[pcx66]

Several retail outlets in India sell Dell laptops pre-installed with Ubuntu. It is considered equivalent to DOS, in that, choosing an Ubuntu laptop will save you a few thousand rupees compared to the same laptop with Windows (also helps that most such configurations also omit the almost-ubiquitous and mostly un-neccessary NVIDIA graphic cards). Many customers prefer this because they have easy access to pirated Windows copies. Though due to this, several of them get introduced to Ubuntu, and many continue using it. It especially helps having someone you know who is a Linux user and can help with any gotchas. I've helped several friends and cousins who got Ubuntu with their laptops.

For me though, having a pre-installed Ubuntu is a great way to ensure all the parts of the laptop are working properly.

[keithpeter]

Sounds a good idea. Is it 12.04 they come with?

[pcx66]

Yes. At the least,all the ones I've seen come with 12.04.

[keithpeter]

Excellent choice again, application updates until 2015 and security updates until 2017, so possibly the life of the laptop.

[ajasmin]

Do these cheap Ubuntu laptops have a Windows key on the keyboard?

[pcx66]

Yes, they do. These laptops are not different from their Windows counter-parts. They were manufactured/assembled with Windows as the target OS, but in a country like India, where financial feasibility is a major factor, providing options with free OS (thus reducing the Windows tax) helps. It was Free DOS for several years, now it's Ubuntu. I think this is one such example, where GNU/Linux being 'free as in free beer', really matters.

[enupten]

If only Microsoft understood how undervalued the Rupee is, and made licensed versions of Windows cheaper. The starter edition is just a disgrace.