Ask HN: New Laptop, No OS, Where To Buy?

Sadly, computers are cheaper with an OS. The vendors pile junk like 90 day virus subscriptions (that must be renewed) and Microsoft Office instant upgrades on to the computer as to lower the price.<p>I'd pick something off <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/" rel="nofollow">http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/</a> and be done with it.

Just buy a laptop as usual. But then return the pre-installed Windows to the manufacturer (not the retailer), for a refund.<p>Your right to do this is protected by various competition laws prohibiting 'tying' - the bundling of third party products. For generic PC hardware, Windows <i>is</i> third party - it's not exclusively necessary to run the machine, since there are many other third party OSs available.<p>More details are in my comments in previous threads: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2600047" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2600047</a> <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642068" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1642068</a>

eBay, used computers can be just as good as new.