Dell currently offers 11 laptops and 6 desktop computers with Ubuntu and Linux. But up until recently actually finding those options on the Dell website could be a bit of a hassle.
Now rather than hunting through configuration options to find out if Ubuntu is an option, you can just visit Dell.com/Linux to see the company’s new landing page for computers that come with a GNU/Linux-based operating system pre-installed.
The current lineup includes Dell XPS 13 developer edition laptops with 10th-gen Intel Core processors or 8th-gen Intel Core chips that ship with Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.
Dell also offers a number of Precision mobile workstation laptops featuring 15 to 17 inch displays, AMD or NVIDIA graphics, and Ubuntu Linux (although they’re also certified for Red Hat 8.0).
Rounding out the lineup are a half dozen different Dell Precision Tower workstation PCs including models with up to 3TB of RAM and 136TB of storage (surprisingly not a typo).
For the most part, there’s nothing brand new here — Dell has been selling “developer edition” Linux computers for a number of years at this point. But making it easier to find those computers on the company’s website is a welcome step.
Oh, and if dell.com/linux is too hard to remember, any of the following URLs should get you there as well:
- dell.com/sputnik
- dell.com/developer
- dell.com/developers
via Barton George
These are way overpriced. I thought Linux laptops were supposed to be cheaper because I don’t have to pay for Windows. I might as well buy a $400 laptop at Walmart and install Linux Mint instead.
Unfortunately, the lack of volume probably offsets any savings. They still have production and support costs to cover, which will be higher per unit because of the comparatively small numbers.
It’s also probably true that they figure Linux users are somewhat less price conscious than regular Dell customers.
Their Linux prices are cheaper than their Windows prices, it’s just that these are high end machines aimed at developers and the like who are OK with spending a lot of money on a computer. The base XPS 13 Developer edition with Ubuntu is $1680, an XPS 13 with the same specs and Windows 10 Home is $1780 (and $1840 with Windows 10 Pro).
While this might be a tiny navigational improvement, it’s not as much as it’s presented as. For years you’ve had the exact same landingpage available at dell.com/developer (it still works), all they actually did was using a new URL.
On the other hand, going from marketing Linux laptop from only towards developers to now the more general user is a major improvement! 🙂
It can still be improved further though, like making it easier navigating to it from the frontpage (instead of – like still today – assuming the user has pre-knowledge about its existence).
I have a Linux Dell laptop and while the product is very close to being perfect it still do have some small and very silly missing areas which has a major effect on how buyers feel about it. It’s hard to understand why it’s not fixed. For example if you increase the storage in their shop, Dell will physically install the storage drive for you, but it will be invisible when you boot up Ubuntu. None of their manuals/docs will tell that you need to reformat the extra storage before the preinstalled OS can see it. This makes you ask where the QA is. Imagine a Windows laptop shipped like that.
There’s also the obvious trace of selling refurbished Windows laptops. In today’s era where you can 3D-print your own keys at home it’s simply impossible to understand why Dell cannot replace the Microsoft Windows logo with something more appropriate. I don’t like to speculate in conspiracies, but as long as this is not fixed it’s hard to not questioning if it’s some exclusive agreement with Redmond stopping them from fixing a tiny logo. Other Linux vendors manage to ship appropriate meta/superkeys, why cannot Dell?
Funny how their Linux laptops still have the Windows logo on the super key. The least they could do is replace it with a penguin or something.
The most they would probably do is sell you a replacement Linux logo keycap for $10. 🙂
I’m disappointed dell.com/developersdevelopersdevelopers doesn’t take you to special models for Windows developers.
Agree that finding Linux laptops on Dell’s site was a bit tricky. I’m sure there was much grumbling over the years about this, especially from passionate Linux users who wanted Dell to showcase Linux as an alternative.
What caused the change?
Speculation: Huawei’s current experimentation? Perhaps a small ripple effect. Whatever the reason, me gusta.
I don’t care if Linux takes over the world (year of Linux desktop). I do care that it’s viewed as a viable alternative and a purchasing option.
It’s been several years since I got a Dell notebook. Depending on which link you went to the price of the same notebook varied by several $100. The configuration options differed as well. I’m guessing that’s still the case.
Looking at the new Linux landing page, it seems the XPS 13 is the smallest Linux notebook they offer still. I wonder if they plan on officially offering 10″ screen or smaller non-budget Linux notebooks. At least that’s
I would think that the many computer/LAPTOP resellers of ex-office machines would be adequate and have a longer “history” of narrow laptops.
That’s where I get by Lenovo ThinkPads for a few hundred and increased RAM and SSD swapped in.