Netbooks overpriced

Blame South African retailers?

Looking at Amazon you can get the Acer Aspire One with the 8gb SSD for $299 (R3000) - pay the Windows tax and get the 160gb HDD and you're looking at R3900.

At Incredible corruption the same XP device goes for R6999.95!
 
Yup, insanity. A netbook should not cost more than R3000 (for a Linux one).
 
Being in the market (and just order my Aspire One yesterday) what I did see is that notebooks under 5K are crap *. This is where netbooks will rule and do, but I do agree, paying 9K (yes @ pcmall) for a netbook is plain stupid.

* Looked at an entry level Acer @ HiFi saturday, keyboard quality is pathetic (1 key was already loose), build and feel was as if it was a R10 toy for my son. The netbooks next to it felt oh so much better and a far better purchase.

What you do need to remember is that entry level notebooks do not come with SSDs, where as the AAO has an 8GB one. Also they use a 1.5" drive so their SATA drives are more expensive but use the same power consumption as a 4200 rpm one.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that my netbook is costing me a total of R4320 over 36 months (R120 pm)
 
bwana said:
Blame South African retailers?

Looking at Amazon you can get the Acer Aspire One with the 8gb SSD for $299 (R3000) - pay the Windows tax and get the 160gb HDD and you're looking at R3900.

At Incredible corruption the same XP device goes for R6999.95!
Click to expand...

That makes me so :mad:. Is it bad enough that we get screwed by the Telcos, now the pc resellers are over doing it as well:mad:.
 
The whole idea of these things was the portability and price. Once again greedy people kill something because they just don't understand the concept of cheaper = more sales. Back to Economics 101.
 
cbrunsdonza said:
Being in the market (and just order my Aspire One yesterday) what I did see is that notebooks under 5K are crap *. This is where netbooks will rule and do, but I do agree, paying 9K (yes @ pcmall) for a netbook is plain stupid.
Click to expand...
Accept it for what it is (a netbook) and you'll love it - I do :)
 
pcmall:
Acer Aspire One Ultra Portable Notebook (black)(LU.S420B.014)
PCMall Price R 9,320.00

Acer Aspire One Ultra Portable Notebook (black) Description

Intel ATOM N270 (512KB L2 Cache, 1.60GHz, 533MHz FSB),
8.9" WSVGA (CrystalBrite) LEB Backlight,
1GB RAM,
160GB HDD,
802.11b/g WLAN,
Fast Ethernet,
6 Cell Battery,
3 USB Ports,
Multi in-1 Card Reader + SD Card Reader, Built in Digital Microphone,
0.3MP Acer Crystal Eye Webcam,
Integrated 3G,
XP Home,
MS Office 2007 Trial + MS Works,
Bag, 995 grams
Click to expand...
 
must agree here, these netbook prices are getting out of hand.
 
oh and not to derail this thread, but cellphones these days cost more then notebooks, so somehow i can see why netbook makers are not keeping prices down. People everywhere are forking out big cash for cellphones.
 
yeah but i cant live without my cellphone. a netbook however :rolleyes:
i too was in the market for one after i decided that i dont really use my laptop for much, and it's huge (17" hp nx-some or other), but i was quickly turned off by the prices of decent netbooks. i'd rather just buy a 13" proper laptop then.
 
Reason why I'm going netbook is that my previous laptop (dont laugh) was a P1 and was the size of the AAO and I'm use to the small form factor and already have a decent PC.

I'm also sitting with a Nokia E90 on my desk that proves that a cellphone is a cellphone and a netbook is something a E90 will never be. Personally I have a E65 and only use the E90 to test SMS services.
 
I would rather buy a refurbished proper laptop for around 3.5 grand, than these little toys.
 
Gaz{M} said:
I would rather buy a refurbished proper laptop for around 3.5 grand, than these little toys.
Click to expand...
You don't even have to go for a refurbished on. Some lower end laptops - like the Lenovo N 200, retails for around R 4 000 Ex Vat. I agree that the netbooks are losing their appeal purely because of price.
 
rpm said:
You don't even have to go for a refurbished on. Some lower end laptops - like the Lenovo N 200, retails for around R 4 000 Ex Vat. I agree that the netbooks are losing their appeal purely because of price.
Click to expand...

Yes I couldn't agree more. And the N200 is super feature rich with Fingerprint reader etc.
The only netbook I'd ever consider is the Asus 2GB Surf. Anything more expensive than that is a no no
 
I beg to differ.

A HSDPA Windows Mobile Cellphone, with a decent screen is R8000.
Now you are saying that more than R5000 for a device with a 10" screen, 120-160GB of hardrive space, and built in HSDPA is too much???

C'mon! a HSDPA Dongle is what? like R3000??
If you want a crappy machine, get the EEE700. if you actually want to do WORK. its worth it!

Or should be jumping on the band wagon, and add my voice to the "We pay too much" brigade.
 
AirWolf said:
That makes me so :mad:. Is it bad enough that we get screwed by the Telcos, now the pc resellers are over doing it as well:mad:.
Click to expand...

AirWolf. Whilst some retailers are pulling the @rse out of it, one needs to bear in mind that a lot of the blame for the inflated prices lies with the importers and distributors. The resellers have agreements with these to resell the products and are bound by the price that the distributor allows them to purchase at.

They put their mark-up on the item and then resell to the public. This mark-up is not much to be honest if you look at what they are selling them at in comparison to what they are being forced to pay for the item from the distributors.
 
Bought my wife an Asus EEE 700... she absolutely ADORES it! And the only reason I bought it for her was because it cost less than R3K (R2600). I would have gone to about R3500 if it was the 8.9" screen opposed to the 7" inch she has now. She uses it for email, writing documents and browsing the internet wherever she goes...

So I have to agree with you guys.. The netbook market has (imo) lost the point... Even at R4k it is starting to become to expensive
 
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