Cost of Vista
Early reports lead me to believe that Dell was offering a minor discount for people who chose Ubuntu over Vista. I took a look today, and came to the conclusion that the discount is now three times what was earlier reported. I got the data from here: Ubuntu, Vista. Here’s a summary:
| Inspiron 530N | Inspiron 530 | Inspiron 531 |
|---|---|---|
| $399 | $549 | $369 |
| Intel®Pentium® dual-core processor E2160 (1MB L2,1.80GHz,800 FSB) | Intel®Pentium® dual-core processor E2160 (1MB L2,1.80GHz,800 FSB) | Intel® Celeron ® Processor 420 (1.60GHz, 800 FSB) |
| Ubuntu Desktop Edition version 7.04 | Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic | Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic |
| No Monitor | No Monitor | No Monitor |
| 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs | 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs | 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs |
| 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ | 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ | 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ |
| 48X CD-RW/ DVD Combo Drive | 48X CDRW/DVD Combo Drive | 48X CDRW/DVD Combo Drive |
| 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8300GS | 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8300GS | Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100 |
| Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio | Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio | Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio |
| Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse | Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse | Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse |
| No Floppy Drive Included | No Floppy Drive Included | No Floppy Drive Included |
Conclusions:
- Uplift for Windows Vista is $150.
- Dell won’t list a system for less than about $350, so if you pick Ubuntu, you must purchase additional hardware.
- Because this system is classified as a desktop, the hardware choices that Dell makes for you is to opt for a beefier processor and video card. Personally, I would prefer RAM.