Do people actually buy ultra-expensive laptops?

[7412]

Macbook 16" full specs, Razer Blade 17 full specs, Alienware monstrosities...

I've always wondered how these devices could possibly be profitable for manufacturers. What kind of people actually buys $5000 laptops such as these?

[The Torrent]

Macbooks usually u got the cash want a premium product and want to make a statement such as at a business meeting. Many people buy razer blades they are the ultimate compact gaming stations imo. I had an alienware 17r5 i had to move it around often and needed the power and didn't have space for a desktop and a laptop (i have since sold it and massively upgraded though).

 

yes people buy these things

[Lord Vile]

18 minutes ago, 7412 said:

Macbook 16" full specs, Razer Blade 17 full specs, Alienware monstrosities...

I've always wondered how these devices could possibly be profitable for manufacturers. What kind of people actually buys $5000 laptops such as these?

I have a MBP 16" base and frankly unless you're using it to render video constantly etc there's no need to step up to the i9 and 5500M. Plus the fully specced out one has like an 8TB SSD in it. Again great for stuff like video editing because you don't have to work of external drives but for most people 512GB is fine. 

 

Fully specced gaming laptops are just retarded. Sure I want no battery life at all and 5 power bricks because the laptop draws that much power the battery can't support it going flat out so it needs 300W from the wall prop it up. 

[Charlie Groves]

Not super expensive but I bought the last gen XPS 13 as I'm going into 6th form next year. 

 

I spent about £1.2k and did so for the build quality and the on site assistance that dell offer with their premium products

 

I was not disappointing and the difference between that and my 15.6 inch inspiron laptop is massive.

 

tldr: better build quality for a longer lifespan

[5x5]

It highly depends on the model really.

 

Some, such as the larger ROG ones - you get better quality, thermals and performance

 

Others such as the Razer Blade or MBP - you get shafted with extremely crap internal designs which sell based on looks and paid promotion rather than merit (Razer and Apple are the most guilty of this, their machines would make most engineers cry at the horrid PCB design. Overloaded power delivery, broken cables, broken connectors and etc)

[phoon]

I think its for people with money who want their desktop and laptop in one device and don't mind the bulk. My PHD engineering teacher has a THICC alienware gaming laptop and he's in his 40s lol. I don't like them personally cuz they're bulky and they're not slick. I like a nice setup at home for gaming and productivity and a slick high performing laptop like a 2020 XPS 13 when I'm on the go. Everything needs to be balanced.

 

[7412]

56 minutes ago, The Torrent said:

Many people buy razer blades they are the ultimate compact gaming stations imo

I mean, okay for the 13" and 17" models. I own one myself.

But the 17"? Compact, portable? Not really. The battery life is trash, so you have to go out with a massive 17" beast + its heavy power brick. 

 

I really don't understand what kind of people has the money for and sees a purpose in purchasing the 17", maxed out Blade 17 and any similar device from other brands.

[The Torrent]

24 minutes ago, 7412 said:

I mean, okay for the 13" and 17" models. I own one myself.

But the 17"? Compact, portable? Not really. The battery life is trash, so you have to go out with a massive 17" beast + its heavy power brick. 

 

I really don't understand what kind of people has the money for and sees a purpose in purchasing the 17", maxed out Blade 17 and any similar device from other brands.

when u have cash but not enough space for a gaming desktop and sometimes need to move the laptop into a different room.

 

source: me 2 years ago with 17inch alienware r5

[7412]

How can you be rich enough to afford the luxury of a $5000 yet at the same time poor enough to live in too confined a space that you don't have the room for a desktop?

 

Honestly, if I had that kind of money, I'd just buy a similarly spec'd desktop for half the price and spend the other half (or less) in a smaller, more compact laptop with better battery life and portability. 

[Roswell]

21 minutes ago, 7412 said:

How can you be rich enough to afford the luxury of a $5000 yet at the same time poor enough to live in too confined a space that you don't have the room for a desktop?

 

Honestly, if I had that kind of money, I'd just buy a similarly spec'd desktop for half the price and spend the other half (or less) in a smaller, more compact laptop with better battery life and portability. 

People buy them, thus, they exist. Things that don't make sense for you make sense for others, etc.

 

As far as your question about rich people in small spaces, take a look at apartment prices in places like NYC, LA, SF and so on.

[Flamey]

You'll also have to keep in mind that there are organizations that may buy them in bulks.

I am currently working as an Software Developer intern at one of the companies in FANG, and they are offering top of the line MBP as an option to work on (I have chosen it as well), as I think that they want their staff to have the best possible workstation as an option.

 

So I think these kind of companies can result in really big sales for them as well.

[LitusSaxonicum]

I worked in a University where the Dean of Faculty bought for himself a GBP6000 laptop. He couldn't even produce a spreadsheet that worked, and had a secretary to do his typing. 

[George Vella]

Honestly, I don't know why. I have a cheap Pavillion laptop and use my desktop for litereally everything else

 

[Lord Vile]

2 hours ago, 5x5 said:

It highly depends on the model really.

 

Some, such as the larger ROG ones - you get better quality, thermals and performance

 

Others such as the Razer Blade or MBP - you get shafted with extremely crap internal designs which sell based on looks and paid promotion rather than merit (Razer and Apple are the most guilty of this, their machines would make most engineers cry at the horrid PCB design. Overloaded power delivery, broken cables, broken connectors and etc)

You've never owned a MacBook have you. 

[GreatnessRD]

It's a market for everyone out here. My homegirl is contemplating buying one of those MacBooks that's $2300. Thought would never cross my mind. Especially for no damn Macbook, lol.

[Blademaster91]

57 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

You've never owned a MacBook have you. 

You've never heard of Loius Rossmann have you.

 

Macbooks are more of a look at me I have money statement laptop, with numerous issues if you actually use it for work. The display flex cables fail and Apple charges you for a whole motherboard replacement, T2 chips fail bricking the whole machine, glued in batteries, motherboards corrode from normal room humidity and Apple likes to call it water damage.

[Teddy07]

sure

The same people also probably buy fully upgraded phones. So many companies do not offer high end specs for the lulz

[RejZoR]

Laptops for "gaming" are such waste with basically zero upgradability even if they offer one. And once they are past that, they are just dead weight. Expensive PC's I understand a bit as you can upgrade them component by component and even when you swap whole platform with CPU, you can still keep the graphic card.

 

I almost always cringe a bit when Linus so freely talks about "affordable" 1200 USD laptops. That's not affordable, that's expensive AF. For me 500-600€ is reasonable. 800€ for higher specs. Certainly not for gaming, still.

[5x5]

34 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

You've never owned a MacBook have you. 

You've never studied advanced electronics or physics, have you?

[GDRRiley]

56 minutes ago, Lord Vile said:

You've never owned a MacBook have you. 

have you seen the failure rate of macs from stupid design

lets put data and a high voltage backlit power right next to each other. Can't buy a charge controller. T2 chips just randomly fail and then you lose all data.

 

Typically you'll see MBP with near top end specs for mobile video editor

 

[kelvinhall05]

33 minutes ago, 5x5 said:

You've never studied advanced electronics or physics, have you?

 

25 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

have you seen the failure rate of macs from stupid design

lets put data and a high voltage backlit power right next to each other. Can't buy a charge controller. T2 chips just randomly fail and then you lose all data.

 

Typically you'll see MBP with near top end specs for mobile video editor

 

 

55 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

You've never heard of Loius Rossmann have you.

 

Macbooks are more of a look at me I have money statement laptop, with numerous issues if you actually use it for work. The display flex cables fail and Apple charges you for a whole motherboard replacement, T2 chips fail bricking the whole machine, glued in batteries, motherboards corrode from normal room humidity and Apple likes to call it water damage.

But it looks pretty, how can it possibly be overpriced and badly designed????////????/

[PlayStation 2]

barely a page in and this thread makes me wanna firebomb a building

 

I guess to answer your question, not really? Most laptops I tend to see, even expensive ones, typically are lower end to mid-range models of a laptop, rather than loaded out, kinda like a mediocre Mercedes E-class.

[TempestCatto]

4 hours ago, Lord Vile said:

Fully specced gaming laptops are just retarded. Sure I want no battery life at all and 5 power bricks because the laptop draws that much power the battery can't support it going flat out so it needs 300W from the wall prop it up. 

Well I don't personally think anyone buying a roided out gaming laptop expects to use it away from the wall. The real idea behind it, as has been stated, is when you move around a lot and also need the power. Plus saving, or not even having, space - like in a university dorm room. Plus, you can usually switch to integrated graphics, undervolt and underclock, and sometimes even disable cores to save enough power to actually use it away from the wall - provided you can still work with most of the horses asleep in their stalls. Either way, the reason manufactures and oems still make and market them, is because they sell.

 

Also, a friend of mine has what used to be a top of the line Asus gaming laptop (a thicc boi). It has lasted her years because the software she uses to make signs and stencils doesn't need a lot of horses, and is still plenty powerful enough to handle her workload. She doesn't have the space for a desktop in her workshop, so that's why she went with the laptop (also got a steal on it via Ebay).

 

So they are very useful and there's just as big of a market for them, as there is for thin and light ultrabooks. One could even make the argument, why pay just as much for a quad core cpu, no dedicated gpu, and horrid I/O? Because someone doesn't need all that power, and just needs a basic internet and word processing portable machine that can last as long as a cross-country flight.

[Lord Vile]

1 hour ago, 5x5 said:

You've never studied advanced electronics or physics, have you?

Actually yes along with quantum and molecular modelling. Have you? 

[Lord Vile]

45 minutes ago, TempestCatto said:

Well I don't personally think anyone buying a roided out gaming laptop expects to use it away from the wall. The real idea behind it, as has been stated, is when you move around a lot and also need the power. Plus saving, or not even having, space - like in a university dorm room. Plus, you can usually switch to integrated graphics, undervolt and underclock, and sometimes even disable cores to save enough power to actually use it away from the wall - provided you can still work with most of the horses asleep in their stalls. Either way, the reason manufactures and oems still make and market them, is because they sell.

 

Also, a friend of mine has what used to be a top of the line Asus gaming laptop (a thicc boi). It has lasted her years because the software she uses to make signs and stencils doesn't need a lot of horses, and is still plenty powerful enough to handle her workload. She doesn't have the space for a desktop in her workshop, so that's why she went with the laptop (also got a steal on it via Ebay).

 

So they are very useful and there's just as big of a market for them, as there is for thin and light ultrabooks. One could even make the argument, why pay just as much for a quad core cpu, no dedicated gpu, and horrid I/O? Because someone doesn't need all that power, and just needs a basic internet and word processing portable machine that can last as long as a cross-country flight.

Kinda ruins the point of a laptop though if you can't use it, well, as a laptop. 

 

But if you don't need the horses you can just buy a regular laptop and you can get very capable NUCs now.

 

Generally think the market is made up of people who want to game on them not realising they're not great for that. I know a few people with 15 and 17" gaming laptops and they never use them and on the rare occasion they do it's plugged into a wall at their desk. They could have literally just bought a desktop for less and gotten better performance. Because to be frank when you have the big gaming laptops you essentially need to take a hold all's worth stuff to game with it. The laptop itself isn't light then you have to take the power brick/s then there's a mouse + controller and headset and by the time you've got all that a decent sized backpack is full and you have no space left for anything else.