<div dir="auto">Msi will also void the warranty if you install Linux. My question is how would they know, as long as windows was back on the box when you send it in.<div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I would order with the smallest drive option and buy the drive I want, pull the system drive as a backup, and install Linux on the new drive... Swap drive back as needed</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">The same question is what if you have to reinstall Windows??? Particularly if it was not the "factory" image. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Sep 5, 2017 10:21 AM, "Carruth, Rusty" <<a href="mailto:Rusty.Carruth@smartm.com">Rusty.Carruth@smartm.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">So, this weekend I finally got pushed over the edge, and started looking for a high-end laptop for linux.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">(Minimum requirements: 17”, 16G RAM, 1TB rotator, 128G SSD (prefer 2TB/512G, but am settling for 2TB/128G), price to be below $2000)<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">I ended up getting an open box Alienware from Best Buy (which usually doesn’t have the best buy, in my experience)…<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Anyway, the whole reason for this email/post is to whine about warranty issues!<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">When I was at the BB ‘way out east’ (202/Williams Field area) they told me that installing Linux would void my warranty!!!!!!<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Really? Can anyone say anti-trust????<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Long story short – talked to one of the Geek Squad guys who started doing research and found ONE manufacturer who would void the SOFTWARE warranty if you installed
a different OS, but not the hardware.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">I then started a chat with Dell, and was initially told that all warranties would be voided if I installed Linux.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">When I pushed back, they checked with tech support (instead of sales, who I was talking to), who said that as long as the initially-licensed software (windows)
was still on the laptop, and I talked to tech support before installing (even though I was ALSO told they’d never say ‘no’), then my hardware warranty would be fine.
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">(I should mention that Dell was put on my ‘do not buy ever ever ever’ list for a few minutes during that ‘chat’ session, and obviously removed once it was clarified).<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">So, what I should probably do is to buy a new 2TB rotator to replace the 1TB windows drive, copy off an image of the SSD to at least 2 backup devices, and then
install Linux (only) on the 2TB and SSD. If I ever have a warranty issue, I can put the SSD image back on, re-install the 1TB rotating Windows disk, and get my warranty service done.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">However, I feel like someone in the legal department needs to wake up and smell the Anti-Trust junk.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">(By the way – does anyone remember the ‘windows refund day’ many years back? System vendors refused to honor the refund clause stated in the EULA (or whatever
it was), claiming that Microsoft had to honor it, and Micro$oft claimed that it was the responsibility of the system vendors (which, indeed, it was). But as far as I know, NOBODY got their refund…. Again, where’s the lawyers????)<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1f497d">Oh, well. Duck and cover, I guess.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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