cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/42750767
The death of affordable computing in America.
this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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The death of affordable computing in the US of A.
My takeaway is start planning trips to Taiwan so you can go buy comp hardware bit by bit at a reasonable price
You still have to declare things in customs. If you don't and get caught, you could end up far worse than high prices.
You can take a phone and laptop through customs without paying import tax.
50 high end RTX cards might not be so easy.
"No officer, this fully assembled PC with no boxes or receipts was definitely brought from America, the country I am now returning to."
Not sure if this fits here as while the tariffs situation are primarily causing chaos and price inflations in the US, the redirection of goods might also cause companies to increase costs globally in order to cover the cash flow burdens and payments caused by real time tariff fluctations.
There are going to be myriad ways companies will try to avoid it even if all that means relabeling items or classifying them as something not on the list.
It’s going to be a shit show.
And I’m still coming off the pandemic ffs, can we just chill for like 5 mins.
I hope Canada can get some better prices out of this.
PlayStation punished the world by increasing their console prices to match the adjusted tariff price in the US. I forsee all manufacturers doing the same thing, just like COVID.
The entire world can soon blame every American for their crazy price increases.
If only someone made an example out of them corpos
Narrator:
We won't.....
I don't know if kid saving lunch money to build a computer is a viable route anymore
Console while cheaper entry, they fuck you on the game price. Plus fucking annual sub cost.
They are acting like this because median gamer is now a middle aged cuck with a higher income, why shoildnt they be fleecing us as that is what the market can bare. Nowever, they priced out kids and young folks. Nvidia lost its fucking mind with that pricing
Tariffs are just an icing on the cake, they will try to justify even more price gouging
Pre-Nintendo-price-jump, console games were as cheap as they've ever been... if you ignore all the DLC/micro-transaction stuff. But its still a lot more expensive than PC gaming. If you need a computer for other purposes anyways, upgrading from a decent office computer to a cheap gaming computer is still gonna be cheaper upfront than buying the office computer and new console, plus cheaper long-term.
I see your point, however I bought a $150 GPU in spring 2020 that is still serving me fine today to play games at 1080P. At least until the tariffs it was still pretty doable if you didn’t go for top of the line brand new equipment.
Like I said in a different comment.
My last build ran me just over $500 Canadian, the gfx card was the most expensive piece, and I reused my case, cooling system, storage and power supply......but last gen gfx, mobo and a gratuitous amount of RAM was to be had for cheap enough to not have to save at all to buy it.
Yep, I’m still reusing a lot of components from my last build. Some people automatically assume building a PC means you need to buy brand new everything, but if you were smart about it you could get it down to the same price as a brand new console.
Some people automatically assume building a PC means you need to buy brand new everything, but if you were smart about it you ~~could~~ used to be able to get it down to the same price as a brand new console.
I've not upgraded my desktop since spring 2020, my mobo, gratuitous amount of RAM, everything is still ticking away taking everything I tell it to. Only thing I even want to upgrade is my gfx card. And that's already more than an entry level console. Even the used market is completely tits up. Just a quick look at eBay, 4060/70/80/90, starting average £650ish for a 60 and a used 90 FE is £1700....free shipping though! I've decided to let Intel cook on their gfx cards a bit longer, and I'll probably getting one off them when I eventually upgrade...I can grab a used a770 or b570 for under £250 today.
Ohh I deff agree, I am riding my shit until it no longer works.
Fuck these parasites, I can do this long time if it keeps working.
That's easiest way people can fight back right now... Use what you have!
I don't know if kid saving lunch money to build a computer is a viable route anymore
for sure. It's gonna suck ass for a lot of Americans.
For the rest of your comment I'm gonna add that the tariff situation benefits retailers the most while manufactures and OEMs are taking the brunt of the tariff financial damage and ultimately the tariffs are then passed onto the customers unfortunately.
Some companies might implode or move out of the US it looks like.
oh wait I think I misunderstood when I made my other comment.
Sorry about that! Although I'm having some difficulty in interpreting your points.🤔