.
Here, I'll try to justify the cost-
-Much of the money goes towards the research and development for upgrading older laptops to new ones at the minimal price. Just recently, a person on their forums upgraded a 5-year-old M:500 to brand spankin' new, and was less than $1000.
-Lamborghini doesn't sell their paint cheap.
-You pay for the little extras, like the best laptop cooling system ever, custom reinforced keyboard for people that bash the keyboard during gameplay, a painted mouse, Windows tweaks, ultimate headset, custom airbrushed tattoo ($$$), the BEST customer service I've ever experienced, and much more.
-Voodoo DOES overprice, this is because they want only people that WANT a Voodoo to buy one. They don't want to increase sales and turn into a large company, they want to be small and stay more personal with the customer (hell, I talked with the president of the company on the phone! It was about a billing thing). As the president just said today on the forums, he doesn't want his company turning into a Dell.
And let's not forget that I'm paying $1400 of this, the rest is graduation present. WHY NOT MILK IT!!
And for the future:
Laptop : $3700
In 2-3 years, upgrade that laptop to brand new (includes new keyboard, repainting, the WORKS) for LESS than $1000.
Total? Two kickass laptops instead of 3 mediocre ones for not much more cost.
And I chose the 9600 over the 9700, though the 9700 is slightly better performance wise, it's terrible for battery. Mine will be getting 4+ hours of juice, while the basicly same laptop with the 9700 will get 2.
[EDIT] The 9700 is $500 more than the 9600 laptop (they're separate laptops). I don't think it's worth it.