[sf-lug] laptop / rebate re OS

[Christian Einfeldt]

hi,

On Tue, Sep 1, 2009 at 10:09 AM, Alex Kleider <a_kleider at yahoo.com> wrote:

> At the last Monday meeting, there was a fellow who told us of his getting
> the cost of M$Windows software returned because he was installing linux
> instead. Can someone tell me which model/brand (Asus I think) that computer
> was?
>
> I'm being asked for a recommendation and this is the one that I think would
> be most suitable.
>
>
Amazon will refund the license fee:

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/07/23/1855211

christian.einfeldt <einfeldt@@@digitaltippingpoint...com> writes *"Alan
Lord, a FOSS computer consultant based in the UK, has announced that Amazon
UK honored his request for a
refund<http://www.theopensourcerer.com/2009/07/21/getting-your-microsoft-tax-refunded-1010-for-amazon-uk/>of
the Microsoft license fee portion of the cost of a new Asus netbook PC
that came with Microsoft Windows XP. Lord details the steps that he took to
obtain a refund of 40.00 GBP for the cost of the EULA, complete with links
to click to request a refund. Lord's refund comes 10 years after the initial
flurry of activity surrounding EULA discounts, started by a blog post by
Australian computer consultant Geoffrey Bennett which appeared on Slashdot
on 18 January 1999<http://slashdot.org/story/99/01/18/1539214/Australian-Linux-user-gets-Windows-Refund?art_pos=34>.
That Slashdot story led to mainstream press coverage, such as stories
in CNN<http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9901/22/refunds.idg/index.html>,
the New York Times
Online<http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/biztech/articles/25computer-briefs.html>,
and the San Francisco
Chronicle<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/01/28/BU74183.DTL>,
to name just a few <http://linuxmafia.com/refund/coverage.html>. The issue
quieted down for a few years, but has started to gain some momentum again in
recent years, with judges in
France<http://news.slashdot.org/story/08/05/19/0154224/French-Judge-Orders-Refund-For-Pre-Installed-XP?art_pos=4>,
Italy<http://yro.slashdot.org/story/07/10/27/1952257/Italian-Judge-Tells-HP-To-Refund-Pre-Installed-XP?art_pos=7>,
and Israel<http://yro.slashdot.org/story/08/12/03/1949230/Persistence-Pays-Off-With-Israels-First-Windows-Refund?art_pos=1>awarding
refunds. But if Lord's experience is any indication, getting a
refund through Amazon might be as easy as filling out a few forms, at least
in the UK, without any need to go to court."*

http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/07/31/1215248

rrohbeck writes *"Today Amazon credited my card with $65.45. After ordering
an Eee PC 1005 HA<http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-1005HA-PU1X-BU-10-1-Inch-Blue-Netbook/dp/B002DYIXMS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1249002539&sr=8-2>from
amazon.com, I asked them for a refund for the cost of Windows XP via the
'Contact us' form. At first they told me to cancel any items on my order
that I wanted a refund for, but after I explained that XP was pre-installed
on the machine they got it. They asked what the cost of the OS was, and I
answered that I had no idea but that Amazon UK refunded
£40.00<http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/23/1855211/Amazon-UK-Refunds-Windows-License-Fee-With-Little-Hassle>.
Within a few hours I got a response saying 'I've requested a refund of
$65.45 to your Visa card.' Somehow I doubt that Amazon will charge Asus or
even Microsoft, but maybe they will one day if more people do this. Oh, and
peeling off the 'Designed for Microsoft Windows XP' sticker is easy, too."*
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