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   MSGID: 1317.consprcy@1:2320/105 2cf3d65c   
   REPLY: 1474.consprcy@1:218/700 2cf0be43   
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   RM> I was buying decent used cars cheaper than the cheapest computers back   
   RM> in those years so I think it was a little worse at that time, although   
   RM> I'm probably thinking more the mid to late 80's when I first got into   
   RM> them..   
      
   KW>I always felt like market forces drove computers to certain price   
     >points. You'd have a basic PC for $500, a high-end PC for twice that,   
     >and add on more for a gaming PC. As PCs got faster/better, the prices   
     >stayed the same but the power increased.   
      
   Market does pretty much control the price of everything..   
   I think the manufacturing cost difference between those types of   
   computers though is not near as much as the pricing suggests.   
      
   Supply and demand has a big impact, plus people wanting the newest,   
   fastest, coolest gaming system and being willing to pay a premium   
   to be the first on their block to have one. That's much like whan   
   a new Apple Phone comes out and people are paying almost $3000 for   
   one, but a year later they are probably half that price, and I doubt   
   Apple is losing any money on them then..   
      
   KW>Chromebooks changed the landscape quite a bit, driving the low-end down.   
      
   The main thing about Chromebooks is you don't pay the high fee that   
   Microsoft charges for the Windows OS.. By that I mean that the price   
   difference is a software issue rather than a hardware issue.   
      
   Along those lines though.. My newest Laptop, not the one I use very   
   much, I bought on a year end sale where it was so cheap I couldn't   
   resist having it as a backup for when my Windows 7 Laptop either   
   dies or the OS gets too old to function well.. the same reason I   
   had this Windows 7 computer sitting for some time waiting for my   
   old Windows 98 system to become mostly unusable.   
      
   In both of those cases I bought them for quite a bit less than half   
   the price they were selling for when 'new'..   
      
   My other advantage is I don't need high end systems. I mostly run   
   old software (games and such) and do simpler things online so I   
   don't need super fast systems with tons of RAM.. Those computers   
   start off cheap and seem to drop even more than others later.   
      
   ---   
    * SLMR Rob  * I get enough exercise pushing my luck   
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