Why so expensive?

I was looking at getting a Mac recently because of my interest and skills in creative fields (video, image/photo, music) because of the apparent exclusive use of Macs in these fields of work. Having looked at Apple's lineup of computers, the one that seemed to best fit my needs would be a 24" 2.4 or 2.8ghz iMac. I would need at least the 24" model for the bigger resolution (1920x1200) for editing. But looking at the prices was deffinately scary. Even the cheaper of the two is $1,800. That's quite a lot of money for a computer. That gets me a 2.4ghz dual core, but only 1gb ram (667mhz), a decent-but-dated video card, 320gb hd, and the complete inability to upgrade anything other than the ram. Without even building something myself, I can get so much more computer for $1,800. Just to get an idea (because I havent bought a desktop computer in four years) I checked out Dell and spec'd out a computer there. There, $1,800 would get me a desktop with a 2.4ghz quad core, 3gb of 800mhz ram, 500gb hd, 512mb nvidia 8800GT, and still have a 24" 1920x1200 monitor. Why do Apple computers carry such a premium on them? Being the frugal individual I am, its very, very hard for me to justify that extra cost for lower performance. But it seems I would need one to work in any respectable creative field; despite there being adequate PC versions of everything (Photoshop, Premiere, Pro Tools, etc).

If your only concern is cost and getting a "bargain" than Macs are probably not for you. Best stick with Dell or Walmart computers.

Just as in life, you get what you pay for, there's so much more than just the surface cost involved in the overall ownership cost.

Because its worth it!

schweb said:

If your only concern is cost and getting a "bargain" than Macs are probably not for you. Best stick with Dell or Walmart computers.

Just as in life, you get what you pay for, there's so much more than just the surface cost involved in the overall ownership cost.

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nicely said.

You are giving quotes for hardware configurations.

The Mac is much more then just the nuts and bolts.

You are paying more for a better build quality than a typical PC, The OS X operating system, ilife software and a host of other free but not cheap software that comes with the macs.

Its more of a complete package than just a machine, its a bit like the difference between a Ford Focus and an Audi TT

You can still do all of the imaging and video stuff on your PC, at the end of the day its the ideas that count, not the machine you are doing them on

Not to mention all the software you don't have to buy for Macs...ie Anti-Virus. Spyware, and Firewall solutions.

schweb said:

If your only concern is cost and getting a "bargain" than Macs are probably not for you. Best stick with Dell or Walmart computers.

Just as in life, you get what you pay for, there's so much more than just the surface cost involved in the overall ownership cost.

Click to expand...

Walmart computer? (shudders)

A year ago I would have agreed with you that macs seem totally overpriced. Now, though, my opinion has totally changed. They have a great track record a fantastic OS. After using my mom's new powerbook I became a bit jealous. It's quite possibly the nicest laptop I have ever used. Better than the one I just bought.

So it all comes down to quality pretty much.

schweb said:

Not to mention all the software you don't have to buy for Macs...ie Anti-Virus. Spyware, and Firewall solutions.

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And the downtimes... ;D

schweb said:

If your only concern is cost and getting a "bargain" than Macs are probably not for you. Best stick with Dell or Walmart computers.

Just as in life, you get what you pay for, there's so much more than just the surface cost involved in the overall ownership cost.

Click to expand...

"You get what you pay for" yeah, that's what I'm asking. What am I getting? Worse hardware in a shiny case? I don't understand it.

For the record, I have had absolutely no issues in the 4+ years of running my XP desktop. I haven't had to buy anything, fix anything, or replace anything.

You're also paying for.....
Stability
Long-term use (talking years)
Reliability

MACyMouse said:

You're also paying for.....
Stability
Long-term use (talking years)
Reliability

Click to expand...

My G4 is from 2000. It's still running and doing so with OS 10.4. Still runs great to. I have seen two year old Dell computers that are falling apart.

louishen said:

Its more of a complete package than just a machine, its a bit like the difference between a Ford Focus and an Audi TT

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I think a better analogy would be a base model BMW 3 series against say a Subaru WRX STi.

You can still do all of the imaging and video stuff on your PC, at the end of the day its the ideas that count, not the machine you are doing them on

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That's very true. But everyone wants to edit video in Final Cut, and I happen to know Premiere, so it causes conflict in trying to work.

My old company had a Mac... couldn't tell you what type... but it ran OS 8.5 on it.... that thing was more reliable than our Jaguar (?? Panther??) Macs... LOL!! Was great!

edit to say: I can't keep up with the cats....

MACyMouse said:

You're also paying for.....
Stability
Long-term use (talking years)
Reliability

Click to expand...

I run my XP desktop 24 hours a day 7 days a week, only turning it off or restarting if an installation or update calls for it. I have never seen a BSOD, nor have I ever had a problem with spyware of viruses. I have had this computer more than four years, and have run it like this the entire time. I would call that very stable, reliable, and good for long term use.

cfusionpm said:

I run my XP desktop 24 hours a day 7 days a week, only turning it off or restarting if an installation or update calls for it. I have never seen a BSOD, nor have I ever had a problem with spyware of viruses. I have had this computer more than four years, and have run it like this the entire time. I would call that very stable, reliable, and good for long term use.

Click to expand...

Then get another PC. I doubt you are going to find people here to argue with you about it.

From time to time we have people show up here who argue point by point why they shouldn't switch. I don't understand what they are hoping to accomplish.

But if you want to try something new, go for the iMac. Give it a shot and you'll find out whether it is all its cracked up to be or not. If you hate it, you can probably ebay it for a loss of only a couple hundred bucks.

Now you have to decide if you think the possibility of losing a couple hundred dollars is worth trying out a new machine and OS.

Aubie16 said:

Then get another PC. I doubt you are going to find people here to argue with you about it.

From time to time we have people show up here who argue point by point why they shouldn't switch. I don't understand what they are hoping to accomplish.

But if you want to try something new, go for the iMac. Give it a shot and you'll find out whether it is all its cracked up to be or not. If you hate it, you can probably ebay it for a loss of only a couple hundred bucks.

Now you have to decide if you think the possibility of losing a couple hundred dollars is worth trying out a new machine and OS.

Click to expand...

But I would also like a job. And everyone uses Macs. As such, it would be beneficial to know them and their programs as well as I know their PC equivelants. I would love to give it a shot, and have played with the new iMacs in stores and like them. But I just can't get past that price tag. For that kind of money I expect much more machine.

cfusionpm said:

"You get what you pay for" yeah, that's what I'm asking. What am I getting? Worse hardware in a shiny case? I don't understand it.

For the record, I have had absolutely no issues in the 4+ years of running my XP desktop. I haven't had to buy anything, fix anything, or replace anything.

Click to expand...

Then stick with XP. If cost is your concern, then keep what you have. Coming here begging us to convince you when you could easily search for your answers since this has all been discussed is pointless IMHO.

The price is the price. Either pay it or don't. Arguing about the cost is completely worthless.

Well from all your posts in this thread... Definitely stick with a WinBox. You have no reason or desire at all to switch.

Not sure these fields are 'exclusively mac' anyway. Like you say, you'll get most Mac apps for a PC.

I think you have to differentiate between 'expensive' and 'requiring a higher outlay'. Mac are by no means bad value, but you certainly won't get a new one for $600. If you really compare the specs carefully, you'll find a MAc and a really equivalent PC aren't much different in cost.

The fact is there are a lot of cheap PCs out there. Apple have never really tried to work in that sector.

Here's another thing I've learned regarding the worth of the Mac that is something that other PCs both don't get, or care about two years after switching to this platform.

It's pretty. Both hardware, and software.

Now, most Mac haters (and there are some really seething people out there, but I'll attribute that to a time when the Mac truly was completely not worth the premium AND the premium was even higher) will use that as an insult when attempting to taunt people who use Macs, but let me explain.

I stare at this thing all day. Because it's my notebook that I take with me wherever I go, all day means pretty much every waking minute, and heck, I'll dream about the thing from time to time. If it's aesthetically pleasing as well as easy to use, that's a healthy combination. Much less fatiguing, and stress-inducing above all the other stresses in life. I value my health, and looking at my former Dell, it's ugliness in comparison, while not making me physically ill, it still is displeasing, and from a mental health point of view, I'd rather look at the Macbook than the Dell, or the Windows interface. It would appear that Apple figured this out and made looking pretty a fairly high priority for a pretty darn good reason.

Work (when you have it) invokes enough stress as it is, I don't need any more from my own personal computer to add to it. A Mac doesn't. That's worth something, and if you compare prices the extra really isn't all that much more than what you would get from a decent Windows machine, at least in the consumer models. That and the consumer models are far prettier IMHO than the pro models. That might be by design as well ('okay, the pro people are using their Macs for work, so let's make them a little less pretty, but still prettier than everything else so it reduces their stress a bit even though they have to work. Hey, maybe it'll make them happy they're working.)

This might just be me, but I'm convinced that there is some group of people at Apple tasked with psychological analysis of aesthetics and have spent considerable money on this aspect of computer design. They did a dang good job.