Hi, I am looking to purchase a laptop and would ideally like to avoid paying the 'windows tax'. Does anyone have any specific recommendations? I am from the UK, and would like to spend around to £300-400 mark. Is Dell too obvious? Are there better options? Thanks.

The "Windows tax" seems to be about $50-75 US, so I doubt that this should be your highest priority. (If you are considering the "netbooks" in the range of $300-$400 US, then it is certainly a factor).

Many vendors now offer Linux laptops but you may not see any significant savings over the Windows counterparts.

Some vendors will sell a computer with no OS (or a "placeholder" like freeDOS). Here's the applicable page for my company-supplied laptop:
http://h71016.www7.hp.com/ctoBases.asp?oi=E9CED&BEID=19701&SBLID=&ProductLineId=539&FamilyId=2622&LowBaseId=27010&LowPrice=$1, 298.00&familyviewgroup=968&viewtype=Matrix&jumpid=re_R2515_store/smProdCat/PSG/notebooks/HP_8710w_notebook_CFG9
In this case the "Windows Tax" is $76 before sales tax. (Yes, the Windows Tax is taxable.....)

Link did not work---trying again:

http://h71016.www7.hp.com/ctoBases.asp?oi=E9CED&BEID=19701&SBLID=&ProductLineId=539&FamilyId=2622&LowBaseId=27010&LowPrice=$1, 298.00&familyviewgroup=968&viewtype=Matrix&jumpid=re_R2515_store/smProdCat/PSG/notebooks/HP_8710w_notebook_CFG9

Hmmm----why doesn't this link get displayed as a LINK??? I can cut and paste back to the browser and it works.

http://h71016.www7.hp.com/ctoBases.a..._notebook_CFG9

It all depends on the hardware w/ laptops. Nvidia graphics, Atheros or Intel wireless, and usually you're pretty safe.

IGF

You're right pixellany, now that I've had a look, the 'windows tax' does seem pretty negligible.

Thanks for the info guys, appreciated.

You can get ACER aspire (AMD 64 dual core Turion) with freedos. Atheros wifi etc

Last time I bought a laptop (this vaio) I chose it because it was deeply discounted (so "old stock"
= if it has any strange hardware inside it, linux might already have caught up), it had intel wireless (supported)
and NVIDIA graphics.
No problems whatsoever, and I am very happy with it.

Some places might let you try a "Live CD" (My choice: knoppix). Boot it, see if essential hardware is supported.