Thursday, November 28, 2013: Linux is free 365 days a year, but Linux-based devices are not quite so. With Black Friday impending, it is a good opportunity for open source lovers to pick up some of the best devices without having to shell out a lot of their hard earned cash. From laptops, to tablets and Chromebooks, there’s a lot of stuff put up for grabs and here are your options.
Technology lovers often look forward to this day in order to buy that long yearned gadget of their choice. And why would they not? System76, the well known Ubuntu laptop and desktop manufacturer, is offering its 43.9-cm (17.3-inch) Bonobo Extreme laptop for a price of $1,549. For the laptop you’re getting, this seems like a more than fair price to pay. The laptop comes with either of the nVidia GTX 765M or the nVidia GeForce GTX 780M graphics processing units along with 4GB of DDR5 RAM. In addition, it has the Intel Core i7-4700MQ CPU and can be taken from between 8GB and 32GB of RAM. The TeraByte SATA II hard drive is another good addition. It runs the Ubuntu 13.10 operating system.
It is quite a price that they are offering, but if you still think the amount is too much, there are cheaper options too. System76 also has the Darter UltraThin laptop for $899. This is a 35.8-cm (14.1-inch) device, which is powered by an Intel i5-4200U CPU and has Intel HD Graphics 4400. Its 4 GB of RAM is accompanied by a 500 GB SATA II hard drive.
From cheaper prices to free shipping. Linux desktop retailer ZaReason will deliver the Alto 433 to you with no shipping cost. The device is priced at $699 and you can choose from Debian, Fedora, Mint and Ubuntu operating systems. This is not the only one though, there is also the Alto 4335. With its Intel i3-3220M processor and 35.5-cm (14-inch) display, this laptop could be a very good buy. It has 4GB of RAM and a 500 GB hard drive.
Laptops are fast being replaced by tablets though, so out with the old and in with the new. Many retailers are offering Google’s Nexus 7 (2013) tablet at cheaper Black Friday prices. Consider Walmart for example, which is offering the 32 GB variant of the device for $229.99. The same storage variant for the 2012 model is available for $189 at Walmart.
Don’t want to go Google? Fine, let’s talk Amazon then. Staples has the 16GB Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 17.7-cm (7-inch) available at its usual market price of $229, but you will also get a $25 Staples Gift Card along with it. Besy Buy also has the older Kindle Fire HD for $99.99.
Still doesn’t work for you? We have more. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 WiFi variant can be purchased for a discounted price of $100 from stores like Staples, Costco and Walmart.
Chromebook? Anyone? These laptops have been rising up the ladder recently and while they are already quite cheap, why miss out on Black Friday right? The best offer is at Staples, which is offering the HP Chromebook 14 at almost half its usual price, at $179.99. A penny saved is a penny earned.
