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No Linux IdeaPad For Lenovo's US Customers

Posted by timothy on Wed Aug 06, 2008 05:20 PM
from the too-bad-because-I-want-one dept.
narramissic writes "When Lenovo's new IdeaPad 'S' series netbooks hit stores in October, U.S. buyers will only be given one option: Windows XP on the IdeaPad S10 (making it not so much a series as a single offering). Meanwhile, people in most markets Lenovo serves, including Singapore, China and the U.K., will be offered both of the company's new IdeaPad netbooks (the S10, which has 10.2-inch screen, and the S9, which has an 8.9-inch screen), and the choice of either Microsoft Windows XP or a Linux OS. Before you start feeling too sorry for yourself, consider the price tag: the S10 will sell for £319 (US$629) in the U.K., but in the U.S. the starting price is $399." Liliputing (a cool site for anyone interested in sub-notebook computing) has posted a few bits on the IdeaPad, including some short videos.
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[+] Hardware: Lenovo Removes Linux Option For Home Buyers 380 comments
billybob2 writes "Lenovo has stopped selling laptops pre-installed with Linux on its web site, only 8 months after starting the trial program. This means that home customers won't be able to buy a Thinkpad without paying the Microsoft tax. Word has it that the decision to pull the plug on Linux came down from the highest levels of the Chinese company's corporate headquarters. For those looking to buy full-sized laptops and desktops with Linux pre-loaded Dell, System76, ZaReason and Everex all still offer such products."
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  • XP (Score:5, Funny)

    by porcupine8 (816071) on Wednesday August 06 2008, @05:25PM (#24503183) Journal
    Reading through the summary, at first I thought that the fact that it was only available with XP was supposed to be a good thing. Then I got further and realized it was being compared to XP + Linux, not XP + Vista.
      • Re:XP (Score:5, Insightful)

        by pheared (446683) <kevin@pheared. n e t> on Wednesday August 06 2008, @05:34PM (#24503307) Homepage

        Actually it seems that they think the UK consumers are stupid, given the price hike they are imposing.

        • Re:XP (Score:4, Insightful)

          by sayfawa (1099071) on Wednesday August 06 2008, @06:41PM (#24504009)
          People in countries with higher wages pay more for products. Who would've thought? Maybe that price comparison should factor in the two countries' average incomes.

          In other news, rice costs more here than in India. They must think we're stupid.
          • Re:XP (Score:4, Informative)

            by 1u3hr (530656) on Thursday August 07 2008, @05:44AM (#24507761)
            People in countries with higher wages pay more for products. Who would've thought? Maybe that price comparison should factor in the two countries' average incomes. In other news, rice costs more here than in India. They must think we're stupid.

            Yes, you may be rich, but you are stupid. (And the dipshits that modded you up even more so.) Many hi-tech goods are much cheaper in the US than in most third-world countries. It's about markets, competition, trade barriers, monopolies. Businesses don't calculate what would be a "fair" price related to wages, they just charge what the market will bear.

          • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

            Actually it's half and half between the greedy company and the greedy government in this case. UK VAT is 17.5%, so taking the figure of $629 means the tax will be $110, leaving a base price of $519. That's still $120 extra for Lenovo, as well as $110 for the government.

  • not linux (Score:4, Funny)

    by larry bagina (561269) on Wednesday August 06 2008, @05:26PM (#24503203) Journal
    it's "Linpus Linux Lite". Based on the name alone, I say good riddance.
  • by Chris Pimlott (16212) on Wednesday August 06 2008, @05:26PM (#24503205)

    I foresee a black market in Linux system restore discs...

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          I've never had to hunt down a driver for my Thinkpad. Everything "Just Works" in Ubuntu.
  • by loteck (533317) on Wednesday August 06 2008, @05:30PM (#24503253) Homepage
    Until Dell releases their E series netbooks [slashdot.org]. The specs are promising (please include a 6-cell battery), they look very good, and the price point reflects a "race to the bottom" that I fear Asus's EeePC series has forgotten.

    Of course then the dual cores will start coming out later in the year, but I doubt I can wait until then, especially at these prices.

  • by rs232 (849320) on Wednesday August 06 2008, @05:33PM (#24503291)
    "the S10 will sell for £319 (US$629) in the U.K., but in the U.S. the starting price is $399"

    Why is this, does it cost more to ship it to Europe or is it we're supposed to subsidise the US market?
    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      Why is this, does it cost more to ship it to Europe or is it we're supposed to subsidise the US market?

      No, its because they think they'll make more profit in Europe charging more, either because Europeans have more money they are willing to throw at this kind of tech, or because its a narrower, richer segment of the market willing to consider the product at all in Europe; its simply a matter of segmenting the market and charging as much as the market will bear in each segment.

      Cost probably has next to nothi

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        Add to that the fact that the European web-market for bargains is terribly fragmented due to:
        1. The different languages;
        2. the fragmentation of the delivery market that makes prices for shipping across many national borders much higher than what it should, say in the US you often get single fee for continental US, but here you get single fee for ... Belgium or The Netherlands!
    • by xaxa (988988) on Wednesday August 06 2008, @05:44PM (#24503441)

      - we're willing to pay more (i.e. we value stuff more)
      - more regulations (apparently)
      - tax included in the price (17.5% for the UK price)
      - company has to pay recycling charge (WEEE)
      - longer warrenties (by law)

      At least, that's what /. came up with last week :-)

      • - we're willing to pay more (i.e. we value stuff more)

        Ahhh...so that explains why my cell phone company keeps tacking on extra charges, they know I'll value their service more.

  • by Channard (693317) on Wednesday August 06 2008, @05:36PM (#24503349) Journal
    Actually, we usually get screwed more on the price. More often than not, UK folks end up paying in pounds what US folks pay in dollars.
  • by gillbates (106458) on Wednesday August 06 2008, @05:55PM (#24503551) Homepage Journal

    To buy an Asus EEE PC. Not that IBM has a bad reputation with respect to being Linux compatible, but it was nice to have it come installed and just work out of the box.

  • No clit?! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sznupi (719324) on Wednesday August 06 2008, @06:02PM (#24503633) Homepage

    Ehhh...Lenovo had a chance of replacing ridiculously small touchpads found in all netbooks with a trackpoint, ending up with THE best netbook on the market.

    Instead...they're only average/good... :/

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      Here in The Netherlands it's impossible to get the Linux version of the eee pc 901.

      Did you actually found the Eee 901 for sale in the NL already? (Just asking because I haven't seen it anywhere).

    • by kramulous (977841) * on Wednesday August 06 2008, @07:13PM (#24504319)
      Here in Aus, I noticed that just recently, the sub-notebooks for sale in the general electrical shops have had linux removed and now you can only see XP. This has happened in the last couple of months. I'll go with plot.