Would You Pay $5000 For A Laptop?

There’s no doubt that COVID has severely impacted on the supply chain for many goods. I think many of us anticipated that the COVID situation would cause some delays and stock shortages but I doubt too many would have predicted the sheer extent and longevity.

The hardest hit here in Australia have been new motor vehicles and white goods. It’s terrible to see the almost empty car yards and, where shoppers could once select any make or model of any white goods, such as a new refrigerator or dishwasher, and then check around half a dozen or so stores to get the best price, now if we can find any sort of equivalent in stock we are happy to grab it at any price.

The single, and rather strange, exception here has been the price of laptops which has dropped rather than increased when compared to pre-COVID times, and stocks are aplenty. I am always being asked by clients, family, and friends if I know of any good laptop deals so have gotten into the habit of keeping an eye out. This, finally, leads me to the reason for this article.

I am always coming across deals for laptops selling for $4000 and more but hadn’t really thought much about it. Then recently, I came across this deal for a $5000 laptop and it got me to thinking about who might pay that much for a laptop?

• 17.3″ FHD 360Hz, 100% sRGB, 6mm bezels, individually factory calibrated, 3ms Response Rate
• Intel i7-12800H processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz, with 24MB of Cache
• 16GB DDR5 4800MHz dual-channel memory, 1TB SSD
• NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 Ti (8GB GDDR6 VRAM)
• Windows 11 Home, 1-Year Warranty

I have little doubt that this is a highly advanced laptop with high-end specs that warrant the big asking price but, honestly, I can buy five very nice laptops for that same price. What concerns me most is, although the components included in this type of laptop are undoubtedly high-end, are they not subject to the same frailties and failure rates of less expensive laptops? The stingy one-year warranty certainly tends to suggest that is the case.

I guess paying that much for a laptop is very much relative to one’s financial situation but it does seem to be somewhat of an extravagance. Besides, if I were into gaming and wanting a high-end gaming machine, I doubt I’d choose a laptop for the job. Desktops are far more flexible/versatile and much easier to work on/with and I reckon I could get my hands on a pretty decent gaming desktop for around $5000, including a 27″ monitor.

I mean no offence or disrespect to anyone who happens to own one of these high-priced laptops – that certainly was never my intention. I’m merely trying to understand who would pay that much for a laptop and why.

Would you pay $5000 for a laptop, even if it’s a high-end gaming laptop?

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