I was browsing the JB Hi-Fi catalogue this afternoon, hunting for deals and discounts that you, dear reader, may find helpful. I do this often, its a public service we offer around here. Most of the time, the deals (no matter which retailer carries them) are fairly standard — 10% off SSD’s here, 15% off Xbox controllers there — but every now and again, something jumps out at me. A deal so wild that I immediately open a blank blog and start writing.
This is the MSI Titan GT77HX 17.3″ 4K UHD 144Hz Gaming Laptop. It is a gaming laptop with a price tag of $9,999.
No, it’s fine, I’ll give you a moment to pick yourself up off the floor.
You might be asking yourself, ‘how is it possible that I’m looking at a $10,000 gaming laptop?’ Great question. I’m not entirely certain. It’s possible that inflation truly has made fools of us all.
But, ok, putting aside the jump scare that is the price point, what kind of laptop does $10,000 actually buy you? Let’s all gather round and take a quick look under the hood, shall we? Here’s the spec sheet straight from the JB Hi-Fi website:
- 17.3″ 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) 144Hz Mini LED display
- Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake i9-13980HX processor (2.2 – 5.6GHz)
- 4TB SSD M.2 storage with 64GB DDR5 RAM
- NVidia GeForce RTX 4090 16GB GDDR6 graphics
- 1 x HDMI port
- 3 X USB-A ports
- 2 x Thunderbolt 4.0 ports
- SDXC Card reader
- Webcam
- Bluetooth v5.3
- Wi-Fi 6
- Cherry MX Mechanical Keyswitch Keyboard
- Windows 11 Pro operating system
Bit on here. Not only is it running a full 144Hz mini LED display on a 17.3″ 4K panel, it’s also crammed a 13th Gen i9 processor AND an RTX 4090 in there. There’s a rather large 4TB of ultra-fast m.2 SSD storage in the mix. It’s also running a built-in mechanical keyboard in case you prefer something more tactile under your fingers.
This, of course, sent me investigating other laptops on the JB website, and it revealed a startling truth — the Titan GT77HX 17.3″ is not alone in this ultra-high-end price category. There are others. The Titan’s sister machine, the MSI Stealth 17Studio 17.3″ weighs in at $8,299, while the Razer Blade 18 squeezes the price down to $7,099. ASUS’ ROG Zephyrus Duo is the first 16″ on the list at $6,599. The field is littered with machines well above the traditional gaming laptop price point of around $3,000.
To be clear, I’m not actually mad about this, and I don’t think you should be, either. This is a laptop that is priced to sell maybe a handful of units. MSI will be well aware that the number of consumers able to part with this much money for a laptop is vanishingly small, at least until it starts going on special. It’s like Apple selling a $10,000 version of the original Apple Watch — they knew they were only going to move a handful of units.
And now, dear reader, I turn the question over to you. You’ve read the spec sheet. You’ve seen the price tag. Would a laptop like this even come close to enticing you? Feel free to go insane with me in the comments.
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