Question on the FX series laptops

Is the new P-7805u the same as the old P7801u?

From the specs they seem identical.


Thanks
Bri

 

The P-7801u isn't an old model. In fact, if anything, it is newer than the 7805u. The only difference is that the 7801 is advertised to come with a WUXGA LCD and 7805's now only come with WXGA+ (for the most part).

 

both IIRC are identical. The 7801 came out first on newegg only and the 7805 came out after a best buy exclusive

 

BobXX is right though. The 7801u is spec'd with the WUXGA screen and ALWAYS comes with the WUXGA screen whereas the 7805u is spec'd with the WXGA screen and sometimes comes with the WUXGA and sometimes the WXGA. Unless you can match up a batch # to one in the batch # thread then it's a crapshoot as to which screen you will get. Other than the screen they are identical units.

JP

 

newer??? what r u smoking? the 7801u came out on newegg a descent while before the 7805u showed up...

 

So, we have established that the two models are identical with the exception of the screen specs - *but* many 7805's actually have the 1920 screen and that would make the 7805 truly identical to the 7801.

Now a follow up question: Why is there such a dramatic price differential between the two? BB's current price for the 7805 is $1149 ($1049 on sale) but I can't seem to find a 7801 for less than $1599 (Newegg). I think I recall where J&R was selling it for a hundred more than that.

 

The extra money guarantees that you get WUXGA.

 

Crack!

Gateway didn't do a very good job planning out the P-78XX series... :confused2:

 

Yeah, but at those prices it might be cheaper to locate a BB that has a 7805 in stock with a "1920 batch number" and buy a plane ticket.

 

time is money... flying takes away time which is money may be better off getting the 7801 if your vocation pays you a high salary

 

Best Buy is a big-box retailer with huge purchasing power (economies of scale). They're able to price their laptops lower than newegg.com due to their ability to allocate a bigger supply of inventory from manufacturers. In simple terms, "the more they buy from a manufacturer, the lesser the cost per unit". In the end, customers will pay a lower price at a point of purchase. The same can be said for other big-box retailers (walmart, home depot, staples, etc).

 

True, and I understand economies of scale. However, it's hard to figure why it would apply to this one particular SKU and not much else. I mean, I'd bet for h/w components, peripherals, and the like, Newegg (as well as a few other online resellers) would beat the pants off BB in terms of price nine out of ten times. For certain items I don't even bother checking BB's prices; I just order from Newegg.

 

Another option (probably obvious)...

Buy the 7805 (with whatever screen you get) and buy a replacement LCD if needed. Still probably cheaper than the 7801 by a couple of hundred bills.

 

BB needs warm bodies in stores, even if it means giving some product away. Plus the "notebook gamer" set frequently needs uber accessories on the spot that they sell at high margins. Could well be a loss leader (or at least a not very profitable leader) to get people in the store.

 

Makes perfect sense, really. I saw a laptop backback, on sale at BB.com for ~$50 (and mentioned by jeremy in another thread), that was in my local BB store at full retail ($80+). Thus, I imagine the add-on sales with an item like the 7805 could be both simultaneous and substantial, perhaps more than making up for the slimmer margins on the laptop - and that's disregarding the potential for selling a nice, expensive extended warranty plan.

 

Oh yes, I totally forgot one of their biggest money makers of all, ESPs. Also the "rich dad" types can be sold geeksquad services like optimization etc. This type of product definately sells other product in store. Personally I walked in, waited while they set up the demo since I went on the street date, checked its box for a batch # and that it was 1920x1200, got them to get me one from stock, same batch # and I was out the door.