laptop Are Laptop Companies Ripping us off?

Nameless J · February 18, 2020

So I've been looking for a laptop around 1 thousand USD, that I can everyday drive, but game when I want to. And when I was looking through all the usual suspects (i.e. Razer, Asus, Acer) I came to Maingear. They have a new laptop called the "Element." When I was looking at it (https://maingear.com/product/custom-maingear-element/) I thought that it looked like a very solid option, but it was far to expensive. I looked at many other laptops but the "Element" was always in the back of my mind. I watched LTT's video on it and I thought that i might end up saving up and buying it. Then a video from Dave Lee about the Eluktronics "Mag-15" (https://www.eluktronics.com/MAG-15) This laptop is 700 USD less than the "Element" but...

There is not but! They are literally the SAME laptop! I looked into it a little bit more, and found a video on JayzTwoCents and many others on the same "Mag-15" laptop. This laptop is definitely real! Here are pictures of the "Element" and the "Mag-15"

No doubt the laptop itself is great, but would you rather spend $700 for a Maingear symbol?

Touch My Hamm · February 18, 2020

Some companies buy a standardized laptop from another OEM company then they can add features to it. this allows them to cut the cost of designing the chassis and internals. Alot of companies do this and is nothing new. They might order the chassis from the same OEM. This is done with multiple products from many different things. phone cases are a big thing where 1 look could be owned by X company but a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h all order 1000's of them and sell it under their name. Sometimes they order them in different finishes and such. Its not ripping you off per say (depends on what you mean by ripping someone off). Companies have different costs that they need to meet. HP will be able to lower the cost of one of their lower end laptops sicne they make alot more and sell more, where as X private company might only make 100 of them and they would have to order parts to create it. This drives the price up. There are videos from LTT that explain this thought I dont have any ATM. Conclusion what your seeing is normal as many smaller companies order bulk orders from Chinese OEM manufacturing.