Ask HN: Buying a cheap laptop without an OS?

So, I'm a developer looking to purchase a new laptop. The catch is, I'm short on budget--surprise, surprise. I really only need a minimum mobile rig (low end dual core, 2 or 3 GB of RAM, 250GB HD) enough to be more than a netbook and have a 15" screen, and I do not need an OS, I develop on Linux. I see these laptops like this go on sale on newegg for about $350, but I know I'm wasting near $100 dollars of this money on Windows, which I neither want nor need, I'd much rather pay $250 and install Ubuntu myself. The only places I see laptops without an OS are gaming websites, which sell at a minimum of $700 for laptops. Where can I find low end laptops with blank hard drives? I know I could get what I need for about $250 if only someone sold it! Does anyone know a website that sells laptops like this? Or one that supports incredibly vertical customization, down to this price range? Thanks!

P.S. As far as building, I've built three desktops, but never a laptop. If anyone here as experience with that, I'm open to suggestions, but I don't know if it's realistic. All help appreciated, thanks!

stuff4ben · 14 years ago

I doubt the actual price of a Windows license is accounted for in the price of a cheap laptop. Odds are they get it for much less than $100 a license...

wx77 · 14 years ago

Actually it is likely the distributors make money on Windows with all the crapware and trial software they put on their computers.

cylinder714 · 14 years ago

I've just been poring over the Lenovo site, and they sell Thinkpads without an OS: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/thinkpad-laptops-with-dos.shtml but the prices are still rather high. Keep looking, though, as they're constantly running promotions, like free RAM and hard drive upgrades.

They also have an outlet with refurbished and overstock items: http://outlet.lenovo.com/

polyfractal · 14 years ago

The refurbs from Lenovo are a steal. Buy one of the T- or X- lines and you'll have a very solid laptop.

moreorless · 14 years ago

The cost of the laptop might actually be more expensive if you went without the OS. Sounds crazy doesn't it?

If you're on such a tight budget, deals can be had on http://craigslist.org depending on where you live. Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, there are quite a few such laptops advertised for your price range.

whiterabbit · 14 years ago

The cost of the Windows license is partially offset by the crapware bundle the manufacture infects the machine with, so you won't save much buying a blank PC and your options will be severely limited. However, you may still be able to get a refund on the license post-purchase, if you're dedicated (and lucky):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_refund

Don't forget to reroute some of your winnings:

http://www.linuxfoundation.org/participate/linux-donate

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dpapathanasiou · 14 years ago

If you don't mind buying an older model off lease, both AscendTech http://ascendtech.us/items.asp?Cc=NTB&iTpStatus=1&Tp... and Tiger Direct http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/search.a... have a few for under $300

byoung2 · 14 years ago

Dell lets you choose Ubuntu when you customize a laptop:

http://search.dell.com/results.aspx?s=gen&c=us&l=en&...

It looks like the Linux versions are about $60 cheaper than the Windows 7 version.

MatthewPhillips · 14 years ago

The thing to worry about cheap laptops is that your battery life is going to be non-existent. For me that's a deal-killer after having a couple of laptops with excellent battery life, I never want to go back to the 1.5-2 hour days.