Are all laptops sold in India basically outdated? A Rant plus question.

[shaunak]

I set out to buy a laptop with some very simple requirements:
* FHD screen
* A 2GB nvidia processor (I do cuda work)
* Support for Wifi AC (5ghz)
My budget is around 60k.

This, I would think is a very modest requirement from a laptop in 2015. Additionally I would love it if the build quality is a little rugged as I am frequently on the road.

I would think that these are very reasonable specs for the budget and after hours of trawling through manufacturer sites and flipkart I have nothing. Not one result.

The closest I got was the lenovo u41 but it had outdated wifi hardware. [Does anybody know if I can upgrade the card later?]

While the same manufacturers meet and exceed these requirements worldwide for the same price, it is incredible hard (impossibly I have found) to meet my requirements here (and we are almost at the end of 2015). Are manufacturers dumping old stock in India at current prices? I don't know about you guys, but I feel a little cheated.

The main reason I am upgrading my laptop is that on my last visit to California, I found most office spaces had switched to the 5ghz wifi (some of the houses I stayed, almost exclusively, with the 2.4 ghz turned off). So support for wifi AC is important to me.

Case and Point:
* Toshiba Satellite S55-C5363 15.6" Laptop Computer - Brushed Metal PSPUEU-00800K - Micro Center
* 1920x1080 : NVIDIA : 802.11ac : Laptops/Notebooks : Laptops/Notebooks : Computers : Micro Center

Corollary: Anybody know a good importer?

 

[seamon]

If you can buy it in the US, do so. Importing and customs add almost +35% to the laptop's cost.
A good option is Azom(Clevo reseller) but it's out of your budget(~90k).
Most laptops(especially Dell ones and Lenovo too) have locked BIOSes so if you upgrade the wifi card to AC yourself, the laptop won't boot.
Go for Clevo(especially from the US) if you can. You can upgrade literally everything inside a clevo.

 

[bikramjitkar]

You could use an external WiFi AC adapter such as this : Amazon.com: NETGEAR WiFi USB 2.0 Adapter - AC Dual Band (A6200): Computers & Accessories

 

[tkin]

Not just India. Most 3rd world countries are dumping ground for old tech. For reference check the stuff sold in pakistan.

Couple that with the tax system, importing stuff doesn't make much sense. Better if you can import it yourself. Or have someone import it for you personally.

 

[Anorion]

yup. Compare prices of products to emerging economies.

 

[shaunak]

You could use an external WiFi AC adapter such as this : Amazon.com: NETGEAR WiFi USB 2.0 Adapter - AC Dual Band (A6200): Computers & Accessories

My question is not to find a Jugard solution but to ask why I must pay global prices for substandard products?

- - - Updated - - -

If you can buy it in the US, do so. Importing and customs add almost +35% to the laptop's cost.
A good option is Azom(Clevo reseller) but it's out of your budget(~90k).
Most laptops(especially Dell ones and Lenovo too) have locked BIOSes so if you upgrade the wifi card to AC yourself, the laptop won't boot.
Go for Clevo(especially from the US) if you can. You can upgrade literally everything inside a clevo.

Thank you for the suggestion. I am going to CA in Feb. I think I will get this then.

- - - Updated - - -

Not just India. Most 3rd world countries are dumping ground for old tech. For reference check the stuff sold in pakistan.

Couple that with the tax system, importing stuff doesn't make much sense. Better if you can import it yourself. Or have someone import it for you personally.

It is sad, stupid and idiotic. What annoys me more is no one is asking this question.

 

[omega44-xt]

Companies don't bring all their models here, also the ones which they bring are just overpriced compared to US & yeah it can be said that old stock is dumped here (but still not the old stock of good laptops, only the overpriced ones which they had launched earlier here)

Take my case, when I bought my laptop @ 65k, it was almost equivalent to $1100 but my laptop was priced at $850 in US.
Also the latest Lenovo Y50 (2nd gen) costs $1000 in US same as 1st gen Y50, but 1st gen Y50 was launched here at 75k, newer one is priced 85k.

If you in market to buy an ultrabook, you will just find MacBooks are the good ones, if your budget is less than 80k. While in US you have wide range of options & you can get a good Windows running ultrabook for below $1000 (~65k here)

Considering that most companies manufacture their laptops at China, India should be able to get laptops at price similar to US

 

[bikramjitkar]

My question is not to find a Jugard solution but to ask why I must pay global prices for substandard products?

How long have you been living in India? People have been asking the same question for ages. Since you know no product you buy here will meet your requirements, "jugaad" is the only way to go.

 

[sling-shot]

Biggest mystery for me is the longevity of 1366x768 resolution in laptops. It should have been considered prehistoric by now.

 

[satinder]

Prepare to spend more on good Laptops !
Mac is only answer here that too is out of budget here.
People are on mobile now in India. A common man who cant afford a laptop can do his 80-90% jobs done on a mobile.
Laptop is outdated thing now.
I work in a professional environment. I only switch on my pc / laptop when it is needed.
I am on mobile internet now and do my 80% work on it.
In office a pc is on for working hours.
On the move mobile is solution.
Tablets are good enough for demo.
Touch screen phones with Whatsapp has done all the difference !
I say it
"a Revolution" !

 

[Skyh3ck]

Exactly what I think, 1366 come on , even I need a laptop but its priced way too high for its config,

 

[napsterv]

Found this while strolling through LTT.

i7 6700HQ
GTX 960M
Dual Band WiFi
16GB RAM,SSD+HDD
Everything @86K.

And what do we get for 86K? A bunch of ULV crap.

And they say 'acche din'.

 

[kunalgujarathi]

Found this while strolling through LTT.

i7 6700HQ
GTX 960M
Dual Band WiFi
16GB RAM,SSD+HDD
Everything @86K.

And what do we get for 86K? A bunch of ULV crap.

And they say 'acche din'.

The build of that laptop is as good as crap.
Here is a slickdeals thread @ it's i5 variant-

Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Laptop: i5 6300HQ, 256 SSD, GTX 960M - Slickdeals.net

@86 k it's totally unworthy when you can get a way better everything @ 66k-
Amazon.com : MSI Computer P Series PE60 6QE-031US 15.6" Laptop : Computers & Accessories

Or

ASUS ROG GL752VW-DH71 Gaming Laptop 6th Generation Intel Core i7 6700HQ (2.60 GHz) 16 GB Memory 1 TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2 GB GDDR5 17.3" Windows 10 Home 64-Bit - Newegg.com

For 78k

 

[napsterv]

The build of that laptop is as good as crap.
Here is a slickdeals thread @ it's i5 variant-

Dell Inspiron 15 7000 Laptop: i5 6300HQ, 256 SSD, GTX 960M - Slickdeals.net

@86 k it's totally unworthy when you can get a way better everything @ 66k-
Amazon.com : MSI Computer P Series PE60 6QE-031US 15.6" Laptop : Computers & Accessories

Or

ASUS ROG GL752VW-DH71 Gaming Laptop 6th Generation Intel Core i7 6700HQ (2.60 GHz) 16 GB Memory 1 TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2 GB GDDR5 17.3" Windows 10 Home 64-Bit - Newegg.com

For 78k

The models you mentioned are good but they lack something or other from the DELL.

Anyways I'm not here to war, I'm just saying what WE get in that price range.

 

[kunalgujarathi]

The models you mentioned are good but they lack something or other from the DELL.

Anyways I'm not here to war, I'm just saying what WE get in that price range.

1st one lacks SSD which you can aftermarket.

2nd one lacks nothing.

Dell is just overpriced crap.
Experiences from friends in US.

 

[tkin]

I came here to add insult to injury:

ASUS ROG GL551JW-WH71(WX) Gaming Laptop 4th Generation Intel Core i7 4720HQ (2.60 GHz) 8 GB Memory 1 TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2 GB GDDR5 15.6" Windows 10 Home 64-Bit - Newegg.com - $749 atm

ASUS K501LX-NH52 Gaming Laptop 5th Generation Intel Core i5 5200U (2.20 GHz) 8 GB Memory 1 TB HDD 128 GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M 2 GB 15.6" Windows 10 Home 64-Bit - Newegg.com - $699 atm

F**k this dumping ground.

 

[omega44-xt]

I came here to add insult to injury:

ASUS ROG GL551JW-WH71(WX) Gaming Laptop 4th Generation Intel Core i7 4720HQ (2.60 GHz) 8 GB Memory 1 TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2 GB GDDR5 15.6" Windows 10 Home 64-Bit - Newegg.com - $749 atm

ASUS K501LX-NH52 Gaming Laptop 5th Generation Intel Core i5 5200U (2.20 GHz) 8 GB Memory 1 TB HDD 128 GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M 2 GB 15.6" Windows 10 Home 64-Bit - Newegg.com - $699 atm

F**k this dumping ground.

My friend bought the new Y50(IPS screen + GTX960M) for 80k, a few weeks back.... Seriously, India has no VFM laptops when compared to US market...

 

[Siddhartht]

Found this while strolling through LTT.

i7 6700HQ
GTX 960M
Dual Band WiFi
16GB RAM,SSD+HDD
Everything @86K.

And what do we get for 86K? A bunch of ULV crap.

And they say 'acche din'.

Wow, that is one nostalgic design. It kinda reminds me of Dell Studio XPS, they were beautiful laptops. And it's good to see that Dell is finally bringing quad core to inspiron lineup again.