Buy a new laptop without paying for Windows?

[beansandjeans]

Here Dell is giving you the deal your looking for.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topi ... l=en&s=bsd

Look more closely at the specs there - the Linux Vostro laptop is $50 cheaper, but it also has cheaper hardware:

Linux Vostro: 1GB RAM
Windows Vostro: 2GB RAM

Linux Vostro: 4-Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Windows Vostro: 6-Cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Linux Vostro: No WebCamera included
Windows Vostro: 2.0MP WebCamera included

Actually the last pair is probably a plus for the Linux version...Better not to have a built-in webcam - unless you want the NSA or whoever to hack into your system and watch you wander around the house naked! :-p

[owend]

I think the key point is that we don't get the option. I agree with the legal hook that we buy a computer knowing it's bundled with Windows, but if you buy a car and you don't want the extra instrument that tells you when it's raining, you tell the salesman and he takes the order without the extra, and doesn't charge you for it. And he doesn't change the engine spec because your order is different.

On a different legal point, it distorts the market because us buyers can't compare prices accurately because some prices factor in a feature we don't want (Windows or MacOS) and a few have Linux; and like you've pointed out with Dell, it's difficult to compare machines because the Linux version is not the same as the Windows version.

What's your address, anyway - tying to hack your webcam sounds interesting !

[MerelyJim]

I think the only place I could find a laptop/netbook running Linux was on the net. At least here in the US, all the big-box store are going to be selling machines running Windows7. So, if you want to look at the machine prior to buying...

One thing I have done once I purchased a newer machine is e-mail the manufacturer with the model, serial number, etc. and let them know that I have no intention of using the Microsoft licence. I let them know that my experience in finding Linux-supported hardware will determine if I purchase another one of their computers. Acer and Toshiba thanked me for my input, but that was all. There was zero response from HP, which is why the next one was an Acer. Maybe chipping away at them one sale at a time will make a difference?

[beansandjeans]

What's your address, anyway - tying to hack your webcam sounds interesting !

LOL! I'm still mucking around on the old laptop - circa 2001 - so no built-in webcam.

Seriously though - I don't know why the laptop makers don't at least put in a physical switch so you can turn them off and no hacker can turn them back on unless they're actually there in person. Pretty bad security I think!

And in February there was that case in Pennsylvania where the high school loaned all their students laptops (with built-in spyware to remotely activate the webcams) and the administrators were watching the teenagers undress at home

Crazy world we live in!

[vincent]

Actually, you should be able to disable any peripheral devices (that includes built-in webcams) from your system's BIOS settings. If you're that concerned about privacy, muck around in your BIOS settings until you find it. While you're at it, you may wish to disable other things you don't like and just sit there sapping up battery life, namely bluetooth.

[beansandjeans]

Actually, you should be able to disable any peripheral devices (that includes built-in webcams) from your system's BIOS settings.

Well that might work for someone like me, who's comfortable messing around in the BIOS, and generally has no use for a webcam. Like I said, my computer now doesn't even have a built-in webcam.

But what about someone who uses their webcam rather often? Even if they're savvy enough to turn it on and off in the BIOS, it'd still be a pain to do that every day or two. And your average user doesn't even know what BIOS is. So why not build in a simple physical switch to turn the built-in webcam on and off?

I still maintain that the lack of such a switch on a built-in webcam is a serious security/privacy threat, as it allows anyone who remotely hijacks a laptop to not only have access to the files on the system, but also to spy on whoever's in sight of the camera. I had these concerns the first time I saw such a laptop, and the news from Lower Merion School District this February confirmed my apprehensions.

[FedoraRefugee]

Actually, you should be able to disable any peripheral devices (that includes built-in webcams) from your system's BIOS settings.

Well that might work for someone like me, who's comfortable messing around in the BIOS, and generally has no use for a webcam. Like I said, my computer now doesn't even have a built-in webcam.

But what about someone who uses their webcam rather often? Even if they're savvy enough to turn it on and off in the BIOS, it'd still be a pain to do that every day or two. And your average user doesn't even know what BIOS is. So why not build in a simple physical switch to turn the built-in webcam on and off?

I still maintain that the lack of such a switch on a built-in webcam is a serious security/privacy threat, as it allows anyone who remotely hijacks a laptop to not only have access to the files on the system, but also to spy on whoever's in sight of the camera. I had these concerns the first time I saw such a laptop, and the news from Lower Merion School District this February confirmed my apprehensions.

Agreed. We have a stupid switch to turn off the touchpad and also the wifi. (The wifi switch on my HP is right on the front where rubbing against my chest as I use my laptop in a reclined position will always turn the bloody thing off ). Why not a switch for the webcam, it would be simple to incorporate.

But...Until then, and for those who do not have the skill to dig in the BIOS or wire a switch in themselves, why not use the simplest solution, one the school kids on question learned to use themselves: A piece of electrical tape over the camera. You will also want to be sure to mute the mic.

[JAHGoVeg]

And in February there was that case in Pennsylvania where the high school loaned all their students laptops (with built-in spyware to remotely activate the webcams) and the administrators were watching the teenagers undress at home

Crazy world we live in!

i heard about that. sounds like something I'd do. lol just kidding. (not unless they were infinitely hot. lol)

[willie42]

I looked into getting a notebook no OS and I noticed that it was just as expensive without windows then with. So what I think a possibility is just getting it with the OS installed and then when you get it wipe it and just keep it handy just incase sometime in the future that some poor person needs it.

[JAHGoVeg]

I looked into getting a notebook no OS and I noticed that it was just as expensive without windows then with. So what I think a possibility is just getting it with the OS installed and then when you get it wipe it and just keep it handy just incase sometime in the future that some poor person needs it.

yeah it turns out that most computer companys use the revenue from all the programs that pay to be pre-installed to lower the price and cover the cost of windows. so when that stuff is missing you got to pay. lol