Right now, as far as I can tell, the best place to get a laptop with Ubuntu is Dell. While their prices may be the best, though, not everything is as I would like it.

One problem is that the configuration options on the Ubuntu models are very limited compared to the Windows models. Another is that you have to look for the Ubuntu models to find them, but the one that is annoying me today is that the same coupons do not apply to both the Ubuntu and Windows models.

Try this: Configure an XPS M1530 laptop with Ubuntu and with Windows with whatever settings you want, as long as the price comes out above $1250. Add one of them to your cart and try to apply this coupon code:

K54SDRK72$L6W3

(Note: That code expires Friday, so this might not work for you after that.)

Now, remove that laptop and add the other one to you cart. Try to apply the same code.

What you will find, assuming the code has not just plain expired yet, is that the code works perfectly for the Windows version, but not at all for the Ubuntu version.

This annoyance is just another symptom of Dell’s refusal to consider a laptop with Ubuntu and a laptop with Windows the same model. They may use the same name, but they don’t give the same price, they don’t have the same configuration options, you have to go to different pages to configure them, and the coupons are different. Since the Windows and Ubuntu versions are, for all practical purposes, the same computer, it would seem logical for Dell to offer the same discount rather than treating them as different models that just happen to have the same hardware and same name.

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