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February 16, 2004

Laptop Pricing

My current laptop (Pismo) is now four years old (almost exactly). It has been a great machine but it is starting to get a little long in the tooth for some things that I want to do. I have been toying with the possibility of upgrading to a new PowerBook - and having tried my wife's 17 inch iMac, I would really like the 17 inch powerbook. That big screen is invaluable when you have as many windows open as I do (during software build / test / edit cycles). Anyway, let's check the current prices. If I look at the Apple Store (USA), I note that the base model is $US 2,999 ($AU 3,792) and when I take the memory up to 1Gb (single slot) and change the disk for a faster model, the price is $US 3,524 ($AU 4,456). Hmmm. What about the local prices. I know that GST has to be considered, this is nominally 10% of the sales price (but because of offsets should not be 10% of the price) and so we will add 10% to be safe. That gives us approximately $4,170 (base) and $4,900 (preferred configuration).

These are listed at the Apple Store (Australia) for $AU 5,499 ($US 4,348) and $AU 6,412 ($US 5,070). That is 32% extra (base) and 31% extra (preferred configuration) on top of the GST. In practice that means an extra markup in the Australian market of about 45%.

It means that I could fly to the US, purchase my laptop, save almost $AU 2,000 - enough for the airfare. If I were in the US, I could also use my hardware discount (as an Apple developer) to get an even better price. The hardware discount here (in Australia) is almost useless because I cannot purchase a custom model and the last twice I have tried to use it the price difference was only a couple of hundred dollars.

I wonder if the Powerbook G5 will be ready by WWDC?

Posted by Ozguru at February 16, 2004 09:02 AM

Comments

Well, you could always wait until you get to the US before deciding what to do - if you can wait until then, that is.

Posted by: Cindy at February 16, 2004 09:02 AM

Would you then have to run a U.S. model from a convertor all the time? 240v/50Hz and 120v/60Hz aren't quite the same.

Posted by: MommaBear at February 16, 2004 09:02 AM

If it is going to save $2K then I can wait. Let's face it, money doesn't grow on trees (at least not in the IT business) and compared to the cost of living that's a fair bit of money. Anytime I get impatient I just have to remind myself of the cost .... One of the nice things about Mac laptops is that the power supply is generally rated for all sorts of environments, all you need is the cord that goes from wall to the power supply. My current (yoyo) supply is rated 100-240V, 50-60Hz. That means I can plug it in anywhere. The other nice thing is that the warranty is world-wide..... Now, if only I can find a trade-in deal in SF :-)

Posted by: ozguru at February 16, 2004 09:02 AM

i really must wake up. i read the title as 'lapdance pricing'.

Posted by: zed at February 16, 2004 09:02 AM

Catching up, slowly! Returned top work today and landed in the middle of one of those "I told you so" situations. Several chickens have landed to roost with a vengence and suddenly there is panic among the cotery who have thus far refused...

Posted by: The Gray Monk at February 16, 2004 09:02 AM

Catching up, slowly! Returned top work today and landed in the middle of one of those "I told you so" situations. Several chickens have landed to roost with a vengence and suddenly there is panic among the cotery who have thus far refused...

Posted by: The Gray Monk at February 16, 2004 09:02 AM