Alienware in the US sells gaming PCs with Ubuntu

Alienware is promoting the Ubuntu products on its front page

Dell has doubled up on its range of PCs which run Ubuntu, following up its Ubuntu Ultrabook release with a Ubuntu-running desktop PC aimed at gaming – Dell subsidiary Alienware, which specialises in gaming hardware, is now selling its X51 series desktop PC in the US with Ubuntu 12.04 pre-installed.

The X51 with Linux can be ordered in several slightly different variants and costs between $600 and $1,050. The budget version costs around $100 less than a comparable X51 with Windows, but the most expensive X51 Ubuntu model costs the same when shipped with Windows. However, these prices include discounts that Dell is currently offering for the budget variant of the X51 with Ubuntu and for the Windows X51 that retails for $1,050. The Windows version does include a 2TB hard disk instead of the 1TB disk in the Ubuntu model, though. Customers who want a comparably configured Ubuntu model will have to pay $50 extra for the bigger drive, which then eliminates the price difference. The most expensive X51 variant with Windows includes an SSD and 16 instead of 8GB of RAM and is not available with Ubuntu. All systems use Intel Core i processors and include an NVIDIA series 600 GeForce graphics card.

Alienware is offering the X51 with Ubuntu in four main configurations

Dell employee Mark Obee has provided some background on the X51 with Ubuntu in a blog posting. Obee describes how simple it was to install Steam, which, he says, can now be used to install classics such as Team Fortress 2 or Serious Sam. Alienware is currently promoting the system on its front page. The Ultrabook with Ubuntu that Dell has been offering in Europe for a few weeks is somewhat harder to find; on the Dell UK web site, it is not included in the store section for home users and can only be found in the area for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

See also:

• Dell Sputnik now being sold in Europe, a report from The H.

Note: The article was amended to reflect the different hardware specifications of the Ubuntu and Windows models of the X51.

(fab)