IN 2012, I purchased a Acer V3-471G. It was not the stock model, external updates but here are the basic specs.

8 GB RAM DDR3

1TB HDD

GeForce GT 630M

Intel i5 - clocks at 2.4GHz


And I got all of this for RM2500. This was 4 years ago. The laptop is running smooth still, even after upgrading to Windows 10 but I think it may come time soon for me to upgrade.

I'm looking at Acer Nitro, Dell XPS, and possibly the Macbook Air.

The prices are ridiculous. I'm getting a laptop at a much lower spec for a much higher price. Example:

Dell XPS 13 - http://www.dell.com/my/p/xps-13-9350-laptop/pd

Intel i5 - clocks at 2.8GHz (although its 6th Gen)

4GB RAM!

Intel HD Graphics 520!

128GB SSD!

at the price of RM4999!

That's literally double the price, for mostly underscaled performance. I understand SSD vs HDD. I know SSDs are more expensive and perform better, but is it justified in this example?

4GB RAM? What is this, 2010?


If anyone can explain this, other than capitalism rearing it's ugly head, I'd really love to listen to a justifiable reason for this crazy price hike.

I understand that the exchange rate is also at play, but it seems just way too much!

> Exchange rate
> GST

well...most probably due to the poor currency rate. Ringgit is quite weak these recent year. unlike 2-3 years back

Seems like the laptop, pc parts price didnt reduced much per year...

Stagnat development maybe?

the thinner the laptop, the more it cost. ssd harddrive also cost more. and there is now gst as well as higher exchange rates.

Ever since Dell went private, they no longer sell affordable nice notebooks. Now I think they are like Sony, want high premium segment. The model you looked at is super long life at 15 hours usage.

Take a look at Lenovo, Acer, Asus etc and you will find much cheaper models at similar spec. The only downside is most notebooks nowadays come with 4GB RAM, instead of the usual 8GB RAM before ringgit lost its value.

If ringgit went down further, expect to see 2GB RAM notebook being common soon.

SSD nowadays very cheap already, especially small size one like 128GB

Same as mobile phones, remember the time when a nokia 9210 is at RM2k and its the pinnacle of mobile phones. Look at nowadays, RM3k is like a norm, and it doesn't look like its going to be any cheaper.

Lol you compare it with premium business laptop? Of course it is. Xps is always looks overpriced for the specs. You can check Acer e5-475g for comparison. i5-6200u/ 4gb ram ddr4/ gt940mx ddr5/ 1tb + 128gb ssd. Much better than that XPS in terms of specs but the price is only Rm2499.

you forget to compare the display panel, chassis , warranty those premium staff lo,

u compare to premium business laptop for sure expensive la

Short answer , it didnt getting expensive .

For example
Acer Aspire V Nitro vs your Acer V3-471G it got double the gpu speed and double the battery life while having similiar price .

You are looking at wrong segment . Your notebook is budget laptop while all those you listed is ultrabook .

Ultrabook is 1-3k more expensive then normal laptop .


To be fair dell 7559 is a few hundred cheaper than lenovo y700 .

This post has been edited by xyrotix: May 31 2016, 02:40 AM

in before,

USD $1000 laptop = RM 2800-RM3000



now, for the same category laptop.

USD $1000 = RM 4000 (not yet +6% gst)



This post has been edited by CyrusWong: May 31 2016, 03:06 AM

It is called premium, lightweight ultrabook. Man, you should at least learn to differentiate them before commenting on the price. You can always go back to the Acer with its plastic, thick borders, heavy weight laptops.

Just like many has pointed out, you're comparing the wrong segment. Let's list the spec one by one again copied from you:

Intel i5 - 2.8GHz -- Faster and uses less power.

4GB RAM! -- I agree with you on this? WTH 4GB?

Intel HD Graphics 520! -- almost as fast as Nvidia GT630 but consume far less power.

128GB SSD! -- 1GB/s compared to 0.2 GB/s of the HDD. You'll barely need more RAM at these speed. Still, I'll opt for double the RAM. With contents in Netflix and Spotify nowadays, you may not need that large storage space anymore.

What else:
13" FHD IPS screen - this is light years away from your Acer.
10 hours battery life - your Acer barely make 4 hours.
Better trackpad - they look alike, but functions better.
Machined aluminum top & bottom - cost extra for the look and strength.
Small & Light - 1.2kg vs 2.3kg, try walking around whole day with that, plus you have more space in your bag! wait... use a much smaller bag (even lighter)!

It all come down on what you priorities, big chunky laptop on budget, or expensive light and sleek. One more thing, Dell Malaysia did over-priced their XPS because the similarly specs in Dell US cost RM1k less.

depends on your budget , well there is cheap laptop and there is expensive one

lol... topkek... comparing economic segment notebook with premium segment (which is always overpriced since yesteryears).

instead, you should compare with dell inspiron notebook or current acer V series.

If you look at XPS price, it is always at >~ 5K price range since the introoduction of these models

i think you can look at MSI,Lenovo, Acer, Asus etc and you will find much cheaper models at similar spec. The only downside is most notebooks nowadays come with 4GB RAM.

choose the laptop base on your budget

currency inflation a lot la... above 33%. u cannot compare nowadays and previously.
I can propose to look for MSI GE62 6QD with i7 skylake CPU, Nvidia GTX960M 4GB GDDR5 Graphic card, built in Steel series KB with multi-color, 1TB HDD, 4GB DDR4 RAM, 15.6" screen with anti-glare, built in extra SSD slot, more stable & reliable. u can think of this model.

Pascal already here, why not wait. GTX960 ain't gonna give you much.