Re: Quest for a Windows7 refund in the UK - laptop upgraded to GNU+Linux

Sam Tuke wrote, On 10/02/11 16:18:
> On Tuesday 08 February 2011 22:42:07 Jon Grant wrote:
>> If anyone has any suggestions, or examples how it has been achieved in
>> the UK before I would love to hear.
>>
>> I found this old case, but was purchased direct from Dell:
>> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6144782.stm
>
> This is also old, but informative:
>
> http://forums.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=139627&pp=15
>
> Have you told them that you think that having to ship it at your expense is
> unreasonable and that local facilities or reimbursement should be available?
>
> I'm keen to see how this turns out, would be good to try and document
> procedures for getting refunds from various UK vendors. Unfortunately it seems
> that currently it'll have to be on a vendor by vendor basis.
>
> Best of luck,

Hello All

I did not succeed. they refused, unfortunately. Shame on Acer UK of in 
Plymouth.

Eventually I ran out of time, and then found a friend who wanted the 
Windows7 code anyway. Instead I've decided I will simply buy the laptop 
from a company like Dell which sells ubuntu laptops next time. 
Otherwise, hopefully the EU would legislate eventually to support 

Re: Quest for a Windows7 refund in the UK - laptop upgraded to GNU+Linux

Hi Jon,

On Wednesday 04 May 2011 21:42:48 Jon Grant wrote:
> I did not succeed. they refused, unfortunately. Shame on Acer UK of in
> Plymouth.

This seems to be a common attitude, unfortunately. I guess manufacturers 
regard the provision of an OS as essential to operation of the machine and why 
would anyone want to remove or change it?

> Eventually I ran out of time, and then found a friend who wanted the
> Windows7 code anyway. Instead I've decided I will simply buy the laptop
> from a company like Dell which sells ubuntu laptops next time.
> Otherwise, hopefully the EU would legislate eventually to support
> purchasing laptop without OSs.

I am presently looking for a decent, N550-based, netbook having suffered 
problems associated with an Asus Eee 900 (apalling battery life) and an Acer 
Aspire One AO751 (non-existent Poulsbo graphics support in newer 
distributions). While Dell may be GNU/Linux friendly, I find the 
specifications of some of their products considerably inferior to competitors 
on a price-for-price comparison basis.

A bigger issue for me, accepting that I will throw away Windows and install 
GNU/LInux, is that doing so will probably void my warranty. It shouldn't but I 
suspect that attempting to make a warranty claim after switching the OS will 
have its share of problems.

Regards,
Neil Darlow

Re: Quest for a Windows7 refund in the UK - laptop upgraded to GNU+Linux

On Thursday 05 May 2011 13:54:17 Neil Darlow wrote:
> > Eventually I ran out of time, and then found a friend who wanted the
> > Windows7 code anyway. Instead I've decided I will simply buy the laptop
> > from a company like Dell which sells ubuntu laptops next time.
> > Otherwise, hopefully the EU would legislate eventually to support
> > purchasing laptop without OSs.

FSFE was also working with the European Commission last week to make it easier 
for groups of consumers in Europe to take Microsoft to court over this issue. 
See:

http://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20110502-01.en.html

Thanks,

Sam.

--

-- 
Sam Tuke
British Team Coordinator
Free Software Foundation Europe
IM : samtuke <at> jabber.fsfe.org
Contact the British team: uk <at> fsfeurope.org

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Re: Quest for a Windows7 refund in the UK - laptop upgraded to GNU+Linux

On 05/05/11 13:54, Neil Darlow wrote:

> A bigger issue for me, accepting that I will throw away Windows and install
> GNU/LInux, is that doing so will probably void my warranty. It shouldn't but I
> suspect that attempting to make a warranty claim after switching the OS will
> have its share of problems.

To be honest, the first thing I do is take out the windows HDD,
put in another (SSD or hybrid if I'm feeling flush) and keep the
windows one in a firesafe, ready to be popped back in if I need to
claim a warranty repair on the hardware. Not a very cost-effective
way of doing it, but if you've got a long warranty, it may be worth
it.

--

-- 
Illtud Daniel                                 illtud.daniel <at> llgc.org.uk
Prif Swyddog Technegol                          Chief Technical Officer
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru                  National Library of Wales

Re: Quest for a Windows7 refund in the UK - laptop upgraded to GNU+Linux

On Thursday 05 May 2011 13:54:17 Neil Darlow wrote:
> This seems to be a common attitude, unfortunately. I guess manufacturers
> regard the provision of an OS as essential to operation of the machine and
> why would anyone want to remove or change it?

I have been told that it pays manufacturers handsomely to install Windows 
because of the revenue they get from software like Norton, Kaspersky, 
Microsoft (for pre-installing additional trials like Office), games, and all the 
other stuff that typically comes pre-embedded in a new laptop these days. 
Therefore there may be a strong monetary incentive to use Windows and not 
GNU/Linux - even if GNU/Linux is free of licensing fees (which it isn't when 
distros like Linpus lite are used), then it could still be 'more expensive' 
for manufacturers because of the loss of these extra 'subsidies'.

> > Eventually I ran out of time, and then found a friend who wanted the
> > Windows7 code anyway. Instead I've decided I will simply buy the laptop
> > from a company like Dell which sells ubuntu laptops next time.
> > Otherwise, hopefully the EU would legislate eventually to support
> > purchasing laptop without OSs.

This is a long term battle. I believe that the Italian Association for Users 
and Consumers Rights (ADUC) is currently in court trying to force MS to 
reimburse license cost to GNU/Linux users. See:  
http://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20110321-01.en.html

> I am presently looking for a decent, N550-based, netbook having suffered
> problems associated with an Asus Eee 900 (apalling battery life) and an
> Acer Aspire One AO751 (non-existent Poulsbo graphics support in newer
> distributions). While Dell may be GNU/Linux friendly, I find the
> specifications of some of their products considerably inferior to

Re: Quest for a Windows7 refund in the UK - laptop upgraded to GNU+Linux

If you can....
I have just been trying to buy a computer without an operating system
and Dell tell me they do not do Ubuntu anymore.
Margaret

On 05/05/2011 15:38, Sam Tuke wrote:
> On Thursday 05 May 2011 13:54:17 Neil Darlow wrote:
>>> Eventually I ran out of time, and then found a friend who wanted the
>>> Windows7 code anyway. Instead I've decided I will simply buy the laptop
>>> from a company like Dell which sells ubuntu laptops next time.
>>> Otherwise, hopefully the EU would legislate eventually to support
>>> purchasing laptop without OSs.
> FSFE was also working with the European Commission last week to make it easier
> for groups of consumers in Europe to take Microsoft to court over this issue.
> See:
>
> http://fsfe.org/news/2011/news-20110502-01.en.html
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sam.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Fsfe-uk mailing list
> Fsfe-uk <at> gnu.org
> https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/fsfe-uk

Re: Quest for a Windows7 refund in the UK - laptop upgraded to GNU+Linux

On Friday 06 May 2011 14:27:33 mgtdee wrote:
> If you can....
> I have just been trying to buy a computer without an operating system
> and Dell tell me they do not do Ubuntu anymore.

This page seems to confirm this: 
http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/ubuntu_deals/fs.aspx?refid=ubuntu_deals&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

Try:

http://www.genesi-europe.com/store/global/

There must be more European retailers that ship to the UK.

Sam.

--

-- 
Sam Tuke
British Team Coordinator
Free Software Foundation Europe
IM : samtuke <at> jabber.fsfe.org
Contact the British team: uk <at> fsfeurope.org

_______________________________________________
Fsfe-uk mailing list
Fsfe-uk <at> gnu.org
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Re: Quest for a Windows7 refund in the UK - laptop upgraded to GNU+Linux

Hi Margaret,

> If you can....  I have just been trying to buy a computer without an
> operating system and Dell tell me they do not do Ubuntu anymore.

My local LUG has mentioned Novatech on and off when this has cropped up.
They will supply their laptops without an OS.

    http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/laptop/
    http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/laptop/range/x10.html

(I've no personal experience of them and this isn't a recommendation.)

Cheers,
Ralph.

Re: Quest for a Windows7 refund in the UK - laptop upgraded to GNU+Linux

On 06/05/11 14:44, Sam Tuke wrote:
> On Friday 06 May 2011 14:27:33 mgtdee wrote:
>> Dell tell me they do not do Ubuntu anymore.
>
> This page seems to confirm this:
> http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/ubuntu_deals/fs.aspx?refid=ubuntu_deals&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

Lots of stories about last July about Dell stopping selling Ubuntu
systems via their website, but that you could call and get them
over the phone. Did you call them Margaret?

I see that dell.fr seems to list ubuntu (and FreeDOS!) as an
option on most (all?) of their laptops, but when you go through
to 'Personnaliser' your selection, you get the usual choice of
Windows 7 (heh, "Système d'exploitation" indeed).

--

-- 
Illtud Daniel                                 illtud.daniel <at> llgc.org.uk
Prif Swyddog Technegol                          Chief Technical Officer
Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru                  National Library of Wales

Re: Quest for a Windows7 refund in the UK - laptop upgraded to GNU+Linux

Yes, I was buying a system over the phone; a desktop, but I wanted to 
use the operating system that I already have, not buy a new licence. 
Dell told me they could not sell me a system without an operating system 
on it because they have to run the operating system to test that it 
works. So I said OK sell me a system with Ubuntu on it; use Ubuntu to 
test it. (I bought a laptop from them last year with Ubuntu on it) And 
the salesman said they don't sell laptops with ubuntu on any more. They 
cannot sell a system without Windows7 on it.

So I bought my new computer from another dealer here in the UK who is 
quite content to put my old OS on it provided that I have a valid 
licence for it. (I am replacing one pc with a new one because the MB is 
dying, and I don't see why I should buy another licence. I am going to 
put the graphics card and hard disc from the old machine into the new 
one... and install the OS (WXP) from the old pc too.
Margaret.

On 06/05/2011 15:27, Illtud Daniel wrote:
> On 06/05/11 14:44, Sam Tuke wrote:
>> On Friday 06 May 2011 14:27:33 mgtdee wrote:
>>> Dell tell me they do not do Ubuntu anymore.
>>
>> This page seems to confirm this:
>>
http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/ubuntu_deals/fs.aspx?refid=ubuntu_deals&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1 
>>
>
> Lots of stories about last July about Dell stopping selling Ubuntu
> systems via their website, but that you could call and get them
> over the phone. Did you call them Margaret?