| HN Mirror

Then get the $300 Asus Vivotab Note, instead of spending $60/month on a lease on a new laptop. Within 6 months, you'll have made your money back and then some (Especially since the $300 tablet can do everything a 4-year-old computer can do, while having superior battery life, significantly less weight, support of a Wacom Active Stylus and a touchscreen)

Yes, I have run Photoshop and Gimp on a $300 Baytrail Tablet. Yes, they work. I can personally verify that fact. On the other hand, I do notice significant performance increases when comparing these cheap, tiny computers against my beefy Desktop. Regardless, I speak from experience.

Benchmarks do not lie however, these $300 Baytrail tablets are faster than Macbook Pros from 4 years ago.

Regardless of how you slice it, computers depreciate significantly faster than cars. For those where "just enough" performance is good enough, you might as well buy these modern $300 netbooks / tablets than lease a top-of-the-line laptop for $60/month... unless you really throw away your laptops after less than 5 months of usage.

A brand new cheap computer is better than a top-of-the-line computer from 4 years ago. And for those who are chasing the top end, modern premium computers are released too often for this lease business model to make sense IMO.

Regardless of how you slice it, computers depreciate significantly faster than cars.

Actually an MBP [1] holds its value better than many Detroit products[2].

[1] See eBay. [2] http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/27/cars-resale-value-lifestyle...

I'm thinking of the typical car vs the typical computer.

>> New cars typically lose about 20% of their value the moment they’re driven off the lot, and about 65% after five years.

MBPs are one of the few computers that hold their value the best. But after 5 years, you're looking at a depreciation rate of 75%+ (going from $2000+ in 2009 to only $500 in 2014).

But we're looking at the _best_ computer that holds its value the best. No one gives a damn about a refurbished Dell Inspiron from 2010.

www.sears.com/dell-refurbished-dell-latitude-e6400-14inch-notebook-intel/

You're looking at ~90% depreciation for the more typical laptop, and maybe 70% if you focus only on Macbooks. With Cars, you're looking at 65% typical depreciation, with only ~45% if you focus on Camrys or Corolas.

A 2009 Camry will run you ~12k today, only 45% depreciation.

Did you read the article? These guys are leasing MBPs, not Dell Inspirons. Your MBP depreciation numbers ($2000->$500 in 5 years) are also wrong.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-13-Inch-Macbook-Pro-2009-4GB-2...

You're right. Macbook Pros depreciate down to $400, (if you have $100 office tacked on). I guess its closer to $2000->$300 in 5 years.

Without Office... it looks like the Macbook Pro depreciates to $175.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-MacBook-Pro-13-3-Laptop-MB990L...

Not looking good for a laptop that 5-years ago costed $2000.

Realistically, I'm seeing $500 on certain EBay deals, but really its anywhere between $175 to $500.

You were downvoted for saying exactly what I was about to say: for most consumer use, my 2009 MBP does everything I need. It beats me at chess. A/V transcoding could be faster, but that's really an edge use case for me, and probably most people, even on HN.

What I do care about is ergonomics, specifically the keyboard, and I have yet to find a $300 (or $600) Windows or Android machine with a keyboard comparable to a Mac. If it exists, I hope someone will let me know in the comments.

Your fanboy radar betrays your better judgement.

This is a thread about how computers get better over the years. A modern Macbook Pro is leagues better than one 2 years ago (SSD, PCIe, Retina Screen, smaller), and the one 2-years-ago is leagues better than a 4-year-old Macbook Pro (Sandy Bridge vs C2D, GPU upgrades, etc. etc.).

I chose the Dell Venue 8 Pro because it is a cheap $300 machine to emphasize a point. Computers continue to make progress exponentially... to the point where a 4-year-old "premium computer" is specs-for-specs comparable to one of the trashiest, slowest modern computers of this time.

I'm a little pissed that I have to change my argument structure to cater to your fanboy mindset. I'm not taking a dig at Mac, I'm trying to make a point about technology and the rate at which it improves.

Long story short: the computer industry has always been about forward progress at an exponential rate. This will make it difficult for any "leasing" structure to work with computers. Depreciation of laptops happens too quickly.

I'm trying to make a point about technology and the rate at which it improves.

Make whatever point you want, but TFA is about an MBP subscription service. People buy MBPs for usability and reliability, not for hardware specs. Always have.

When you claim that one computer is "leagues better" than some other computer, I say "prove it - according to MY criteria as the purchaser and consumer - not your criteria as a chip overclocker."

sscalia 4456 days ago

Someone didn't like "spergy"

Heh.