Dell's Ubuntu Linux machines launching today

There's still no press release but those three Dell's running Ubuntu are just minutes away from donning their direct-sales wings according to Dell's official Direct2Dell site. Just like we heard, the three rigs available for the Linux pre-load include the E520 Dimension desktop, Inspiron E1505 consumer laptop, and XPS 410 media rig, now suffixed with an "n." All three will be up by 4pm CST later today from Dell's "open" site. Prices start at $599 for your choice of the E520n desktop or E1505n notebook while the XPS 410n will cost you $899. Interestingly enough, Vista pre-load pricing starts at $369 for the E520, $699 for the E1505, and $899 for the XPS 410. Huh? It's just a start according to Dell, with "plenty more to come."

[Via Ramblings from the Marginalized, thanks Steve D.]

[Todd @ May 24th 2007 8:42AM]

"...and in related news sales of Pepto-Bismol skyrocketed in and around the area of Redmond Washington...."

[C @ May 24th 2007 10:47AM]

hhahhaa the day microsoft has to worry about linux is the day the world ends. In case you dont know math, Linux = 2% userbase, Mac 9% userbase, Windows 89% userbase. Someone i dont see the fear.

[RyanTV @ May 24th 2007 9:04AM]

that is the most ridiculous pricing scheme ever.

[John Stracke @ May 24th 2007 9:10AM]

Maybe, maybe not. Linux doesn't have a licensing fee, but any OS involves some overhead, in terms of developing and testing the configuration; if they expect fewer sales for Linux, then they need to charge more to cover that overhead.

[Vasilis @ May 24th 2007 9:30AM]

Well it does not seem like all that ridiculous to me... You can get Vista OEM for 100$ or so and DELL isn't paying but a fraction of that. So the licensing does not have much to do with it. On the other hand support costs will be shared among fewer units sold as will be drivers development.

[Buck Jones III @ May 24th 2007 9:24AM]

Good luck with that...

[RyanTV @ May 24th 2007 9:24AM]

@ John Stracke - I'm talking about from a consumer standpoint. Paying the same or more for a workstation that has Linux installed vs Windows just doesn't make financial sense. In that case, get the computer with windows pre-installed and put Linux on. Never know when a spare windows license will come in handy.

I have a sinking feeling that the whole Dell + Linux thing wont be around very long.

[Kent Pribbernow @ May 24th 2007 9:24AM]

...with more than a dozen customers ready to buy.

[bob e @ May 24th 2007 9:25AM]

At best Dell expects to sell 20,000 per year I read on their site. Sounds like a real winner.

[Gnawkz @ May 24th 2007 11:51AM]

I agree w/ Vasilis and John. It can be seen that its because the low volume therefore the high price.

The XPS has the more volume so Dell is able to charge the same amount.

With their budget line, volume is what makes them money, without it, price goes up.

[StrangeBum @ May 24th 2007 9:40AM]

I can't wait for these to really drop in price a bit, which I'm sure they will once Dell gets to the point that they realize that they will sell. I've been wanting to get a good Linux machine running for awhile. My last one was on an old Laptop running Knoppix. Although I did dual-boot Ubuntu on my XP desktop for awhile, but I really didn't have enough hard drive space to partition.

Once these drop in price, saying they do, I will be getting one most definitely. I'm a huge supporter of Linux, GNU and everything they stand for.

[RyanTV @ May 24th 2007 9:46AM]

for the most part, i would say that "huge supporters" of linux are also huge supporters of building their own machines and not getting assimilated by the corporate borg.

[Brian @ May 24th 2007 10:17AM]

Don't forget that Dell said they would use hardware that is compatible with Linux. Perhaps they swapped out their cheap motherboards for something a little better, or something else hardware related is what brings up the cost of the system, and not just the fact that it runs Linux. You can see that their "higher" end system, the XPS, is still the same price with or without it.

[Yayaja @ May 24th 2007 10:25AM]

So I was ready to make the switch over the linux recently. Setup a dual boot that ran XP and Ubuntu 7.04. I was excited at all the neat little features and tricks. BUT I couldn't even get my internet working. Ubuntu would NOT read my wireless adapter (manufactered by microsoft sure, but still). I would have to boot into windows just to look up tech support. Every forum told me to download this, and download that. Then I had to configure everything myself, using pages and pages computer code that looked completely unintelligible to me. To an insult to injury, ubuntu did NOT come with ANY codec, so I couldn't play a single mp3, and not a single video file. Anytime I tried playing any of the various media I had on my computer, I would get an error prompt that told me ubuntu needed to download and install the codec for this file. So basically I had am operating system where I couldn't browse the internet, couldn't play any music, and couldn't play any videos. I was disgusted that ubuntu could come with like 30 graphically intense screensavers and not even an mp3 codec. After a week and a half of constant struggle, i had to wipe that shit off my system. Sorry Linux folks, i know you work hard and offer your stuff for free, but if I literally need a background in computer science and be familiar with programming language just to use your system, that its not gonna happen. I'm only 23 and have been using computers for over a decade. How is someone who has not spent most of their lives using computer supposed to manage linux? Bill gates might be an all powerful tyrant, but until there really is a comparable alternative, (that I don't have to pay a premium for) I will have to continue to offer up my sacrifices of goat's blood to the software gods to keep them happy. Linux does not even come close.

[Ayle @ May 24th 2007 11:24AM]

Linux 101:
1-check if your hardware is supported
2-get the good distribution(no the latest is not always the best)
3-get ndiswrapper for the wifi drivers
4-get automatix 2 for the dvd, mp3, etc codecs
5-install the graphic drivers....

That pretty much the same thing you have to do when you're installing windows...

[Robert Andrews @ May 24th 2007 11:52AM]

As a person who has gone through what you're going through, I'm 21, i'll tell you right now that it is worth going through all that trouble to make it work. I think it really helped me learn from reading, i've always thought i was advanced in computers, and learning from reading, but using Ubuntu was a challenge that I overcame. Everything you need is in the guides, I know you're frustration because it took me multiple times of switching back and forth to where i had a spare computer i worked on, that i got everything working. There are helper programs that will do it all for you, it just takes time searching on google, and with Ndiswrapper you can use windows drivers. The only reason i ended up switching back was lack of hard drive space, and i couldn't get my college VPN to work on my laptop. But yes it is a preference and the usability isn't the same as windows. It isn't mainstream, and it's not going to be anytime soon, and I hope you try Ubuntu or any flavor of Linux soon, and plug away at it so you can be confident and versed in it, because it helps you understand computers more.

[paloooz @ May 24th 2007 12:03PM]

I am 19 years old. I have been using computers since I was 13 years old (I'd played Doom, etc, before that, but never anything useful.)

My brother introduced me to Linux in 2003 when I was 15 years old, and long before Ubuntu came out, and long before Linux was at all user friendly like today.

Having no background in programming, no background in Linux and only 2 years experience actually using a computer, I have managed just fine using Linux for the past 4 years.

It really isn't that difficult ... As the Ayle said, step 1 is to make sure your hardware is supported. Brand new motherboard chipsets generally cause problems, Microsoft wireless cards will most likely cause problems ...

The reason Ubuntu can't include codecs for A/V stuff is because of licensing ... MP3 is not a free codec, there are free codecs to play and encode MP3, but they infringe on patents and cannot be included in Ubuntu.

Installing codecs is not a big deal at all, had you chosen the right wireless card, you would have been able to search the web for clues as to how to do this.

You can't just install it and expect it to do everything for you. You're 23 years old, you should be able to learn things by now, but I guess not. That is why Linux must not be for you.

But, for ambitious people who like to learn, and who find computers interesting, who aren't noobs and pick the right hardware, Linux can be a great learning experience. I guess you just have a learning disability... because if I could learn Linux 4 years ago when I was 15, certainly you could learn Linux at 23 today.

[Stephan @ May 24th 2007 10:33AM]

I guess the saying is true "Freedom is never Free"

So how much do you think Redmond paid Dell to setup this crazy price scheme?

[Todd @ May 24th 2007 11:40AM]

Flash back to November 1985 market shares:

IBM 89%
Windows 2%

..then in less than five years, Windows over took IBM in the home PC market.

Flash forward May 2012

Ubuntu 89%
Vista Service Pack 4 2%

[C @ May 24th 2007 11:47AM]

haha keep dreaming, linux will never become a full fledged os, its always gonna be a hobby os for nerd kids to think they are smart. Its pretty funny that people think they know anything about linux by choosing a bloated distro that requires you can type your own name at installation.

[paakofi @ May 24th 2007 11:35AM]

Sure.. it's that simple and everyone that struggling with it must be stupid. If it's as easy as getting gangstawrapper, why isn't it included by default?

[Yayaja @ May 24th 2007 12:03PM]

Windows 101:
1) Pay an Assload for it (sometimes without even realizing that you are paying for it)

2) Plug and Play

3) Go do stuff

[Ayle @ May 24th 2007 12:33PM]

it is....just launch synaptics or adept and type ndiswrapper..... I said nowhere that the ones having trouble are stupid, sorry if i sounded condescending. But did he connect to a wired network?.... I shall stay quiet now...

[paakofi @ May 24th 2007 11:41AM]

In an episode of Tweenies maybe.

[Nate @ May 24th 2007 1:31PM]

"Its pretty funny that people think they know anything about linux by choosing a bloated distro that requires you can type your own name at installation."

Because, you know, Windows isn't a bloated distro that only requires the user to be able to type his own name....

[JC @ May 24th 2007 1:45PM]

You want to talk about bloated?

Tell me why it takes a whole DVD to install Vista, and I end up with JUST an operating system with nothing else that takes up GIGS of space on the hard drive.

Conversely, a Ubuntu install CD, after installation, has everything I need to start working.

Are you mildly retarded, or just trolling? 'Cause either way, I'm not amused.

[C @ May 24th 2007 2:25PM]

actually JC and Nate im a linux user so it really doesnt matter what you say about windows, its funny that you assume that since i think ubuntu is garbage that im a windows fanboy trolling. so Nate im pretty sure your the one thats mildly retarded and quick to jump to conclusions.

[AndyC @ May 24th 2007 11:56AM]

"So how much do you think Redmond paid Dell to setup this crazy price scheme?"

Ironically it's more likely to be Google, who subsidise Dell Windows PCs by paying them to fill it with Google crapware. Can't say I'm surprised by the pricing though, it's pretty much what I would've expected them to charge.

[fashionista @ May 24th 2007 1:46PM]

hey pee-wee there was Linux GUI before 2003.

[Yayaja @ May 24th 2007 5:38PM]

TOTALLY different scenario. Your brother introduced you to Linux. That means you started learning and using a computer that was already set up and configured. When something went wrong, your bro could fix it, and teach you how to fix it. I'm sure it was easy for him and it was easy for you to learn how to fix a problem for next time. Meanwhile if I need to learn how to do something basic, like install ndiswrapper or w-lan-ng, Then I need to spend at least an hour or to to find out how to do it. Why does it take so long? Because everytime I search google, more then half of my hits are to forums where people ask the same question I do and they get flamed for it by people saying things like "some retard asked this same question 2 years ago!! learn how to search the forums you fucking noobtard" The other half of responses are lines and lines of commands and code without any narrative explanation at all. So you see what the difference is, your tech support was instant, mine is tedious and infuriating. But this is all moot, selling Dells with linux is suggesting that linux is a replacement for windows. You yourself have confirmed what the general opinion is, that linux is for nerds by saying "That is why Linux must not be for you. But, for ambitious people who like to learn, and who find computers interesting, who aren't noobs and pick the right hardware, Linux can be a great learning experience"
My dad is 62, and a month ago he had no idea what a web browser was. Today he uses my old Windows 2000 machine to do all sorts of web browsing, emails, etc. He's even into some web 2. stuff like youtube. And I don't have to hold his hand while he does it, its simple enough that he can figure most of it out on his own.
Now don't get me wrong, I hope for a day that I can install a free, simple, and clean OS on my computer and have it be just as good as windows, but its not here yet.

[Jason @ May 24th 2007 12:08PM]

Dell is struggling financially... this is just a way for them to try to triple their overhead... I even heard someone post on here that their is overhead involved at Dell for using Ubuntu... yeah sure... they probably only make a couple of bucks on a PC now adays... by loading a free linux and charging the same price as a windows license Dell has found a way to make more money...

WOW big win for ubuntu... NOT....

[peshue @ May 24th 2007 1:19PM]

Step one after getting linux, download Automatix. That'll fix all your codec problems and install flash, etc. for you. Otherwise installing that stuff is a huge pain in the ass.

[paloooz @ May 24th 2007 2:37PM]

Did you even read my post? No where in my post did I say anything about GUI. I know Linux has had GUIs since before 2003 ... but I never even said anything about that in my post.

What are you talking about?

[Kunikos @ May 24th 2007 1:53PM]

Will these be part of the line-up for sale in Wal-mart?

[paloooz @ May 24th 2007 2:39PM]

You're not alone. Ubuntu is absolute trash. I'll stick with Slackware and Gentoo, maybe Debian.

[JC @ May 24th 2007 3:34PM]

That's fine that you don't use Windows, but then, as a Linux user, you understand that other distros (ie. not Ubuntu) require more work to configure after installation.

The reason Ubuntu is "bloated" as you put it is because they're trying to be more compatible with more hardware. That's why they've become so well known, and liked by the "average user". People who put Ubuntu down are Linux power users, which are becoming a smaller percentage of the growing Linux community.

Linux enthusiasts go on all day about how they want their OS to become mainstream, and then crap on the efforts of companies like Canonical who strive to bring Linux to the masses.

People who say "Linux will never become a mainstream OS" only need to look at these elitists to see a perfect example of a self fulfilling prophecy.

[h8rain @ May 24th 2007 2:42PM]

I have a great theory on why the Linux models cost more. I has nothing to do with hardware, but software. Even though Linux is free, it can not run a lot (if any) of the ....(lack of better word) BS junk that is already installed on a Dimension. I would bet money that for every desktop that Dell sell with AOL already on it, they get a kickback. It's would be the same for the rest of the software. Do you think Dell pays for the "30 day free trial" of McAfee. Hell NO! The Software vendors gives them the programs for free (or in my theory pays Dell) in hopes that the end user will pay for the "full" version or a subscription.

Just my theory.

[devurandom @ May 24th 2007 3:13PM]

while i'd love to learn where you got those figures from (besides the obvious 'rear' answer), I'm pretty sure you won't be able to deliver.

And no company uses threats, unless they are worried, and in case you don't read the news, microsoft has been doing a lot of threatening as of late.

[Nicholas Gingrow @ May 24th 2007 4:35PM]

Well, I've got a similar story, I'm 19 and I've been really into computers since I was 14 when I got my own Dell Inspiron 1100, the first thing I did with it was uninstall XP Home and put XP pro on it (yeah, super basic I know but I was 14) and ever since then I've been on and off playing with Linux, I've tried just about every major version on Fedora since it first came out, and I've just really gotten into Ubuntu since Feisty came out. Yes, there are still Issues but as everyone has said if you've got mainstream hardware it works like a charm. I've got a D820 with an intel wireless chipset and a nVidia graphics card and it worked right out of the box perfectly for me. I've had no training on Linux ever I'm just interested in it, and in the past week of playing with it I've found everything i'll ever need for an OS. I got all the codecs working (manually compiled them) for MP3s, DivX, Xvid, DVDs, etc, I've gotten everything to play. Also Amarok is probably one of the best music players I've ever used, and I use AWM+Beryl to have a GUI that both looks way better than Vista or OS X, and is more functional then any of them, working with 4 desktops, with Chat, a few firefox widndows, music player, evolution mail (working perfectly with a Microsoft Exchange account-better than thunderbird), terminal, and a few other windows, and it's a charm to use Ubuntu to deal with all the would-be clutter that I'd normally have in windows.

Also on the VPN side, all you need to do is: "sudo apt-get install vpnc network-manager network-manager-vpnc" and you've got the best VPN client ever completly integrated into the OS and you can import cisco VPN profiles (.pcf) super easily!

I also love dell, people hate them but they make good machines and if you try and price out a similar system from Newegg, you really don't save much at all and as much as I love to build computers its very nice to just get it all ready to go in a nice box with a warentee for everything (1-year is included with Dells Linux boxes) I just bought a 2407FPW and I plan on getting a E520n with 2GB of RAM to use as my main linux box sometime next week... and I'm psyched!

[wellingj @ May 27th 2007 8:38PM]

My mom uses Debian Etch. Sure I installed it for her and made every thing work right, but I hardly see the difference from my mother getting Debian handed to her and your father getting windows 2000 handed to him. Except for the virus and spy-ware part that is...and the cost...and the fact that she gets free updates to the latest and greatest. Just because you can't set up Linux doesn't mean you can't use Linux. Same goes for Windows. When I started my new job, I had to do so much weird crap with the registry of the XP machine to get the development tools to work. If I didn't have help I wouldn't have known. So I think it's just a matter of exposure, and who the tech support is in your family. I don't think the 'Windows just works, and Linux doesn't' is a valid argument any more. I just bought a brand new T60 think pad, It took me all of 30 minutes to go from insert Debian net install(package download time included) to watching a DVD and using wifi. The 'problem' is that Linux needs to be set up on a new computer, and you can buy a Windows box already set up. I guarantee that if every one had to install Windows, people would be just as pissed of and asking them selves "why won't this work." Dell fixed that problem... Now there is no reason that a large majority of people can't use a technically superior OS that has less security holes and is more stable.

[jdplala @ May 24th 2007 5:50PM]

On the Dell pricing:
There are two versions of the E520 on the site, one in Versatile PCs, and the other in Advanced PCs. To get the E520 with the same motherboard and processor as the Ubuntu E520n, it's the Advanced PCs one which is $679. So the lower end desktop and laptop are $90 cheaper than Windows, and the XPS is the same. But if you add in all the software you need to buy to make Windows Vista equivalent to what's pre-installed with Ubuntu 7.04 you'll be saving $100s by buying the Ubuntu box.

[John @ May 24th 2007 5:58PM]

Why not just buy the cheaper windows edition and then just install Ubuntu? That way you have a windows license to play with/fall back on, more money, and Ubuntu. What am I missing here?

[whayong @ May 24th 2007 6:11PM]

The price is just ridiculous. As mentioned by someone above, just get the one with Vista pre-installed for the key and install Ubuntu yourself.

As for Ubuntu being crap... Ok, fine, but crap compared to what? Windows? lol! If you don't like it and are not adventurous enough, stick to the same bland, bug ridden, spam/virus haven of windows. Ubuntu in general is not hard at all. I did my first install 2 months ago. None of the other 2 BIG OS' can compare to the ease and relatively quick install. This was my first time using linux. My wireless didn't work at first. It was because my hardware unsupported. Swapped it out and it works like a charm. Codecs: as previously stated, are not free, therefore, cannot be included in the install CD. Downloading and install is as easy as add/remove software in windows using automatix. I still don't know jack about linux and using it via command line but I sure as hell will stick with it rather then going back to windows. Yes, I don't have dualboot. Why would I want to keep windows in my computer? lol!

I'm sorry you had such a hard time using it. Did you not look in the "official" ubuntu forums" Did you even bother reading the wiki? If you decide to do it all over again, I'll help you out with whatever I can, although not much, lol!

[ramses @ May 24th 2007 8:45PM]

What about the free dos version, the Dimension 520 and de 520n, the same configuration is a $100 cheaper, i would apreciate this, and then i can install Ubuntu or any other os i want...

I think this a little more atractive than having windows and lots of crap software pre-loaded in you pc, and saving 100 bucks in the proces :D

[timj @ May 25th 2007 10:21AM]

Windows doesn't work with DVD's out of the box - also due to codec legalities.

I switched to linux with the release of Feisty. I see a lot wrong with it for a new user. It made me realise just how important those pop up help bubbles are on a fresh install of XP.

Ubuntu just assumes you already know everything... A big mistake. Equally, I have had to go back to XP for certain things, as annoying as that is. I know that as time progresses, I will probably need to do this less and less.

Linux's customizability really blows my mind, and while its not quite better than windows yet - It's simply a matter of time...it just needs that final spit and polish.

In a perfect world, i'd like an OS that acts as a host to mount other OS's on top all working in realtime. Its coming too - I can't wait.

[timj @ May 25th 2007 10:26AM]

Its my guess that the high price is down to Dells support network, and the extra cost of training that is needed to go with it.

When Ubuntu becomes easier to use and Dell have sorted out their training better, the price will fall rapidly.

[yojimbo @ May 26th 2007 6:40PM]

You can do that on OSX using Parallels and soon you might be able to do it on Windows (put might not work as well with all the Windows overhead).

[Stux @ May 25th 2007 8:56PM]

Engadget: You guys haven't done your homework. And everybody has ignored jdplala's comment: the Ubuntu Dells *are* in fact cheaper. Dell advertises that their machines *start* at 379, but only have a simple pricing scheme advertised for their Ubuntu models. So readers please be sure to read other user's comments carefully. It would be really nice if Engadget editors would correct this article as well.

[Andrew Peltekci @ May 27th 2007 3:41PM]

What I think is cool is that the 350 dollar off dell demension coupon works on the xps and the 899 is the regular price not like the E520 which is 599 with coupon already included so after making the same specs on the xps, which is a better rig, its cheaper on the xps

[joshpsp1.5 @ May 29th 2007 8:41AM]

is this also in the UK?
if so then cool, best thing to happen to any computer products (thats not anything from apple)
the prices are stupid though, im guessing gates bribed dell...