Dell's Ubuntu Ultrabook $250 More Than Windows 8 Version
Dell released a Linux version of its XPS 13 Ultrabook with preliminary ship dates in the second week in December, if ordered today.
Dell released a Linux version of its XPS 13 Ultrabook with preliminary ship dates of the second week in December, if ordered today. The Linux XPS 13 is offered as an alternative to the Windows 7 version, and can be substantially more expensive.
Dell currently offers the Windows 7 version of the XPS 13 with base prices from $800 to $1450, with the main difference being between lower-end and higher end versions a 128 GB and 256 GB SSD, as well as a step up in CPUs with the choice being a 1.6 GHz i5-2467M CPU or a 1.7 GHz i7-2637M version. The flagship model gets the faster processor as well as a 256 GB SSD, 4 GB memory, as well as Windows 7 Home Premium.
There are also two Windows 8 models, one with a i5-3317U CPU, a 128 GB SSD and 4 GB memory for $1,100, as well as an upgraded version with an i7-3517U chip, a 128 GB SSD and 8 GB memory for $1,200. There is no option to upgrade the Windows 8 version to a 256 GB SSD.
At the time of this writing the Ultrabook with Ubuntu 12.04, which originally had been announced as Project Sputnik, was offered for a base price of $1,449. The Ultrabook comes with 8 GB memory and a i7-3517U. There is no direct price comparison as Dell does not offer other variants. The Linux version therefore comes at a $250 premium, even if it buys you the larger SSD. And if you can live with the slower processor and less memory, the price difference grows to $350.
Of course, Dell is not fishing for the same type of customer with the Windows and the Linux Ultrabook. While the Windows 8 Ultrabook is a device designed for consumers, the Linux model is marketed as the "ultimate developer notebook".

A regular consumer is going to go into Best Buy and see two identical laptops, one is way cheaper and the other is expensive, but the same specs. The consumer sees that the expensive one has Ubuntu as a OS and the cheaper one has Windows. They will assume that Ubuntu must be a new OS and is expensive to have such a high inflation.
This is asinine.
i think peoples problem here is that dell is setting a bad image of linux AND is charging more for something that should cost much less.
>>Wipe HDD
>>Install Ubuntu
>>Win
>>?????
A regular consumer is going to go into Best Buy and see two identical laptops, one is way cheaper and the other is expensive, but the same specs. The consumer sees that the expensive one has Ubuntu as a OS and the cheaper one has Windows. They will assume that Ubuntu must be a new OS and is expensive to have such a high inflation.
This is asinine.
i think peoples problem here is that dell is setting a bad image of linux AND is charging more for something that should cost much less.
>>Wipe HDD
>>Install Ubuntu
>>Win
>>?????
No, that's not the point. The point here is that the regular average Joe consumer will see Ubuntu as an overpriced cash grab and won't even bother looking into what Ubuntu actually is and just buy the Windows 7 version and call it a day. What SHOULD have been the base price for the Ubuntu version is $700, or at least $750.
Ubuntu is free, ain't it?
So yea, it doesn't just cost less, it should have cost nothing at all
Maybe they don't want to anger MS by undercutting their shiny new Win8 devices on price...
nothing at all for a ubuntu ULTRABOOK? I really dont think thats how things should work either...
http://www.thevarguy.com/2012/11/28/dell-laptop-is-70-cheaper-with-ubuntu-linux/
A lot of research suggests OEMs are paying $35-$50 per copy of Windows. A Linux PC shouldn't sell for much less than a Windows PC from the same manufacturer. The reason this laptop costs more is explained in the article: it has a different configuration than the lowest-end Windows models. It also is designed for developers and comes with beta versions of new open source software Dell is working on and includes one year of Pro Support. The headline is written to make people jump to the article in outrage. Unfortunately, some people don't bother reading the article, and the article also blathers on about all the different (irrelevant) Windows 7 and 8 configurations like a shell game to confuse the reader from the simple fact that there's nothing to see here regarding price.
if there was a real Linux distro, and not a bloated one, like Debian(which i use 7 years now) or fedora(gentoo, arch etc.) I'd definitely choose the Linux one.
I wonder who the hell develops in Ubuntu, that thing is worse and more bloated than android.It is even worse in the upcoming versions which are going to have Wayland, which is good only if you are a bug digger.
even Mint is superior to Ubuntu and cinnamon looks nice.