Trying to buy a laptop without windows installed - Toshiba

Maybe some good news at last, the Toshiba website had a support page entitled “Linux Support”, (http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/generic/np-linux-support), but unfortunately, I cannot see on the laptop selector page anywhere to select Linux as the preferred OS.

20/08/2012
Dear Sirs, I am delighted to note that you have a section on your support page for Linux users (Linux - Information for Linux users)

I have been a Linux users for many years and am considering a replacement laptop.

However, your "Help me choose a Laptop" page in the Operating system selector, Linux is not listed and I cannot find any models with Linux 
available as an installed option. As I will not be using windows at all on my new laptop, I am unwilling to buy a laptop with windows 
pre-installed and end up with a licence which I do not want and will have difficulty claiming the cost back for. 
Please can you point me in the right direction to compare some models and costs for Linux based machines.

Regards,
Andrew.

Let's see what comes back.

Wow! A really quick reply…. But not so helpful.

Toshiba Reference Number:         71881451

Thank you for your recent enquiry.

All of our units will come with Windows 7 pre-installed. We do have a support
page listed for Linux and Ubuntu users however this OS you would have to
customise onto the unit yourself, we are unable to customer a unit without
Windows 7.  If you would like further information on the support for Linux OS
then please contact the number below selecting option 1.  

If you require any further assistance please contact us on 0844 847 8944 (UK),
Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.

Regards,

Noemie Ransom
Toshiba

Here is my reply, but no response as yet:-

Hi Noemie, 
Thanks for you speedy reply.


+----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Toshiba Reference Number:         71881451 

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Thank you for your recent enquiry. All of our units will come with Windows 7 pre-installed. 
    We do have a support page listed for Linux and Ubuntu users however this OS you would have to 
    customise onto the unit yourself, we are unable to customer a unit without  
    Windows 7.  If you would like further information on the support for Linux
    OS then please contact the number below selecting option 1.  


If I understand this correctly, if I bought a laptop, it would come with a
copy of windows7 pre installed. 

As I do not agree with Microsoft's licence for w7 (or any windows as it
happens) I will reject the licence agreement 
and wipe the supplied OS without using it.
At this point I will have paid for a licence I do not wish to have and
have not used. 

Please can you confirm that you can reimburse me for the cost of this
unused and unwanted software?

Also I am at a loss why you are not able to supply a laptop with a blank
disk ready to be customised by a user. 
I appreciate that there are many options for which flavour of Linux users
might wish to use so providing a pre install 
of Linux is probably no feasible, but it would remove the hassle of having
to reclaim for unwanted software.


Also, please can you clarify what "Toshiba recommends Windows7" means, in
order to have a choice, surely there must be a range of choices to
recommend from? If you can only supply Windows7, there would not appear to
be a choice to recommend from.


Regards,
Andrew.

Maybe I should phone them as suggested.