[nzlug] 'MS Tax' versus Commerce Commission

[Mathew Carley]

They certainly exist, though just not in the NZ market - even brand name 
jobbies. In some countries (ahem Thailand, Viet Nam, China etc) Windows 
might come pre-installed... but it's a pirate copy :D

The main problem then becomes the keyboard. Although most of them use 
US-standard layouts, laptops brought in most Asian countries (Japan, 
China/Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore in particular) will have that 
countries character input system on the keyboard as well as the standard 
QWERTY layout.

On my next trip to Asia (Mid-October, I think), I'll try and see if I 
can wangle a deal to import a bunch of OS-less laptops to NZ for you, 
shall I?

(For those that remember: my little saga with getting the Nokia N800's 
to NZ ended with most suppliers wanting me to import more than 1. So if 
I get more than, say, 5 or 10 responses for such devices, I can do it).

MC
> Where, pray tell, does one go to get a laptop that's not made by one 
> of the usual suspects? Or get one at something approximating a 
> reasonable price? It's all very well to say that you should support 
> local business, and that you save money by not paying the "MS Tax", 
> but the reality is that you spend far more on the hardware from these 
> small manufacturers than you lose on the "MS Tax" levied by buying a 
> laptop from one of the big names.
> I can get a big-name laptop from DSE for a shade over a grand. Can you 
> find me one that comes without Windows for a similar price? Anyone? Of 
> course you can't, because they don't exist. And until that situation 
> changes, only the few who have enough money to spend on things that 
> the principle can override the financial will buy the Windows-less 
> laptops. Those of us with restricted budgets will continue to buy the 
> cheapest machine that does what we require, and for the foreseeable 
> future that means something that comes with Windows.