# Computer Inflation **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2022, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212 "2022-05-09T22:23:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yelnick\_McWawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/839c29/32.png) [@Yelnick\_McWawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yelnick_McWawa)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/1 "2022-05-09T22:23:36Z")
I purchased a new laptop online on March 1st. Today, May 9th, I decided to purchase a duplicate for my wife. When I went to the company web site and clicked on “reorder”, I received the following message: > [@](#): > > The price of this product 464Z2AV\_1 has changed from $941.99 to $1,201.99 since you added it to cart. Up 28% in 69 days. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/2 "2022-05-09T22:33:10Z")
> [@Yelnick\_McWawa](#): > > 464Z2AV\_1 For what it’s worth, I see it cheaper than $1200 at HP’s site and at Best Buy. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/3 "2022-05-09T22:34:02Z")
Is that inflation or just part of the chip shortage? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2022, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/4 "2022-05-09T22:57:17Z")
For the record, the following Best Buy laptop is the same model except with an Intel SSD and Optane. The vast majority of users would never tell the difference between that and the NVMe drive. > **[HP ENVY 2-in-1 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop Intel Core i7 16GB Memory 512GB SSD...](https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-envy-2-in-1-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-32gb-optane-natural-silver/6479183.p?skuId=6479183)** > > Shop HP ENVY 2-in-1 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop Intel Core i7 16GB Memory 512GB SSD + 32GB Optane Natural Silver at Best Buy. Find low everyday prices and buy online for delivery or in-store pick-up. Price Match Guarantee. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/5 "2022-05-10T05:49:37Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Is that inflation or just part of the chip shortage? Or it might be that they can get away with it. People complain, blame inflation and profit! ---
**Author:** ![Yelnick\_McWawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/839c29/32.png) [@Yelnick\_McWawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yelnick_McWawa)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/6 "2022-05-10T10:23:29Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > For the record, the following Best Buy laptop is the same model except with an Intel SSD and Optane. The vast majority of users would never tell the difference between that and the NVMe drive. That is the base model with at 512 Gb SSD. The laptop I had ordered had a $100 upgrade to a 1TB SSD drive. With that, the Best Buy price is $22 less than buying direct from HP. FWIW: this computer was $992 last week so it jumped $210 over the weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/7 "2022-05-10T10:36:42Z")
Those are not mutually exclusive. Inflation can be triggered by shortages. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/8 "2022-05-10T10:44:56Z")
Ah. I was just bringing it up because it confused me why I would look for one model and Best Buy would show another. I wanted to save you having to check all the specs like I did. I’m sorry it didn’t help you out much. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/9 "2022-05-10T14:14:02Z")
In my experience, it’s not at all unusual for prices of things sold online to fluctuate (up _or_ down) over time. Maybe it’s supply issues; maybe it’s marketing or data-gathering (“Now let’s see what it does to sales levels if we bump up the price by $100 for a month, and then bring it back down”). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/10 "2022-05-10T15:12:20Z")
I don’t know of any overall inflation right now for PCs; in fact prices have been going down as GPUs become more available and finding sale prices on CPUs, memory and storage isn’t uncommon. I’m guessing this specific laptop is just fluctuating in price for somewhat independent reasons. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2022, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/11 "2022-05-10T18:41:30Z")
One of those ancient Greek fellas said, “The price of a thing shall be what the market will bear”. If they can get ten guys to pay an extra $200 instead of eleven guys to pay the old price, they will go for it. In regard to that, does anyone recall if prices went up when a hard drive factory burned 15 years ago? I still find an elderly desktop with a laptop drive in it now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Yelnick\_McWawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/839c29/32.png) [@Yelnick\_McWawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yelnick_McWawa)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2022, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-inflation/964212/12 "2022-05-21T12:22:26Z")
OP here. Just to see if there was a further price increase, I checked the price today. The price has now reverted back to $942 (what I paid in March for the options I wanted) from $1202 (the price on May 9th). I wonder why there was a 28% price jump that lasted less than two weeks. Unfortunately for HP, I made an alternate purchase during those two weeks.