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I actually just bought the Rain stand for my rMBP a week ago, and have to say that I'm impressed with the industrial design. Sure, it's just a laptop stand, but
by illumin8 11y ago
I actually just bought the Rain stand for my rMBP a week ago, and have to say that I'm impressed with the industrial design. Sure, it's just a laptop stand, but it's solid aluminum and has solid design principles - it's a heavy piece of metal that looks and functions well enough it could have been designed by Apple and Jony Ive himself.
I'm fairly certain the AmazonBasics stand isn't the same quality, but that's not really the market they're going for. They're going for good enough and cheap - AmazonBasics cables are a good example of this - they're not high end, but they're affordable and when you just need an HDMI cable, they work fine.
Honestly, Amazon is in the perfect position to compete with their partners like this, and I don't see the harm. If anything the customer experience is even better because we now have reasonable low-priced options to buy that might not have been there before.
- capote 11y agoI also bought a different, brand-name stand for my rMBP. I'm one of the people who are willing to pay extra for a product because it looks better. I don't think Amazon is threatening higher-price/lower-quantity products that are truly outstanding (much better looking, much better quality). These make more money off of one sale, and have a smaller market. The more complex the product is, the easier it is for a company to set their version apart from the AmazonBasics one. I think they're only threatening those that are simply "easy enough" to copy without losing functionality and utility. The laptop stand is very close to the "easy enough" part of the spectrum. Things like USB hubs and ethernet cables, even closer.
- rkho 11y agoSame. I'm not swayed by price. It's the build quality and materials that matter most to me. While there might be consumers who are drawn to Amazon's laptop stand, I'm willing to assume that the majority of buyers for Amazon's product would not have purchased the pricier options to begin with.
- falcolas 11y agoI have the Amazon one, my colleague the Rain version. When your laptop is on it, you can't tell the difference between the two. Yes, it's steel instead of Aluminum, which means it weighs around 3 lbs instead of the Rain's 2 lbs (it's thick). Otherwise, it functions perfectly well as a laptop stand, which is all I really wanted out of it.
- chris11 11y agoI have an AmazonBasics bag for my surface. It was cheap and decent quality. I'm really happy with it. It's good enough for me and the price is right.