Thinkpad without any OS installed

I've seen in other posts that some people have been successful getting their Thinkpads without an OS.

I've got a volume license deal through Microsoft, so I have pretty much unlimited copies of Windows - making a preloaded OS a waste of money.

I talked to Lenovo sales support and they've said straight up they won't sell them without an OS (specifically on the x120e). I know I've seen people get them ordered without one, so where do you go to do it?

 

I've tried as well on the x220 and said it's not possible. There was a brief period where you could order the x120e without an OS and it would reduce the cost but they quickly fixed it. That's probably where people assumed that you could always just ask with no OS

 

Actually, there are markets - primarily in Asia - where ThinkPads are sold without an OS (they have something like PC DOS on it).

My R400 came with no OS. I bought a retail copy of Win 7 Pro. My X201, OTOH, came with Win 7 Pro 32-bit installed. I just clean installed the 4-bit version.

 

Only way over here (Europe) is to order from a special 'student only' website such as ok1.de or lapstars.de

 

Doesn't it hurt when you get to that 512MB-addressable RAM limit though?

 

512MB? I thought it was only 16 bytes max one can address using 4 bits.

 

In the US, through normal suppliers/Lenovo, it is not possible to get a Thinkpad without an OS. The X120e was mistakenly offered without OS on the Lenovo Student site, a mistake that Lenovo respectably chose to honor.

Some universities offer Lenovo Thinkpads without OS through their campus stores, although not all colleges do this as well--UCLA, where I am studying, does not.

 

Those are upgrade licenses:

Microsoft Volume Licensing - Frequently Asked Questions About Product Licensing

Preloaded Windows is the most economical way to meet the qualification requirement for those licenses.

Don

 

When you first turn on your Windows based computer you can disagree to the end user license agreement (EULA). Then call up Lenovo and say you want a refund for disagreeing to Window's EULA.
Experiences online seem to say that Lenovo prefers you to return the laptop and purchase one w/o Windows.

 

Very interesting, thanks for the link. Looks like a good sum of money saved. Between $50-150... I'll try when I receive my laptop, but knowing Lenovo and based on these accounts as well, there's no doubt they'll refuse

 

I was probably wrong, and I knew it even as I posted, but I couldn't find the answer quick enough. I used bad math with the wrong figures or assumptions (32 bits / 8 = 4, 4096MB /8 = 512MB).

I also didn't have my Intel 4004 processor schematics nearby.

 

Doesn't sound like big savings, there are plenty of deals out there

 

I've got MSDN Ultimate, which gives me a VL key for each version and platform of Windows, and pretty much unlimited usage. It's not an upgrade program at all, they're for full clean installs.

You'd be surprised. My Sager laptop (and all Sagers) charge $90 to get an OEM copy of Windows. This is the price Newegg charges for System Builder OEM copies as well. I imagine Lenovo pays this much for them too, if they don't get a slight discount (which wouldn't be all that much from the OEM pricing).

People at the beginning of the x120e thread were saying they got models for $320 or so shipped, with the E-350, 6310 graphics, BT, and 320GB HDD. I'd have to pay nearly $420 for that now with the same Student discount. It seems likely that you'd be getting almost $80-90 off if it wasn't preinstalled.

 

Actually a windows 7 home premium license was adding $117 to the x120e. I remember configuring it. That was before they removed the No OS option.

 

you can address as much as you want, just need to latch 4 bits at a time. Down side is that it will take more cycles to complete.

OP: some time ago there was an option to buy x120 with no OS, but they removed it shortly after. Some people got laptops in this period though.

 

But not for production use.

"Many MSDN subscribers use a computer for mixed use—both design, development, testing, and demonstration of your programs (the use allowed under the MSDN subscription license) and some other use. Using the software in any other way, such as for doing email, playing games, or editing a document is another use and is not covered by the MSDN subscription license. When this happens, the underlying operating system must also be licensed normally by purchasing a regular copy of Windows such as the one that came with a new OEM PC."

See MSDN Subscriptions| MSDN Licensing - Software Use Rights, MSDN Licensing. How can I use the software included in my MSDN Subscription?

 

Addressable memory is logarithmic. So 4 bits can address 2^4 or 16 bits of RAM. 32 can address 2^32 ~ 4096MB.

 

OME installed Windows is the cheapest and most efficient way to obtain license, I don't understand why you want a refund or buy a system without windows.

 

It is either 16 bytes or 4096MBits. Your pick
In the real world, it is bytes that are being addressed, not bits.

 

Well, dry almost useless (in this case) theory. Sure this has its merits, but it's beyond the scope of this discussion (like yeah, sure PAE works and it's useful in some cases, but I still prefer x64)

On the plus side, I don't know of any processor that only supports 4-bit addresses, and I like it that way.

 

It's lenovo official policy to not sell computers without an os on them; the deal with x120e was a mistake that they decided to honor. Lenovo will not refund the "windows tax" even if you call, they'll just tell you to return the entire laptop and issue you a refund. There's lots of people that's sitting on a bunch of unused windows keys simply because they use other OS.

 

I know how you feel chaose, linux users really get hit by the windows tax. Some manufacturers like Dell are pretty good about it, but most, including Lenovo, are not.
We still have to pay for Windows and show up on Microsofts balance sheet, increasing their market share and perpetuating the myth everybody uses windows.

 

Home use isn't production use. Production use is in a business or for-profit setting. I work for Microsoft, and they're the ones that paid (or rather wrote off) the $15,000 for the MSDN subscription I got.

That's how it was explained to me when I signed up for it through the internal ordering department anyway. I use it on home devices for programming and testing, so it's never been an issue.

 

Well as expected I was denied. Supervisor based in India said he cannot go by "that". That being the Microsoft license/EULA agreement.

But whatever, not like they are breaking any rules or being immoral in my eyes. I knew I was paying extra for Windows and not like anyone put a gun to my head. Sucks there's no choice in the matter, though. But that's how they make money. Buy things cheap (Windows licenses, motherboards, etc) and sell them with a 350% markup for profit. I can't call in and ask for them to not include a motherboard because I don't like Intel and want to put AMD in... why should I pay for Intel motherboard if I won't use it. Can't do that, it's not very reasonable, and same with the OS I suppose.

When is Amazon going to start making laptop? Best company in the world

edit: Talked to first level manager, his manager, and her manager. All three refused and said they cannot give a refund for Windows after I insisted many times and said they are breaking their own agreement with Microsoft to honor the License and enforce the EULA