Richard Stacpoole (rstacpoole@iinet.net.au) on 9/17/09 wrote:
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>You don't see a massive difference in feel and sound between when you pick up a
>Macbook Pro and a plastic laptop? Pick up a laptop from the corner and hear the
>squeaks and strains. The Macbook Pro feels rigid in the same situation.

Sure, a rigid metal case is nicer than a plastic case.
But to me - and I think to many others - that doesn't
justify paying $2000 rather than $600 or so. I think
the marketing is much like the difference between
economy class and business class on airplanes: the price
for business class is 3x higher (or more), and what that
gets you is more legroom, a nicer seat, and better
service. But it's no safer and no quicker than flying
in economy. So mostly the people choosing business
class are doing because someone else is paying.

The same is pretty much true of cars. There are plenty
of safe practical reliable cars in the $12-16k range,
like my Mazda Protege. Or you can pay a lot more for a
BMW or a Lexus. And you get comfort and service, but
really not much more for all that extra money.

>The difference between a $1500 and $600 PC is also reflected in the level of service.
>I know from experience that Dell and HP are far better to deal with on their high
>end lines. Escalations and replacements are offered sooner. Apple also seems to
>come out on top of consumer service surveys. Buying just on price alone is only
>transferring money from the purchase phase of the life of the machine to the maintenance phase.

Yes, but the figures don't add up as far as I can see.
A laptop is obsolete after about 2-3 years. IMO it
makes more sense to buy a $600 machine every 2 years (and
sooner if it breaks) rather than spend $2000 on a
not-much-more reliable machine and pay for service
and have it repaired.

But then, I also don't believe in keeping any valuable
data anywhere other than a RAID'ed server in an
air-conditioned machine room. So I'm not bothered if
my laptop disk gets trashed.