7 ms·

$2,200 for a laptop? Post-purchase rationalization anyone?

by lubos 14y ago

whichdan 14y ago
I paid more than that for a late 2010 model and it was worth every penny.
pooriaazimi 14y ago
Three things have changed my career (as a programmer/CS student): MIT/Harvard/Stanford OpenCourseWare[1], HackerNews (the past 15 months) and my MacBook Pro. That MacBook Pro is the best things I've ever purchased. I owe a lot to that machine (and HN). [1]: I don't mean the new www.coursera.org thing. I mean http://ocw.mit.edu http://ocw.mit.edu, cs50.tv/cs75.tv and http://see.stanford.edu/see/courses.aspx http://see.stanford.edu/see/courses.aspx which were all available years before Coursera and I watched "all" of them and learnt "a lot".
- serge2k 14y ago
  I know what you mean, my Lenovo x201t was really the best purchase I ever made. It came when I was mostly done with the CS part of my degree and was focusing on my math major. The difference in my ability to take notes and actually organize and use them was absolutely massive.
- crowell 14y ago
  I'm glad you love your macbook, but would a similar-enough computer _really_ not do it for you? When I upgraded from a netbook as my main machine to my Toshiba Z830, it was amazing, but then again, that is comparing a $200 machine to a $700 machine. I can't really see that same $500 difference in price making something like the $1200 MBP so much better than what I've got, with marginal utility and all that going. I don't by any means think that getting a high end machine is a bad idea, but I do think that once you get something that is a high quality item, you definitely reach the "good enough for me" stage.
dmishe 14y ago
In Europe, it will be 2200 euros. And still a good buy. Not a cheap one, but a good one.
- Luc 14y ago
  It's more like 1900 euros before VAT, or 2375 usd.
aaronblohowiak 14y ago
I spent 4k for maxed out ram and a larger SSD. I'll spend more time interfacing with this machine than with anything else in my life over the next 3 years. I advocate spending a lot on your Computer, chair and bed, and spending little on your car.
- Xcelerate 14y ago
  Yep, same here. I put the most money into the things I spend the most time with. So far it's worked out pretty well.
  - Xcelerate 14y ago
    Explain please. I was providing reinforcement for his statement.
- BryanB55 14y ago
  Exactly how I rationalized spending $3k on the MBP retina. I commonly see people that think its crazy to spend a few grand on a computer but to me it's a device that supplies my income and where I spend the majority of my time. The part about the car however, I do not agree with. I'm an auto enthusiast and unfortunately I spend way too much on my car as well but it is something that I love to do and it provides me with a hobby to let me get away from all the time I spend on my $3,000 MBP.
  - sliverstorm 14y ago
    In regards to cars, yeah, that comment gave me pause. I mean, when I was a teenager I was a skinflint on cars, but once you've got some funds... your computer can't kill you. Your car can. This is not an advertisement for the latest car with fifty airbags. Rather, a suggestion to avoid being downright cheap with an automobile. Assuming risk is one of the costs of driving, and should be factored in to your purchasing decision.
  - slantyyz 14y ago
    Yeah, for me, the $3K is worth it. The only thing that gives me pause about the Retina MBP is the price and capacity of storage. For example, if you're a photographer who likes to keep your entire library on your internal drive, you'll have mixed feelings about the Retina MBP's storage. I'm only shooting 12MP RAW, and my Aperture library is already >200GB with diligent pruning. I'd hate to imagine someone using something like a D800 and its 36MP RAW files only to find out they need an external drive after a few months of using the Retina.
Void_ 14y ago
You can sell it year later while losing 10-15%. (If you take good care of it.)
baddox 14y ago
What's your point? That's in no way a bad or ridiculous price.
jfb 14y ago
No. You get what you pay for, and what you get here is a screen significantly better than any other display available. In addition to a very, very fast computer that weighs 4½ pounds.
encoderer 14y ago
As a software engineer my machine is one of my most important tools. Considering as much time I spend on it, $2200 is a rounding error.
- jsolson 14y ago
  > $2200 is a rounding error. When you consider that the other options aren't free, this becomes even more true. A heavier or thicker case, plastic body, shittier display, or even something as seemingly insignificant as a bigger power brick to save a few hundred bucks? No thanks.
  - sixtay 14y ago
    What would you say about a zenbook prime UX32 [11.6in 1080p] sporting a noob friendly Linux distro [Ubuntu/Mint]. Similar (possibly better) performance, aluminium body, lighter form factor, bleeding edge OS, access to most developer tools available on the OSX (bar textmate and xcode). Pricetag - $1300. The mind can justify whatever it wants...its called human nature
    - colmvp 14y ago
      That computer is comparable to the 11-inch Macbook Air, which is around $1300 when all is said and done, not to mention it doesn't come with the stickers and bloatware of the Zenbook Prime.
      - sixtay 14y ago
        Comparable? Considering the Macbook Air ships with a second gen dual-core i5-chip [Zenbook 3rd-gen i7], and an 1440x900 [Zenbook Full-HD (read 1920x1080)], It is more comparable to the lower end MBPs. Last I checked bloatware was really an issue on most linux distros [Archlinux leaves you with a terminal prompt]. I'd recommend Ubuntu for new users, but as a Mac user you'd feel right at home. When you then take into consideration that performance of Wine (the free, open source Windows emulator available on linux) when running native Windows applications (Including high-graphic-demand games), it's a developer's dream. Stickers...well there's precious little anyone can do about that.
jyap 14y ago
Here is how a good boss would rationalize it. Boss: Hi new Employee, what laptop would you like to use as your daily computer? Employee: A $700 Dell. Boss: Are you just saying that to save the company money? Because it's not about the money. I'm paying you $80k a year and I want you to be productive and happy. I want you to pick something you feel good about every time you use it. You will be using this laptop 40+ hours a week for the next 2 years. Don't forget, this is your job and career. Employee: Hmm. Well, I do prefer Mac to Windows. Is a $2200 15" MacBook Pro retina OK? Boss: You tell me. The purchase price is a tax write off. I really don't give a shit.
- mitjak 14y ago
  There's an inherent assumption here that $2200 gets you a significantly better machine. It's true, but you can enjoy a massive jump in quality for probably around $150-1600. I believe that's what lubos is alluding to.
  - insom 14y ago
    If you're being paid professional programmer rates you should get the best machine, not the one where price-performance hits some sweet spot. If the cost of a developer who wants a Dell is $80,750 and a developer who wants an rMBP is $82,200 (year 1), that developer needs to be 2% more productive over a year to justify it. Hard to measure these things for a lot of folks but I've definitely saved over 2% of my work time from switching from spinning disks to high-end SSD on unit tests alone. Never mind the reduced boot times, how fast 'brew install' is and the general responsiveness. If you're buying it yourself, be cheap, if you're paying someone's massive wage bill, get them the best thing you can.
wisty 14y ago
256Gb flash, quad-core i7, NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M. ASUS has some slightly better models for a similar price, without the retina display. If you are buying a premium laptol from any big manufacturer, it will be more expensive. Apple just doesn't offer a "value" line.

$2,200 for a laptop? Post-purchase rationalization anyone?

by lubos 14y ago

$2,200 for a laptop? Post-purchase rationalization anyone?

whichdan 14y ago

I paid more than that for a late 2010 model and it was worth every penny.

pooriaazimi 14y ago

Three things have changed my career (as a programmer/CS student): MIT/Harvard/Stanford OpenCourseWare[1], HackerNews (the past 15 months) and my MacBook Pro. That MacBook Pro is the best things I've ever purchased. I owe a lot to that machine (and HN). [1]: I don't mean the new www.coursera.org thing. I mean http://ocw.mit.edu http://ocw.mit.edu, cs50.tv/cs75.tv and http://see.stanford.edu/see/courses.aspx http://see.stanford.edu/see/courses.aspx which were all available years before Coursera and I watched "all" of them and learnt "a lot".

serge2k 14y ago
I know what you mean, my Lenovo x201t was really the best purchase I ever made. It came when I was mostly done with the CS part of my degree and was focusing on my math major. The difference in my ability to take notes and actually organize and use them was absolutely massive.
crowell 14y ago
I'm glad you love your macbook, but would a similar-enough computer _really_ not do it for you? When I upgraded from a netbook as my main machine to my Toshiba Z830, it was amazing, but then again, that is comparing a $200 machine to a $700 machine. I can't really see that same $500 difference in price making something like the $1200 MBP so much better than what I've got, with marginal utility and all that going. I don't by any means think that getting a high end machine is a bad idea, but I do think that once you get something that is a high quality item, you definitely reach the "good enough for me" stage.

dmishe 14y ago

In Europe, it will be 2200 euros. And still a good buy. Not a cheap one, but a good one.

Luc 14y ago
It's more like 1900 euros before VAT, or 2375 usd.

aaronblohowiak 14y ago

I spent 4k for maxed out ram and a larger SSD. I'll spend more time interfacing with this machine than with anything else in my life over the next 3 years. I advocate spending a lot on your Computer, chair and bed, and spending little on your car.

Xcelerate 14y ago
Yep, same here. I put the most money into the things I spend the most time with. So far it's worked out pretty well.
- Xcelerate 14y ago
  Explain please. I was providing reinforcement for his statement.
BryanB55 14y ago
Exactly how I rationalized spending $3k on the MBP retina. I commonly see people that think its crazy to spend a few grand on a computer but to me it's a device that supplies my income and where I spend the majority of my time. The part about the car however, I do not agree with. I'm an auto enthusiast and unfortunately I spend way too much on my car as well but it is something that I love to do and it provides me with a hobby to let me get away from all the time I spend on my $3,000 MBP.
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  In regards to cars, yeah, that comment gave me pause. I mean, when I was a teenager I was a skinflint on cars, but once you've got some funds... your computer can't kill you. Your car can. This is not an advertisement for the latest car with fifty airbags. Rather, a suggestion to avoid being downright cheap with an automobile. Assuming risk is one of the costs of driving, and should be factored in to your purchasing decision.
- slantyyz 14y ago
  Yeah, for me, the $3K is worth it. The only thing that gives me pause about the Retina MBP is the price and capacity of storage. For example, if you're a photographer who likes to keep your entire library on your internal drive, you'll have mixed feelings about the Retina MBP's storage. I'm only shooting 12MP RAW, and my Aperture library is already >200GB with diligent pruning. I'd hate to imagine someone using something like a D800 and its 36MP RAW files only to find out they need an external drive after a few months of using the Retina.

Void_ 14y ago

You can sell it year later while losing 10-15%. (If you take good care of it.)

baddox 14y ago

What's your point? That's in no way a bad or ridiculous price.

jfb 14y ago

No. You get what you pay for, and what you get here is a screen significantly better than any other display available. In addition to a very, very fast computer that weighs 4½ pounds.

encoderer 14y ago

As a software engineer my machine is one of my most important tools. Considering as much time I spend on it, $2200 is a rounding error.

jsolson 14y ago
> $2200 is a rounding error. When you consider that the other options aren't free, this becomes even more true. A heavier or thicker case, plastic body, shittier display, or even something as seemingly insignificant as a bigger power brick to save a few hundred bucks? No thanks.
- sixtay 14y ago
  What would you say about a zenbook prime UX32 [11.6in 1080p] sporting a noob friendly Linux distro [Ubuntu/Mint]. Similar (possibly better) performance, aluminium body, lighter form factor, bleeding edge OS, access to most developer tools available on the OSX (bar textmate and xcode). Pricetag - $1300. The mind can justify whatever it wants...its called human nature
  - colmvp 14y ago
    That computer is comparable to the 11-inch Macbook Air, which is around $1300 when all is said and done, not to mention it doesn't come with the stickers and bloatware of the Zenbook Prime.
    - sixtay 14y ago
      Comparable? Considering the Macbook Air ships with a second gen dual-core i5-chip [Zenbook 3rd-gen i7], and an 1440x900 [Zenbook Full-HD (read 1920x1080)], It is more comparable to the lower end MBPs. Last I checked bloatware was really an issue on most linux distros [Archlinux leaves you with a terminal prompt]. I'd recommend Ubuntu for new users, but as a Mac user you'd feel right at home. When you then take into consideration that performance of Wine (the free, open source Windows emulator available on linux) when running native Windows applications (Including high-graphic-demand games), it's a developer's dream. Stickers...well there's precious little anyone can do about that.

jyap 14y ago

Here is how a good boss would rationalize it. Boss: Hi new Employee, what laptop would you like to use as your daily computer? Employee: A $700 Dell. Boss: Are you just saying that to save the company money? Because it's not about the money. I'm paying you $80k a year and I want you to be productive and happy. I want you to pick something you feel good about every time you use it. You will be using this laptop 40+ hours a week for the next 2 years. Don't forget, this is your job and career. Employee: Hmm. Well, I do prefer Mac to Windows. Is a $2200 15" MacBook Pro retina OK? Boss: You tell me. The purchase price is a tax write off. I really don't give a shit.

mitjak 14y ago
There's an inherent assumption here that $2200 gets you a significantly better machine. It's true, but you can enjoy a massive jump in quality for probably around $150-1600. I believe that's what lubos is alluding to.
- insom 14y ago
  If you're being paid professional programmer rates you should get the best machine, not the one where price-performance hits some sweet spot. If the cost of a developer who wants a Dell is $80,750 and a developer who wants an rMBP is $82,200 (year 1), that developer needs to be 2% more productive over a year to justify it. Hard to measure these things for a lot of folks but I've definitely saved over 2% of my work time from switching from spinning disks to high-end SSD on unit tests alone. Never mind the reduced boot times, how fast 'brew install' is and the general responsiveness. If you're buying it yourself, be cheap, if you're paying someone's massive wage bill, get them the best thing you can.

wisty 14y ago

256Gb flash, quad-core i7, NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M. ASUS has some slightly better models for a similar price, without the retina display. If you are buying a premium laptol from any big manufacturer, it will be more expensive. Apple just doesn't offer a "value" line.