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Mac comptuers cheaper then PC's? How?

S

SilverBlade

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I'm not trying to start a flame war, or to bash Macs in any way, but I've heard this argument that a Mac computer is cheaper then a PC with similar specs on it. I ask 'How?'..I look at the prices of Mac and PC hardware..the PC hardware is like 50-60% of the price of the Mac hardare. And adding on software costs (Operating system) wouldn't bring it up to the cost of the Mac.

So how IS a Mac + software cheaper then a Windows PC + software?
 
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Meh.

It's not.

Just better.
 

dtravis7


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In some cases like the Mac Pro it has been proven it is. Remember the Mac Pro is not a normal HOME desktop computer. Compare it to a Dell Workstation with the same specs the Mac Pro is a very good deal.
 
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SilverBlade

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To be fair, I'm compairing a Macbook Pro with other computers (Toshiba, Dell, Acer) with similar specs.
 
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SilverBlade said:
To be fair, I'm compairing a Macbook Pro with other computers (Toshiba, Dell, Acer) with similar specs.

No one from Apple has come out and said that they were less expensive than the competition. Whatever/whoever your source was, it wasn't a good one.

Like previously stated, the Mac Pro is less expensive to a comparable Dell system, but everyone knows that you can get a dell for less thna $1,000. No one here will argue that.
 
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I have not priced lately but when I bought my ibook it was cheaper than a similar pc laptop. I found the ibook while shopping for a laptop for the kid to take to university. A 12 inch ibook was 1400 Canadian. You could not get a 12 inch pc laptop for under 2k. I don't know how the specs add up because with the ppc macs no one would make a speed comparison. But size and functionality there was no pc that met the kids needs.

But even the macbook, add up the software. The ilife pack alone would be around 200 buck on a pc. Ya you can get a pc laptop for 600 bucks but my ibook is going on two years. I have never had any pc last that long.

bone
 

dtravis7


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Agreed with Boneheadz. Overall with everything Macs come with Software wise, they are a good deal. The MacBook is a very good deal and so are the lower end iMacs.
 
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It all goes back to one of life's best axioms (even with the questionable grammar): you get what you pay for. IMO, the near-flawless integration between the OS, apps and hardware constitutes the Apple "premium."
 
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digitalcubano said:
It all goes back to one of life's best axioms (even with the questionable grammar): you get what you pay for. IMO, the near-flawless integration between the OS, apps and hardware constitutes the Apple "premium."

IMHO if you are after a computer the choice of os is either Linux, Windows or Mac....If you are taken by one OS over another and have to decide which to buy based on cost....you would go for linux. If you are taken by style and core strength then you would go Mac....if you follow all the rest you would go Windows...

I just don't see it as a cost thing....
 
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SilverBlade said:
To be fair, I'm compairing a Macbook Pro with other computers (Toshiba, Dell, Acer) with similar specs.
Fine then. Give us some proof. I can't imagine a similar brand name system to a Macbook Pro being 50% or 60% of the price of any Apple laptop.

The best similar HP machine (without serious detail research) was; nc8430 Notebook PC (EY688AA) for $1750. That is 87.5% of the similar Apple product. The HP does come with better warranty and more memory and some other slightly better specs. So I'd have to say HP might have one over Apple there. They also offer the Core 2 Duo as an option, which we're still waiting for. [EDIT]: Apple offers Core 2 Duos as of October 24, 2006.

In the end the small difference doesn't matter to me, and many others. The problem with the non-Apple vendors is that their hardware does not (officially at least) run Mac OS X. If Apple were to officially support other vendors hardware, I'd be open to quality non-Apple hardware.

P.S. It was interesting how you qualified your selection after someone mentioned how Mac Pro desktops are extremely competitive with that cheapy company Dell. Actually you can find net stories that show the Apple product was much less expensive.
 

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