Is A PC Really Cheaper Then A Mac?

[nakile]

Out of the interest of science, I decided to go over to Dell.com and configure a laptop up to what a Macbook has. A short and simple little experiment.

I went with the $699 Inspiron E1405, mostly because of size (smallest). On the Apple side, I went with the $1,299 Macbook.

So now I went on to upgrade the Dell PC to what the Mac would have.

First I had to jump the processor from 1.73 to 2.0 Ghz, $250. Next was the OS. Vista Home Premium seems to be comparable to OS X, an extra $29. Next was the disc drive, another $40. Next was a media remote and Bluetooth another $49. Now the software. Photo manager was another $39. CD burner and video editor another $79. And you need some security programs and anti virus. Three years subscription for $99.

My ending total is $1,284. Another $15 bucks and I have a Macbook. On top of that, I notice one thing about the Macbook that I couldn't do with the Dell: make it thinner. The Dell is around 1.5" thick and the Macbook is around an inch. Weight is nearly the same, the Macbook being 5.2lb and the Dell being 5.3lb, although I'm sure the upgrades added some more weight.

Next I decided to do a desktop unit. For the iMac, I went with the $1,199.00 version. For the Dell, the $819 (The most expensive Dimension was the only one with a Core 2 Duo). I basically got the same results, although I think I went over the cost of the iMac, and I still hadn't upgraded from the GMA X3000, added Bluetooth, and a few other things. Although the Dell did offer an overall bigger HDD by default.

Is a PC cheaper or not? You decide.

 

[Mattlike]

Not to be offensive, but this topic has been hammered out several times before on this board. I don't know if we need to go through it again, as it ends up with having insults.

 

[nakile]

Not to be offensive, but this topic has been hammered out several times before on this board. I don't know if we need to go through it again, as it ends up with having insults.

I kind of thought of that. I used the search, but it filtered out half the words I inputed and I ended up nowhere at all.

So I decided to do my own comparison. Depending on the age of the older topics, this one might be different. A PC and Mac are now more comparable then ever in a way.

On top of that, I'm not saying that a Mac is better, or a PC is better. What I posted is how it is. It might have a little bit of opinion in it, but go to the Dell website, do what I did, and you see that for the most part what I have posted is fact.

In fact, I reworked my original post. It's now contains no opinion from me that I can see.

 

[MinaMACMan]

Well, IMHO I think PCs even if they come out cheaper, by 15 or by 1500, I'd still go for the MAC.

The difference in the money will probably go towards Peace Of Mind, which u can never get with PCs, wheather its from Viruses that will kill u no matter how many AntiVirus Softwares u have loaded, to Locking up and freezing while doing the simplest stuff.

Again, thats only my thoughts on the topic. and I don't think this topic should lead to any insults like Mattlike mentioned, we are all adults here and Open minded.

Cheers

 

[iKitten]

It is nice to see someone do a comparison with a non-aggressive tone!

I've experienced the same with the forum search feature filtering out half the words.

 

[MinaMACMan]

^^ I'll second that.

 

[Sgt Beavis]

Not to be offensive, but this topic has been hammered out several times before on this board. I don't know if we need to go through it again, as it ends up with having insults.

You're right, however computer prices change regularly, so an update every once in a while isn't a bad idea...

 

[Sgt Beavis]

Out of the interest of science, I decided to go over to Dell.com and configure a laptop up to what a Macbook has. A short and simple little experiment.

I went with the $699 Inspiron E1405, mostly because of size (smallest). On the Apple side, I went with the $1,299 Macbook.

So now I went on to upgrade the Dell PC to what the Mac would have.

First I had to jump the processor from 1.73 to 2.0 Ghz, $250. Next was the OS. Vista Home Premium seems to be comparable to OS X, an extra $29. Next was the disc drive, another $40. Next was a media remote and Bluetooth another $49. Now the software. Photo manager was another $39. CD burner and video editor another $79. And you need some security programs and anti virus. Three years subscription for $99.

My ending total is $1,284. Another $15 bucks and I have a Macbook. On top of that, I notice one thing about the Macbook that I couldn't do with the Dell: make it thinner. The Dell is around 1.5" thick and the Macbook is around an inch. Weight is about the same for the two, although I'm sure the upgrades I added had to have added weight.

Next I decided to do a desktop unit. For the iMac, I went with the $1,199.00 version. For the Dell, the $819 (The most expensive Dimension was the only one with a Core 2 Duo). I basically got the same results, although I think I went over the cost of the above iMac, and I still hadn't upgraded from the GMA X3000, added Bluetooth, and a few other things.

Is a PC cheaper or not? You decide.

Did you take any Dell coupons into account? Because you started with a $699 I'm thinking you might have used the $300 coupon that expires today.

However if you configured the laptop so the regular price was at least $1499, there would be a $500 coupon you can use.

Anyways, did you apply a coupon code to your configuration?

Also, all that said, you'd still own a Dell that is noted for lower build quality, is heavier, and as you mentioned is thicker.

 

[nakile]

Did you take any Dell coupons into account? Because you started with a $699 I'm thinking you might have used the $300 coupon that expires today.

However if you configured the laptop so the regular price was at least $1499, there would be a $500 coupon you can use.

Anyways, did you apply a coupon code to your configuration?

Also, all that said, you'd still own a Dell that is noted for lower build quality, is heavier, and as you mentioned is thicker.

EDIT: My pricing does include the "rebate." It's an instant rebate, meaning it's always factored into the pricing.

 

[Kash]

I've done several comparisons for those who claim a Mac is overpriced compared to a PC. Lemme show you a more accurate one and you'll be rather surprised with the results.

For starters, you can't compare a Macbook with the E1405 as they are in two separate classes, that particular Dell model being at the low end. A more accurate comparison would be with a Dell XPS 1210.

I configured the Dell to be as close as possible to the Macbook. 1.83GHz Core2Duo, 1GB RAM, 120GB hard drive, 8X DVD Burner, Integrated graphics, Bluetooth, and the Premium A/V bundle. Here are the prices:

XPS 1210 - $1711
Macbook - $1374

Now, I will do the same for the higher end 17" Macbook Pro. I will compare it with the Dell XPS 1710.

Again, the specs were brought as close as possible. 2.33GHz Core2Duo, 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, 8X DVD burner, integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 1 year warranty. The only difference is that the Dell has a faster video card, the nVidia 7950 compared to the MBP's X1600. Here are the results:

XPS 1710 - $3597
Macbook Pro - $2799

I remember somebody arguing that it wasn't a fair comparison because the Dell had a much faster video card. Now, if the Dell were a hundred or so dollars more expensive, then I would concede the point. But in fact it's $798 more expensive, which definitely does not justify the faster video card.

So as you can see, the Dell is in fact MORE expensive than the equivalent Apple computer.

I remember doing comparisons against HP and Sony laptops as well. The HP was cheaper by a bit, but like Dell, the Sony was also quite expensive. So all the evidence shows that the "Apple is more expensive" concept does not hold any water.

 

[baggss]

Try comparing the HPs, Sony's and Macs from 3rd party retailers. The prices come real close IIRC.

 

[scooter]

but to be fair with dell, you can't compare a top of the line gaming model (XPS) series to the lower end mac series.

i just did the same 17" comparison and came up with these numbers, plus tax and shipping (which is currently not free on dell)

Macbook pro - $3045.31 (est. tax)
Dell XPS m1710 - $3478.39

it's debatable about the extra value/power of the nvidia gforce go 7900 vs. the ati x1600 card. the nvidia is easily 2x more powerfull, but is it worth 400? probably not.

 

[Alexis]

Everybody seems to think Dell are the only PC manufacturer.

The question is how much do the companies buy the components for, how many components they buy, how many will they sell, how much of an infrastructure do they have to pay for, how much marketing they use, how much R&D do they do and finally how much of a markup do they put on.

You'll get a different figure for every PC manufacturer you look at, let alone with Apple and Dell.

The only thing you can safely say is that the only way to get a cheap computer is to buy a second hand Mac or PC, or build a PC from scratch yourself.

When it comes to Macs, I could build a cheap Socket 775 PC with Intel Core 2, a decent graphics card, 1 GB memory and 'acquire' Windows for cheaper than the equivalent iMac. But then I could buy a 1.6 Ford for cheaper than a 1.6 BMW!

 

[baggss]

Dell tends to be the primary comparison because Apple modeled their online store service with the goal of beating Dell in the market. Comparing a home built PC to a Mac of any kind is an unfair comparison at best and the PC will always win. The fact that Dell is one of, if not the, largest on-line PC maker/seller is also important. The fact that you can not build a Mac from scratch has to be taken into account. What people are looking at is what you can buy from two online stores that have the closest possible specs to see what the pricing is. Not all the specs match up and both Apple and Dell offer different options such as the graphics card. While that distinction is important in many ways, it is not always important the end user.

 

[Kash]

Alexis, if you read mine and baggss earlier posts, you would have seen that when compared to other manufacturers, such as HP or Sony, Apple laptops are priced just right according to the market, not above it.

And like baggss said, you can't compare a retail computer to a DIY computer. The latter doesn't come with overhead costs that the company uses for advertising and distribution. Add those costs to your DIY PC, and you'll see that the cost comes much closer. Oh, and I'd like to see you make your own laptop.

 

[D3v1L80Y]

Okay, this has been discussed ad naseum in countless threads before.
We really don't need another one, so I am going to close this one before it gets ugly like the rest of them eventually and inevitably do.