When did laptops get so expensive?

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jonb

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#321478 20-Aug-2025 16:33

Seems like cannot get a decent laptop anymore for under $1500.. I normally contribute to the help me choose a laptop posts but having trouble myself now..

Ideally looking for a 14" dual use school/uni with discrete graphics, but seems NZ hardly gets any of the 14" laptops that are common in US and Europe, the nearest can see is an MSI Thin 15 at PB Tech for about that price. Even most the decent light integrated graphics laptops are $2000+

Tempted at getting one of the Redmi laptops from AliExpress at this point, even with the lack of support when get that :/

Any other ideas around the $1500 mark?

coffeebaron

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#3405870 20-Aug-2025 16:38

I think it's demand due to pending EOL of Windows 10

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Handle9

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#3405903 20-Aug-2025 18:25

M2 Macbook Air is that sort of money. It's a heck of a laptop for general home/school use.

It's useless for gaming but excellent for most other use cases.

shk292

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#3405922 20-Aug-2025 20:03

I quite like the look of the IdeaPad Pro, eg this

It doesn't have discrete graphics, but I don't need that. What it does have is a 2.8K screen, which seems very unusual for a non-Apple laptop. I do quite a lot of photo viewing and editing, so a decent high-res screen is very attractive

Scott3

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#3405925 20-Aug-2025 20:13

Willing to go used?
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/computers/laptops/laptops/other/listing/5478853402

Or this one with a CAD focused graphics card (still 28% faster than the arc 140V for gaming):
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/computers/laptops/laptops/dell/listing/5477269996

I think it is the market for cheaper, discrete graphics is closing up (especially small, lightweight ones)

GPU makers attention seems be be largely focused on large scale AI components, rather than gaming. (and much of the recent desktop GPU performance increases seems to just come from consuming more power.

Meanwhile Integrated Graphic have made massive leaps in recent generations. Below Video shows game tests on the Core Ultra 7 258V (Intel ARC Graphics 140V). Generally seems that games are playable in 1080p low settings with occasional suturing in more demanding games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWati8uuyG4

All out of your budget, but via the Lenovo educational store one can get a 14" Yoga Slim 7 AI 7 350 processer laptop (860M integrated graphics) for $1799. And the Yoga Slim 7i 14" with a 228 V (arc 130 mobile) for $1789 (+$230 for the 2588V with the arc 120 mobile).

Or Jump to $2419 and get a 15.1" Legon 5 with an RTX 5050

KiwiSurfer

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#3405954 21-Aug-2025 03:49

Another option could be to get a used Lenovo Thinkpad from the higher grades e.g. X1 Carbon. Or the equivalent from HP e.g. EliteBooks. If you're in Auckland PC Traders are a good source for quality used laptops.

Sub-$1500 latpops new have never been good anyway. My last purchase I bit the bullet and went with a expensive Lenovo Thinkpad X390 and don't regret it. It's built like a tank and will last me years. My $work laptop is a Probook/Elitebook (can't remember which) which is north of $3k but is now in its 3rd year of use and going strong,

SpartanVXL

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#3405967 21-Aug-2025 07:58

It will be the discrete gpu that bumps the price. Not just the cost of the chip, but the extra spec for 80-120W of cooling and power needed. I suggest not bothering with a dgpu if you can get away with it. There are many good configs with just cpu and igpu for laptops and mini pc’s.

We also get crap all stock down here. Other markets have much more options.

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sidefx

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#3405969 21-Aug-2025 08:11

SpartanVXL:

It will be the discrete gpu that bumps the price. Not just the cost of the chip, but the extra spec for 80-120W of cooling and power needed. I suggest not bothering with a dgpu if you can get away with it. There are many good configs with just cpu and igpu for laptops and mini pc’s.

Agreed. It's not just laptops, desktop GPUs seem a bit crazy now too. I've been looking at upgrading a GTX 1080 but every time I look at pricing I just decide to stick with it for now :D

I reckon the demand from Crypto and AI means they are going crazy, especially when you then add the small NZ market tax. On the plus side older cards actually last pretty well for desktops these days. But for a laptop I'd definitely look at an igpu option, and if you want something that lasts well, I'd also lean towards a second hand or new macbook (just make sure you get at least M1 chip, no intel)

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Earbanean

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#3405974 21-Aug-2025 09:16

Over the last 3 or 4 years, we have bought 3 x 14" Thinkpads directly from the Lenovo NZ website. When they have sales, they can have around 40% or more off the normal price. Given the 'normal price' is highly subjective, I always took that with a grain of salt. However, in all cases we got the laptops around the $1,100 mark, give or take with all the specs we wanted.

I don't have specs in front of me , but I think all 3 were E14 models, 16Gb RAM, 512 Gb SSD, and at least 1 was discrete NVidia graphics. These were, and continue to be, ideal school/home office machines and have all been rock solid. The cases are sufficiently robust as well, which is great for school use.

I found it was a matter of being patient watching the Lenovo site. As we get closer to Black Friday, their prices should come down a bit to match what retail stores are doing.

Earbanean

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#3405977 21-Aug-2025 09:25

For example:

https://www.lenovo.com/nz/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpade/lenovo-thinkpad-e14-gen-6-14-inch-intel/21m7001sau

Thinkpad build quality, Win 11 Pro, 16 Gb RAM, 512 Gb SSDand under $1,500. Doesn't have discrete graphics, but IMHO is an ideal school/uni laptop.

And this is just current pricing. They will be cheaper and/or higher specc'ed around Black Friday and EOY sales.

jonb

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#3407427 25-Aug-2025 21:59

Thanks for replies everyone, was getting ready looking for deals on laptops with Iris XE integrated graphics, it seems intel ARC140V is only really on the $2000+ laptops.

In the end think got a good deal on an MSI Cyborg 14 with 4050 and ability to switch to integrated graphics for going for a longer days work for $1300 (re-manufactured from extremePC). MSI Modern 14 variants seemed to be best value otherwise outside of decent Lenovo sales etc