Why? Why does a MAC cost more than a PC?

You are paying for the name, the brand, the image and the look. That's all there is to it. You can build an equivalent PC for about $600.

The difference is, it does have a better color pallette which is suitable for designers and publishers etc. That targets them to a niche market of dedicated buyers. Then other people see that it's not very common and it becomes a fad.

I'm not knocking Mac at all. I have 8 computers in my house, one of which is a Mac laptop. It's not my favorite to use, but it has it's benefits.

If it came down to it tho, I'm buying an AMD system anyday. Mac who?

 

There you go, comparing apples to lemons again.
When I last compared prices, admittedly about a year and a half ago, because that's when I was last computer shopping, an iMac was about 10% more than a similarly equipped pc. The difference has more than repaid itself in ease of use. I've used PCs for 25 years, and still use them, but I think the Apple is a far superior machine. There was a reason you bought a Prius, and not a used Pinto, wasn't there?

 

The first reason is quality. That inspiron will be in pretty bad shape in a year. The Mac will be good for a long time and will retain its price on ebay for far longer.

Second. No vista in the mini. Only if you really want it or need it.

Third. The processor in the laptop you bought is a mobile version that will be significantly slower than the mini's processor. Same goes for the video processor.

Regarding adding the monitor and peripherals to the Mini; some people want to use a specific monitor size and keyboard. The screen of the inspiron (which is my work laptop) is mud compared to the gorgeous apple laptop screens.

 

Why does a BMW cost more than a Chevrolet? Have you ever driven a BMW? If you had, you'd know why it costs more. Buy a MacBook Pro or an iMac and learn how to use it. You'll find out why all by yourself. PC users don't realize how hard they have to work. You bought a Dell? They're low cost for a really good reason. Back up your data because it's just a matter of a few months before your hard drive will probably fail since they use the cheapest ones they can find. Hey, you have something in common with Dell! Good luck with that.

 

In the six years I owned my Mac Performa both my Dad and a friend of mine went through three PCs. They were both on their third PC when I decided to replace my Mac, not because it wasn't working but because it was so slow and outdated I wanted to upgrade.

The Mac also comes with a wealth of software, not demos, but real stuff.

There's also ease of use AND security.

My Dad just replaced his PC (again). I couldn't convince him to try a MAC. So I listened to him curse Vista and how his printer didn't work, how long it took to boot, etc. and I bit my tongue; I was so tempted to say "Told you so".

I learned in college it was better to spend $100 on a pair of leather shoes that would last 10 years than to buy a pair of cheap synthetic shoes for $20 and have to buy a new pair every year.

BTW I'm typing this on a Titanium Powerbook I bought in 2003.

 

lol, you ordered the dell....haha. I'm not trying to be mean or anything but....ugh. I guarantee you in a year you will be seriously regretting your decision. If you put that dell next to the mac, tried them both side by side, you would question why you even thought of the dell. I'm no huge mac fan at all, but I do know my computers. I've owned 2 mac's in my life, I sold one to buy the 2nd one, and I sold the 2nd one because I needed the cashola. I'm currently looking for another mac because I do miss having one around. You just bought the Pontiac Fiero of PCs, over the Toyota Prius of Macs. Very bad decision IMO, but its your money, life, and decision. Hell, maybe the dell does better what you want it to do, I dont know.

 

Well I've been a Mac user since 1984 so I am just slightly biased, but I prefer the Mac OSX operating system over Windows for many reasons. That's the main reason for buying a Mac. You get a lot of software on the computer right out of the box that is actually usable vs. a PC that comes with Windows software but isn't very good.

If you're a gamer get a PC, no contest.

If you're someone who wants a computer to store your photos, videos, and do email, web surfing, etc, get a Mac.

I currently have a MacBook and love it - bought it last December and just had to have the logic board replaced under warranty. It only took 2 days in the shop under warranty so I'm pretty happy with that. Previously I had a Mac Powerbook G4 12" for three years with no trouble at all.

I also have Windows Home installed on a partition that I can boot into. Since Apple switched to Intel processors now they provide an application called Boot Camp that allows you to install Windows and boot into it to run as a native Windows XP machine. It's pretty nice too but I rarely use it since we also have a Dell 4700 which is used mainly by my wife unless I want to use X-Plane (which will also run well on my MacBook but I get much better framerates on the Dell as it has a good 256mb video card).

I'd love to get one of the new $1499 20" iMacs but I don't have a real need since the MacBook does everything I need it to.

I also like that OSX is a Unix OS, as there is a lot of software you can get to run like OpenOffice which is available for free.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Aug 22 2007, 12:51 PM) [snapback]500353[/snapback]</div>

I bought Little Snitch (or is it L'il Snitch?) for the heck of it because I like to be notified when something attempts to access the internet and I haven't encountered a single intrusion or any spyware. I'm on my second powerbook and I also have a 20" iMac which never has problems. If PC users knew what they were missing, Microsoft would be out of business in a couple of years.

 

The cost difference has nothing to do with build quality, rather good ol American competition, or lack thereof. Mac's are only made by Apple so they can charge whatever the market will bear, whereas there are dozens of companies making PC compatables, so the margin is much lower. For myself, when I need to upgrade, I build my own, my preference is Asus motherboards, AMD processor, and Seagate or Western Digital hard drive, but I am still sticking with Windows XP for now, Vista needs more time to mature.

As for build quality, I can't see where Macs are built any better than PC's, they use the same hard drives, memory, and now even processors as PC's.

In my own use, I find that the PC is much easier to use than a Mac, allthough with the new OS, they are getting better, especially since now you can use a normal keyboard and multi-button mouse. But in the long run, it comes down to each user's personal taste IMHO.

Anyway, enjoy your Dell, they are well built and stand up very well, where I work, we have 17,000 plus PC's, all Dell, some as much as 10 years old and standing up quite well.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tekn0wledg @ Aug 22 2007, 08:28 AM) [snapback]500282[/snapback]</div>

HolyKow! Eight computers in your home! Please, Please, Please consider this.

Thank you.

Wildkow

 

^^ wow....its me, but in another person....Everything you said is me...
lol. I'm rollin Asus crosshair with amd 4800+ x2, with WD's as my system drives. Only Xp for now also. Vista is still a piece of junk. Maybe in 2 years I'll check it out again.

 

Mac is for morons, PC is for those who know what their doing. No offense to Mac users, but Mac's tend to coddle you. But then again Windows does this more and more with every new version. I just hate having to try to get around their "Save you from yourself" mentality to do anything usefull. I generally build my own computers and I am a software engineer and I hate my computer trying to tell me I don't know what I am doing. I have wished for a long time that when installing an OS it would have one simple question "Are you a moron?" and if you answer no it would turn off all the little "help" / "enahncement" features. That said, I am buying my wife a Mac in a few months! :lol:

 

Well I've had a Dell Inspiron notebook since january 2002 ($1500) and except for a memory upgrade (256 to 768) it has performed flawlessly. The thing traveled in my messenger bag for three years to and from law school on a motorcycle and still good. So I wouldn't knock Dells. My laptop is basically the $799 one Dell sells now.

The question in this thread though is why are Apple's so much? (Which I just checked the websites Dell and Apple and the difference is actually surpising: I checked two different sytems "fully loaded" and "entry level" for laptops and found that: (systems as closely matched in cpu, ram, video, screen, conectivity)

Dell fully loaded XPS system: $3,818.00 (This system was not fully loaded, Dells can add many more options increasing the price to almost 5K, which would included a blue ray dvd burner not available from Apple)

Apple fully loaded Mac book pro: $3,749.00 WOW less than the Dell! Plus it does look better and has a backlit keyboard. (which is why I would think about shelling out the additional money from the iBook)

Entry level Dell: Inspiron $714
Entry iBook: $1,099

So Apple entry level is about 65% more expensive for the relatively same hardware.

The paradox here is that: High end users of Apples pay proportionally LESS than the entry level users for the priviledge, and from I understand high end users would use Apples even if they were more expensive. Its the poor shlubs at the entry level who would benefit from the ease of use and stability of the Apple, but iut is these people that Apple charges MORE?

While I think that any inflated prices for Apples is due to the proprietary aspects of their manufacturing process. This only seems to affect the entry level folks.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hycamguy07 @ Aug 22 2007, 09:56 AM) [snapback]500261[/snapback]</div>

Because they work better.

And you're comparing a low-end laptop to a mid-range desktop. If you look at Apple's low-end laptops (which are still better quality and more stable than the equivalent PC), you're looking at $1100 for a 2GHz Intel DuoCore. Mac Mini (not MiniMac) start at $600, not $700. iMacs start at $1200, with everything you need. I don't see any iMac listed for $1999, not sure where you got your prices.

I've used Macs since about 1990 (Apple II's before that), Unix since 1986 (not much lately), Wintel-PCs regularly since 1993. The Mac does everything the average person needs, in addition to being really good for my video editing needs, plus you don't need to be bogged down with virus checkers and the like. In fact, I sometimes answer phishing e-mails with fake data just to give a minor frustration to the phishers. With my Mac behind a router, nobody will bother retaliating, but I certainly don't try that with my work PCs (laptop and desktop).

I'm an embedded software engineer, so when I need to do work for my employer, I use a PC since that's what they use, but when I want the computer to work for me, I use a Mac.

 

Could someone please recommend Real Estate Appraisal software I could use on a Mac?

Wildkow

 

hycamguy07 : Nice ... you compared a low end Dell to a high end Pro machine (albeit refurbed).

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Aug 22 2007, 10:42 AM) [snapback]500417[/snapback]</div>

If you need a computer for boring work tasks, buy a PC, it's good enough for you. If you want a computer to do cool creative stuff, buy a Mac.

That's the difference. Creative thinking people use Macs. Boring dull working people use PC's. :lol: