It’s not just the ongoing DRAM shortage that has made gaming hardware next to impossible to own, as your ability to acquire powerful laptops often depends on where you reside. A combination of inflated tariffs, import duties, Value Added Tax (VAT), and other costs means that if you’re not living in the U.S., then a $1,700 amount will only net you an RTX 3050-powered gaming laptop.
An ASUS TUF Gaming A15 gaming laptop with an RTX 3050 costs roughly $1,620, and that too after a discount
Lamenting on Reddit, “baldestpianoman” makes a statement on how good U.S. customers have it when it comes to various consumer electronics, particularly gaming laptops. Visiting a couple of stores, an ASUS TUF Gaming A15 with an AMD Ryzen 7 170 paired with 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD, and an RTX 3050 with 4GB of VRAM was priced at $27,599; though we cannot deduce which country the Redditor resides in, the Spanish term “Precio de Contado” and the gaming laptop’s price could indicate that the individual might be from Mexico.
Regardless of their geographical location, the currency conversion to $1,620 for the sale price makes the RTX 3050 gaming laptop incredibly overpriced, especially if you’re a U.S. customer. Even if we factor in the increased memory costs, you can easily grab portable powerhouses like MSI’s Vector 16 HX AI with an RTX 5070 Ti from online retailers like Amazon for just $1,679.
It’s also surprising to see that the RTX 3050 is still sold in gaming laptops outside of the U.S., despite being two generations old and severely underpowered in both graphics processing capabilities and VRAM count. Its successor, the RTX 5050, currently offers 8GB of framebuffer, which is also paltry by today’s standards, but offers Multi-Frame Generation support in addition to NVIDIA’s DLSS.
For consumers who find gaming laptop and hardware prices ludicrously high, it’s recommended to use an import service to bring some of those products from the U.S. In this manner, you’ll have top-tier configurations at your fingertips without paying an arm and a leg.
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech’s mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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