Re: [tlug] Need purchasing advice for a linux compatible desktop

[Edward Middleton <edward@example.com>]

Dave M G wrote:
> By the way, I noticed in your other post you mentioned possibly going to
> User's Side for a computer. I would recommend not going with them for a
> whole computer.
>
> I recommend them pretty much just for English keyboards, of which they
> seemed to have the widest selection. And the prices are in line with
> other places.
>
> But for everything else, their pricing seems to be erratic, and usually
> on the expensive side. I happened to notice, for instance, that they
> were selling a Wacom Favio tablet for 19,000 yen. It sells for about
> 5,000 yen at most other places. It was not even an English model, but a
> standard Japanese one with Japanese packaging.
>
> I can't think of other specific examples off hand, but I definitely
> remember being shocked at the prices of various computer components. I
> am confident in saying that they are very unlikely to be fair pricing.
>   
The last system I bought[1] was from Users Side and I made a point of
checking the details before I bought.  The price was more then the
minimum I could have got but the alternative Faith Computers would not
offer any warranty, which is not something I am prepared to accept for a
complete system.  Their higher end systems looked overpriced to me but I
guess they are appealing to a market that has money to burn.
> If I may editorialize, I think that they are charging for the fact that
> they offer parts and services in English. Not in a value-added sense,
> but more in the sense that they can charge more to people who are lack
> confidence in dealing with Japanese stores and therefor can not make
> price comparisons.
>   
True, however I think you will find that it is pretty much the same
anywhere, and it is even worse for Japanese tourists.
> I think Dell or PrimePC/Dospara are both far better options.
>   
PrimePC/Dospara make pretty good lower end systems with generic hardware
that will probably work well with Linux.

We mostly use DELL's at my work and I have not been at all impressed
with their Linux support. Depending on what system you get, they mostly
boot but if you want things like temperature sensors or SMART or
anything build onto the motherboard your are likely to have problems. 
Last time I checked DELL only claimed to support Redhat and mostly with
binary only drivers which end up locking you into the kernels in these
versions.

Edward

1. http://www.users-side.co.jp/shopping/pc_tios2/tios_t50na.php