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Also, it seems to me that Macs have a much longer usable life than PC's, due to the "lightness" of the OS.
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Originally Posted by goaliemn
(Post 7274506)
I'm debating between the 2 intel dual core models. Would it be better to go with a slightly slower CPU and get more memory, or the faster proc and not as much memory? I hate the fact you can't get the superdrive with the slower processor :( That's another big draw for me. I see mentions of the new OS coming out this spring. If I bought a Mac Mini now, would I have to buy the OS, or does mac usually offer some sort of discount for "recent" purchases? Thanks Apple has in the past offered free upgrades if you are with in a certian period and discounted upgrades after that...then full upgrades for everyone else |
Originally Posted by SpaceBass
(Post 7274698)
I used to agree that they *seemed* more expensive, but I made the argument that if you speced out a similar PC it would be about the same...It had been a while since I'd taken a close look, so I decided to check again.
Here's dell's offering (with Vista): http://www.archatechs.com/dell.tiff $1975.00 Here's a black Macbook: http://www.archatechs.com/apple.tiff $1,499.00 (before education discount, if one applies for you) As best as I can tell, the Dell does come with a better video card, so maybe you can justify an additional $100 for the dell...but they only offer G (or A/G) wireless cards where the Mac's come with N chips... Of course the mac comes with iLife, which I'd personally value at about $100...so maybe its a wash. Bottom line, it appears that PCs actually cost more! |
Originally Posted by SRQ Guy
(Post 7274708)
Also, it seems to me that Macs have a much longer usable life than PC's, due to the "lightness" of the OS.
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Originally Posted by Somewhere Over the Atlantic
(Post 7275297)
For a balanced comparison, shouldn't the comparison be between the Dell and a MacBook Pro?
Check the specs in the graphics... |
The Mac costs a lot more. Yes, the Mac is probably better than the PC, but is it hundreds of dollars better? Only you can decide. For me, it isn't worth the extra money. I have a 5 year old Dell Inspiron, and a 4 year old Sager, still running great with XP. I don't think you need to worry about whether they will last long, they will.
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Now here is a quirk that makes no sense to me.
If I go to the apple.ca site and purchase there with the educational discount section, right up until the final page they don't charge sales tax on the order. A savings of 15% in Ontario. If I go to the apple.com site and do the same thing, they charge me the CA sales tax, 8.75%. Did I miss something here? |
Originally Posted by Somewhere Over the Atlantic
(Post 7275308)
Care to be more specific on your definition of a "much longer usable life"?
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Originally Posted by DeafFlyer
(Post 7275802)
The Mac costs a lot more.
http://www.archatechs.com/dell.tiff http://www.archatechs.com/apple.tiff |
Originally Posted by SRQ Guy
(Post 7276497)
I just purchased a 7 year old 450 MHz Powermac desktop that is still perfectly usable, with current software.
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Originally Posted by SpaceBass
(Post 7275440)
Why? The Macbook seems like a pretty close comparison.
Check the specs in the graphics... Here are the differences: *Video subsystem--The Macbook 2.0 uses an integrated graphics chipset (Intel GMA 950 with 64M shared memory), while the Dell and the Macbook Pro use add-on video cards with vastly greatly memory and horsepower. The Dell model uses an NVidia model with 512 M video memory, while the Pro uses a more-modest ATI Radeon with 128 MB. This is more than a $100 difference in price. *Screen size--The Macbook 2.0 has a 13.3" screen, while the Dell has a higher-resolution 15.4" screen, similar to the Pro's 15.2. The supported native resolution of each translates into a difference of 1280x800 vs. 1440x900. The component costs for the superior video card and lcd panel easily account for the price difference. When looking at the differences, you also see the hardware similarity between the Dell and the Pro. |
Why Mac?
It's easy to use Looks good Never need tech support No viruses Mac is beloved by HOM^ |
Originally Posted by MapleLeaf
(Post 7275824)
Now here is a quirk that makes no sense to me.
If I go to the apple.ca site and purchase there with the educational discount section, right up until the final page they don't charge sales tax on the order. A savings of 15% in Ontario. If I go to the apple.com site and do the same thing, they charge me the CA sales tax, 8.75%. Did I miss something here? |
The price issue is more one of choices not of "the Mac costs more". It doesn't cost more if you compare like stuff. If instead you say, well, Apple's low end laptop costs $1100 and I can get a low end Windows laptop for $600, well, that's true. If you stop there, though, you're leaving out the fact that a $500 laptop is somewhat lacking in various areas.
As for the "usable life" remarks, this can vary quite a lot from user to user and what you're trying to do with the machine, but at work we've been able to keep our Macs usefully employed (as everyday office machines) much longer than our Windows boxes. No CA sales tax if you order from ExperCom. You may not be able to preserve the edu discount, but they should have some other discount available. And maybe saving the sales tax is a bigger savings than the edu discount. |
Originally Posted by CrazyOne
(Post 7277262)
The price issue is more one of choices not of "the Mac costs more". It doesn't cost more if you compare like stuff. If instead you say, well, Apple's low end laptop costs $1100 and I can get a low end Windows laptop for $600, well, that's true. If you stop there, though, you're leaving out the fact that a $500 laptop is somewhat lacking in various areas.
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