How do I avoid giving Microsoft money?

[Pitchmeister]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

How cheap are the laptops you're buying? Newer Macs run $2100-2700, and I know there is no way they only lose $450 in value over 3 years.

...

Mmmh, again, please do check the prices of current Macs.

[Martin Hyde]

Originally Posted by Pitchmeister

Mmmh, again, please do check the prices of current Macs.

I'm aware of the price range of Macs. But you can't actually buy a real notebook from them for under $1800 now (that's the most bare bones, non-retina 15" Mac Pro.) They don't make regular MacBooks anymore and the Macbook Air is more of an ultrabook than a real laptop (which the old Macbooks actually were.)

[coremelt]

Originally Posted by DrCube

Either way, the premise is that I don't want to use MS software at all, and therefore would rather not pay them.

So way back up the thread system76 was mentioed, their ubuntu laptops are right in the range you want, $689-$899.

https://www.system76.com/laptops/

problem solved right?

[tetranz]

I haven't compared prices for hardware without Windows to know if this is true but...

I'm told that all the free trial or "lite" version junk that usually comes preinstalled with Windows more than pays for the Windows license. The same computer without an O/S would actually cost more. You may as well buy it with Windows and reformat the disk if you really don't want it.

[samclem]

Originally Posted by septimus

I thought I was the Rip Van Winkle who'd lost track of American culture, but even I have heard of the Bush-Cheney-Rove Administration which ruled the U.S.A. during 2001-2009.

Among many other notable achievements they dropped the antitrust case against Microsoft, in which the Clinton Administration was on the verge of a major legal victory. I don't remember why; perhaps all U.S. Attorneys needed to focus on voter fraud.

Microsoft's monopolization methods are egregiously illegal. I've pointed this out in SDMB threads before; Dopers rush to defend Microsoft; most amusing is that during the debates the most adamant Microsoft supporters eventually admit to knowing nothing whatsoever about software.

MODERATOR NOTE,

Septimus, You're politicizing this thread. Keep your opinions to yourself or start a thread in the Pit or Great Debates if you wish to bash Microsoft/Bush etc.

Not a warning, just a caution.

samclem, Moderator

[DrCube]

Originally Posted by coremelt

So way back up the thread system76 was mentioed, their ubuntu laptops are right in the range you want, $689-$899.

https://www.system76.com/laptops/

problem solved right?

Yeah, I'm probably going to get one of those, or else talk to a sales rep and see what kind of Dell I can get with Linux or no OS. Not that anybody has to stop talking or anything.

[iamthewalrus(:3=]

Originally Posted by Martin Hyde

They don't make regular MacBooks anymore and the Macbook Air is more of an ultrabook than a real laptop (which the old Macbooks actually were.)

My last four computers (in order) have been G3 iBook, G4 iBook, Macbook (plastic body), Macbook Air.

On all but the most recent, I bought the low-end 13" model (generally $1000-1100) and upgraded the ram myself (about another $100). On the Air, the memory is soldered directly to the board, so I purchased the amount I wanted (4GB) to start with. The Air was the most expensive (about $1400 total), and looking at recent eBay sales, it looks like it's depreciated about $400-$450 in a year and a half. I'm not planning to sell it for a while yet, so that may flatten out a bit. It does look likely that this one will be more expensive than my historical average.

We could argue over what qualifies something as a "real laptop", but I think it's disingenuous to claim that Mac laptops start at $1800. Even if you discount the 11" Air, 13" is a fine size for a laptop, and Apple has several 13" models starting at $1200. It's been my preferred size since forever, for mobility reasons, not price. And The 13" Air I have is my favorite computer ever. Only once have I missed having an ethernet port (when I first got it and had to transfer all my files over from the old computer via wireless, which took several hours longer). I've never missed having an optical drive. The size and weight more than make up for those (very minor, to me) drawbacks.

[60wag]

If you don't want to give MS money, buy a used computer. The previous owner paid the MS licensing fee.

[Martin Hyde]

Originally Posted by iamthewalrus(:3=

My last four computers (in order) have been G3 iBook, G4 iBook, Macbook (plastic body), Macbook Air.

On all but the most recent, I bought the low-end 13" model (generally $1000-1100) and upgraded the ram myself (about another $100). On the Air, the memory is soldered directly to the board, so I purchased the amount I wanted (4GB) to start with. The Air was the most expensive (about $1400 total), and looking at recent eBay sales, it looks like it's depreciated about $400-$450 in a year and a half. I'm not planning to sell it for a while yet, so that may flatten out a bit. It does look likely that this one will be more expensive than my historical average.

We could argue over what qualifies something as a "real laptop", but I think it's disingenuous to claim that Mac laptops start at $1800. Even if you discount the 11" Air, 13" is a fine size for a laptop, and Apple has several 13" models starting at $1200. It's been my preferred size since forever, for mobility reasons, not price. And The 13" Air I have is my favorite computer ever. Only once have I missed having an ethernet port (when I first got it and had to transfer all my files over from the old computer via wireless, which took several hours longer). I've never missed having an optical drive. The size and weight more than make up for those (very minor, to me) drawbacks.

I didn't believe that Apple started selling "computers" at $1800, for one. However I was off base. For a long time you had the MacBook and the MacBook Pro, the Pro for the past few years has started typically in the high $1000s ($1700-1900) and gone up to almost $3k, maybe even more if you really max out every option. The MacBook went, I believe from $1k-1.2k usually. Both were what I'd call "real" laptops in terms of processor power, ports, expansion capability / replacement capability for some of the internal components.

When the Air came out and Apple stopped making the regular MacBook, I thought that Apple had basically said "you either need an ultrabook (just techie hipster slang for a not-quite-laptop that is more of a souped up netbook which itself was just techie hipster slang for a low powered laptop lacking many standard ports and peripherals) or you need a big desktop replacement machine, basically exiting from the standard "notebook" market.

I was off base on that. It looks like instead they now have much lower-end MacBook Pros (starting at $1200) that fill the "standard notebook" slot that the old MacBooks filled, by customizing you can still get a MacBook pro that is extremely big and expensive (just like the old Pros.)

[drachillix]

Originally Posted by ZipperJJ

Why don't you buy a Mac laptop? If you don't want to use the Mac OS, can't you run Linux on those?

Or any no O/S machine for that matter....