| ??? 05/09/07 21:09 Read: times |
#138941 - cost? Responding to: ???'s previous message |
Richard Erlacher said:
From what I've observed, Apple has never made anything (aside from a short-lived, feeble attempt with the LISA) that approached a serious computer, opting instead for video toys. Now they're into iPods, etc ... ... So the 8-core Mac Pro is a toy? There's no competing machine in the Windows world. If you shop, a ~3 GHz notebook PC with a GB of RAM and a big enough HDD costs <$500 complete with a factory warranty. Check eBay (no, not for second-hand stuff), eCost.com, Pricewatch.com, etc.
I doubt you can get a comparable Mac notebook for 3x that. In addition to the warranty issue (as in, "good luck getting that off-brand $500 laptop fixed"), there are other things to consider. Compare the screen resolutions and size. Compare the actual processors -- are you getting a dual-core machine or a single-core? Does the $500 machine have Gigabit Ethernet standard? Bluetooth? 802.11g? FireWire? DVD burner? DVI output that lets you run dual-head display? Start adding those features to the $500 laptop and you've easily tripled the price. In fact, I haven't seen any non-Apple laptop with Gigabit Ethernet and FireWire as an option. Dell won't let me configure the $500 laptop with two 2.16 GHz Core2 duos (fastest allowed is the 2.00 GHz). Choose a 15" display with resolution greater than 1280 x 800 and watch the price go up. So my point is: if you're willing to compromise (especially on important stuff, like screen real-estate and a separate video processor (not the GMA shared-memory thing)), you can certainly buy a $500 laptop. But compare point-by-point, and you'll realize that the cost of current Macs is comparable to similarly-configured Windows machines. #include "prymymacbookprofrommycolddeadfingers.h"-a |
