AR Series Holding Value?

Hey there everyone. I was wondering: why does it seem that the Vaio AR (Digital Studio) series holds so much value, when their competition starts out lower and goes on sale earlier?

Are software programs like DVGate Plus and SonicStage Mastering Studio part of that price jump? Or, is it the hardware?

When I was looking at laptops recently, I noticed that many Vaio AR series models were still selling for 2K and above, and they were a year old! And, not all of these models had BluRay.

Granted, they started out over 3K, but to have started out that high made me wonder as well. How does Sony substantiate these claims/prices that they make?

What makes them a deal to get at, say, 1600 bucks, when their competition (HP, etcetera) is selling a laptop for about half of that?

Thanks!

 

I'm not really too sure. I don't see much incentive to get a Vaio over other competitors, I feel that you mostly pay for the style and the brand, which doesn't mean so much as it used to. They do have excellent screens and still exude a bit of style and still bring some fresh things into the marketplace, like introducing LED backlit screens in the TX, switchable graphics in the SZ, Blu-Ray in the AR, etc.

Many Vaios are pretty overpriced compared to their competitors and many times, the price hike is not worth it.

 

ive been saying this forever!
I worked for a large insurance company where we bought and leased laps for 300+ field agents and replaced the laps every 9mths approx.
Top mnagment always got to choose which laps to use(Sony's) other than the bulk ibm's, hp/compac's and dell's that we gave to agents.
When it came down to selling them back to a reseller the Sonys always fetched more. Even thou a same $1500 HP and Sony were bought at the same time the Sony would still get 10%-20% more.
Ive personally owned 3 Sonys and have all sold them privately with great returns.
Sony is a marquee brand in some of its consumer electronic divisions. Sony is and has always been an innovator and a premier manufacturer.
I personally dont like Sonys audio products but they seem to make everything else extremely well.
Its all in the brand and brand recognition goes a long way these days.

Lastly id like to note that fleeting (wholesale flooding of the market) also affects resale values. The fact that Sony does not have any fleet programs means the market isnt inundated with excessive models of one type.
The reseller we'd sell back to may get 50 ibm's and maybe 4 Sonys and they always ask us if we had more Sonys.