Buy Thinkpad from US w/o MS Windows? (or get a Rebate?)

[iveand]

Can anyone advise on how to either purchase w/o MS Windows or if not possible to get a rebate / refund after purchase for not using MS Windows?

Thanks,

iveand

[creativefish]

Don't think Lenovo is doing this at the moment. My experience from a few months ago is that you can call them to speak to a sales rep and they may find a better price (depending on where you got your initial quote from). However, rebate for Windows is not singled out in any way.

Make sure you shop around as it's possible to get a better price online that what they might be willing to offer if you know where to look.

[coolhand]

I called them up a couple weeks ago and spoke with a sales rep and a tech.. it's a no-go =/

[wolfman]

I'm a Linux user and I'd love to get a machine with just Free DOS or no OS. However, I don't think Lenovo will sell those directly to individuals - just corporate accounts (machines with Free DOS). Every once in a while they show up on the Lenovo Outlet, but they typically are priced aggressively and sell quickly.

As for the rebate, it would seem that the junk that is installed on the machines - like Norton, etc - tends to "offset" the OS cost - or so I've heard claimed - suggesting that if the OS was not provided the cost would not go down, therefor there is no "rebate" to be had. Not sure I buy that personally, but that's the party line for a number of PC manufacturers.

[obiwan98]

Actually, you can buy them. Just not easily. I cannot speak for the US, but in many EU countries Thinkpads for Education/Research are commonly sold without windows. It is just a matter of finding a shop that will do that (and other shopkeepers will swear it is impossible, but they just failed to get such a deal with Lenovo).

Also, these models are usually somewhat cheaper compared to the ones with Windows (whether that is because of license costs or because of special education deals...).

An interesting detail is that you do not need to live in the EU to buy one of these (but you do need to have some proof of being a researcher or student or teacher or some such). Since laptops are much cheaper in North America compared to the EU (or surprisingly, even when compared to China), the fact that you do not have to pay VAT + the education reduction would hopefully not make it too bad a deal.

Of course, it does require lots of effort to make these things happen, and even Lenovo reps are (falsely) claiming it cannot be done. Which is exactly how the evil corporate overlords want it to be.