[DC LoCo] to buy a computer without the Microsoft tax

[Robert Simmons]

On Mon, Mar 19, 2012 at 11:45 AM, Greg Reagle <reagle at cepr.net> wrote:
> Howdy.  I really like the deals on outlet.dell.com and outlet.lenovo.com.  I especially like the 3 year warranty Dell gives even for refurbished computers; Lenovo seems to offer only one year of warranty.  However, I do not want to pay the Microsoft tax.  They all seem to come pre-installed with MS Windows.
>
> I already looked at http://laclinux.com/gnu/ThinkCentre which I found via the Free Software Foundation, (https://www.gnu.org/links/companies.html) but their prices are much higher than the outlets (of course).
>
> I am looking to buy a desktop, something like a Dell Optiplex or ThinkCentre M series; it will have Ubuntu (I don't care whether it is pre-installed).
>
> Any ideas to avoid the Microsoft tax without paying (an arm and a leg) *more*?

My recommendation is to roll your own.  For each part, start at
newegg.com because it is easy to compare parts on there and they have
fairly good user reviews.  Then once you know what specs you want,
make sure you're getting the best price for each part by looking that
part up on Google Shopping:
http://www.google.com/shopping
Then check pricewatch:
http://www.pricewatch.com/