News Palmer Luckey considering entering laptop market with fully US-made model, wants to know if you'd spend 20% more for an American-made PC

[usertests]

Pay 20% more

I buy clearance laptops with the price cut by 80%.

 

[fiyz]

Framework's won me over. If any company wants to compete, they'll need to first focus on the ability of the end-user to upgrade the laptop and have it fully reparable

All laptops are repairable, it's just our cost of living is so high, that it costs too much to have a repair guy live locally, so it's exported to places with lower costs of living.

 

[wwenze1]

"wants to know if you'd spend 20% more for an American-made PC"
Just tariff PC at 20%, problem solved

 

[bit_user]

"wants to know if you'd spend 20% more for an American-made PC"
Just tariff PC at 20%, problem solved

He probably means after tariffs!
: D

Yeah, in that case you could just use a 44% tariff, but we'll see if any PC-exporting countries end up with one that high. Not to mention that I'm still unclear about the current status of USMCA. I thought the fentanyl tariffs on Mexico applied only to stuff not covered by USMCA, yet I think USMCA should apply to manufactured goods, like PCs.

 

[Amdlova]

20% today... tomorrow 50%

 

[LolaGT]

I don't think we will have to worry because the chances of it coming to market as an all American made parts, assembled here is a giant lie, at best.

 

[A Stoner]

I would not buy a laptop period. Hate the things.

Would I pay 20% more for a product produced in America? If that product had a security stake in the nation, I could see myself supporting the higher prices. The real way to make that happen would be a 20% tariff on all imports of that item, so everyone is paying that 20% higher price.

I personally detest the way tariffs are currently being abused, but I do support their use, and they are one of the most used forms of revenue the nation used at its founding and until shortly after the 16th Amendment passed making us all formal slaves of the federal government.

 

[bit_user]

I do support their use, and they are one of the most used forms of revenue the nation used at its founding

The reason we import stuff is because other countries have a comparative advantage. Sometimes it's natural, sometimes it's artificial (i.e. due to state subsidies). Tariffs which don't care about why something is cheaper and just tax it either way simply make it more expensive to do business in this country, and that means we're going to get less of it. Another name for "less business" is a recession.

 

[atRealBilliamMicrosoft]

Oh boy, an extra 20% for NSA compromised certified drivers/firmwares? What an absolute bargain!

 

[jg.millirem]

I wouldn’t buy anything from a company specializing in military evil.

 

[Moonstick2]

I know it's about laptops, but "American-made PC" instantly makes me think of

 

[bit_user]

I know it's about laptops, but "American-made PC" instantly makes me think of

Should we read anything into how "fat" it is?
🤣

 

[circadia]

...but adding Vietnam to that list would be quite a stretch...

eh, why?

 

[bit_user]

eh, why?

The answer to this is probably too political.

 

[TheSecondPower]

If I found a laptop I wanted and then found I could get the same laptop made with ethical US labor, I would pay 20% more for it. Years ago a foreign manufacturer was in the news here on Tom's Hardware for building nets around its roof to try to cut down on the completed suicide rate. In the US manufacturing jobs are the gateway to a better life for many people.

 

[bit_user]

In the US manufacturing jobs are the gateway to a better life for many people.

A relevant question might be: "for whom?" Do you care whether they hire US citizens and pay competitive wages, vs. getting migrant workers on H-2A visas to staff them? It seems to me that, if you have to bring in people to do the job, it's not much different than just manufacturing abroad.

 

[Benjamin Edelman]

I would pay more for a computer if the manufacturer or retailer could verify that the processor didn't contain a wireless hardware Trojan that was inserted when the integrated circuit was being manufactured at a rogue foundry. Most computers sold in the US have this problem.

 

[TheSecondPower]

A relevant question might be: "for whom?" Do you care whether they hire US citizens and pay competitive wages, vs. getting migrant workers on H-2A visas to staff them? It seems to me that, if you have to bring in people to do the job, it's not much different than just manufacturing abroad.

A lot of people I know work in manufacturing. This idea that Americans don't want manufacturing jobs is absurd. We value work. The idea that we don't is just an excuse greedy CEOs use to justify cheaper labor.

 

[lmcnabney]

The PCB is the easiest part to make, aside from the case and maybe some of the surface-mount components.

Seriously? You think that there are any factories in the US that can make modern 7 and 8 layer boards? Every piece that is attached is also made in Asia too.

 

[Greg In Bothell]

Luckey is Elon Musk minus the charisma.

I'd trust his laptop as much as I trust a Tesla (my one forced rental of a Tesla saw the back of the driver's seat FALL OFF in a parking lot on a sunny day).

 

[nookoool]

Likely it would be done to be sold to US and State government agencies. Kinda surprise it has not been done earlier. Maybe a few nationalist will buy it as well. The rest of us would just vote with our wallets.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

For me, it would depend on screen size (my old eyes don't like anything smaller that 17"). The battery would need to be easily removable without having to open the case and remove a gazillion screws. It would need plenty of USB ports on both sides and at least one HDMI port on the back. Also, my current laptop supports up to 4 SSDs; this one would have to equal or exceed that or it would be useless to me. Currently, no one makes a laptop like that anymore (Clevo made my current laptop but it has been discontinued and Tuxedo used to make one).

 

[PiranhaTech]

It depends on the features. If the laptop came with bloatware and will fall apart, not being much different than a $450 Walmart laptop, no. If it's Made in the USA and you are charging more for it, you have to make it a premium product.

Gibson is starting to have trouble with this. Gibson's Made in USA guitars have all sorts of issues for a $3000 guitar. Many $1000 guitars won't have those issues.

If the laptop can have its storage and RAM upgradeable, it came without the bloatware, and was very repairable, those would be good factors. Will it last? If they can make a laptop that doesn't have issues with things like laptop hinges or show that they have a really good warranty system, sure.

We get issues with a company that all of the sudden starts doing things right (ex: Dell), but then they slip, sometimes due to the Shareholder Value drain.

There's been so many complaints about different companies like HP, Dell, and ASUS. They keep screwing up. Can they build a reputation like EVGA did?

 

[PiranhaTech]

Likely it would be done to be sold to US and State government agencies. Kinda surprise it has not been done earlier. Maybe a few nationalist will buy it as well. The rest of us would just vote with our wallets.

It has been done. There's laptop makers that target emergency crew (the Panasonic Toughbook is an example). I got to try one, and damn. Some of those laptops are expensive and heavy, but you can feel the quality. The hinges are solid, the keyboard was amazing, as with the trackpad.

The companies will go out of their way to target the US Government

 

[John Nemesh]

answer: no.

idc where its made as long as its doing its job and is worth the cost.

Adding 20% more is instant no.

"made in america" doesn't mean better just cause its made here.

My company (auto parts manufacturer) found this out the hard way. Our foreign suppliers could forge AND heat treat steel at the same factory, and were consistently stronger than steel forged in the US that had heat treating done separately. Not by a slight amount, either, we are talking FIVE TIMES stronger materials.

Could we make "made in the US of A" parts now? Yes. Will we? Absolutely not.