Dell's Ubuntu Ultrabook $250 More Than Windows 8 Version

By Wolfgang Gruener
published

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".

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Wolfgang Gruener
27 Comments Comment from the forums
  • echondo
    What the Hell is this crap?! We finally have laptops/desktops coming with Linux pre-installed, but at an outragoues price?!

    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.
    Reply
  • K2N hater
    What sort of developer would work on a 13-inch screen?
    Reply
  • Who cares? You guys act like you can't throw Ubuntu on the Windows 7 laptops.
    Reply
  • bustapr
    this is worse news for the linux community than it is good. ubuntu is supposed to be the free alternative to windows. you nor the developer have to pay a fee(that I know of), whereas windows costs $100. people will get the wrong idea about linux. and from an economic viewpoint, I dont see how Dell thinks this is a good idea(unless M$ is pulling some strings). no idea what dell is doing because it sure isnt trying to make money.
    Reply
  • bustapr
    Bagel_IRLWho cares? You guys act like you can't throw Ubuntu on the Windows 7 laptops.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.
    Reply
  • HDmac
    >>Buy windows computer
    >>Wipe HDD
    >>Install Ubuntu
    >>Win
    >>?????
    Reply
  • echondo
    Bagel_IRLWho cares? You guys act like you can't throw Ubuntu on the Windows 7 laptops.
    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.
    Reply
  • greghome
    bustapri 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.Ubuntu is free, ain't it?
    So yea, it doesn't just cost less, it should have cost nothing at all
    Reply
  • animeman59
    Might as well just buy the cheaper ultrabook, and reload it with Ubuntu.
    Reply
  • mman74
    I love Ubuntu. So much so I would rather run Ubuntu on my old laptop than Vista (not saying anything I know). I would not however pay more for an Ubuntu machine than a Windows 8. This makes no sense whatsoever, and unless MS are subsidizing their machines or are receiving payment from MS to price up Ubuntu machines to make them less compelling, then this decision makes no sense to me. Either way this smells to me of anti-consumer business practices and I personally will never buy a machine from a company that would operates against its consumers.
    Reply