Richard Cownie (tich@pobox.com) on 9/18/09 wrote:
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>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.

But you do not get the same components between a $2000 (and weren't we talking $1500?) machine and a $600.00 machine. Built in 802.11n? Range of ports? Dedicated GPU? Bluetooth?

>>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A laptop is obsolete after about 2-3 years.

Laptops are not obsolete in 2-3 years unless you really use all of the processing power of a computer. And lets be frank, the number of people who do is dwindling rapidly. These machine have to last longer now that they can run current software so well. Replace the battery and the hard drive and I expect them to work.

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.

For a personal machine that is fine, but when I was the support guy we got our capital grants in three year cycles. So if the computer didn't last that long it was a major headache. Also I have never had my personal laptop break or require any service except for when I exchanged the hard drive for a larger one and the battery at 3 years.

>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.
>

I would also add in another region or preferably another continent;).

As long as you can get it to that nice RAID between leaving for the trip and the hard drive failing. Also the rotating hard drive in the laptop is on its last legs. I don't think my next laptop will have one. And then there are no moving components and even less excuse for these thing to fail. They should be good for 6 or more years with only a battery change at three.