 2

    the simple changes require a fucking terminal and knowledge of a bunch of CLI

    "Require" in what way? The first two steps can be done from Software Updater, and the last two from Ubuntu Software Center. It just takes longer to explain, takes longer to perform, and can't be automated through the clipboard. How would you recommend automating package acquisition and installation on your own favorite desktop PC operating system?

    guess what your average user has pretty much no need of? If you said scripting and performing the exact same task the same way thousands of times, why you'd be right!

    To me, certain system configuration tasks are "the exact same task the same way thousands of times", performed once on each of thousands of machines by each machine's owner.