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General discussion

Most Expensive Macs vs. Most Expensive PCs

Aug 6, 2007 1:45PM PDT

Ever since my entering into the computer world, I have always made it a point for myself to investigate what can be some of the most expensive computers, and what they can do.

For starters, I will add the two best Macs that sell currently: the Mac Pro and its laptop counterpart, the MacBook Pro.

The Mac Pro, with a base price of $2200.00 at 2.0Ghz, is what I think to be an incredible machine. In hardware (excluding pre-installed software, AppleCare, and .Mac), the Mac Pro can cost up to $16,824.00. For the full Apple experience, this hot rod can be bought with:

two Intel Xeon "Woodcrest" 3.0Ghz processors,
16GB of RAM, four 750GB hard drives for 3TB of storage,
a 512MB NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 with Stereo 3D (2 x dual-link DVI),
two 30 inch Apple Cinema HD displays,
two 16x superdrives,
both Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and AirPort Extreme,
a quad-channel 4Gb Fibre Channel PCI Express card for connecting to Xserve RAID,
an Apple USB modem,
the wireless Mighty Mouse and wireless keyboard,
Spanish or English OS X (doesn't affect price)
Unlimited Mac OS X Server Client
Aperture 1.5, Logic, or Final Cut Studio Express
a .Mac subscirption,
and an AppleCare subscription.

Yeah that's a lot. But for $18,440.95? I think anyone who paid that for a computer would have to be rich and crazy, not just rich. Come on, that kind of power in a computer is not too common, but it is great. But this is a fantasy for most people. I'm pretty sure 99.9% of people asked would say that they don't need that much computer power. Who really would, besides the government?

The MacBook Pro is more like a fourth of the Mac Pro on legs. (Yes I know, lists are boring, but I'm explaining my theory here).
The 17 inch model sells for $2,799, and the lower end 2.2Ghz 15 inch model sells for $1,999.
Completely tricked out, the ultimate Mac laptop would have:

a 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor,
4GB of RAM,
a 250GB @ 4200 rpm for storage OR a 160GB hard drive @ 7200 for less storage, but more speed,
a glossy or matte high-res 17 inch display,
an Apple 30 inch HD display for mirroring or extended desktop stuff from the other forums,
an Apple USB modem,
an Apple MagSafe airline adapter,
the backlit keyboard with English or Spanish Mac OS X (doesn't affect price),
any of the $299 pre-installed software,
.Mac,
and AppleCare.

This is actually a logical computer for high-end graphic artists and musicians who are on-the-go, like myself, and from the reviews on this, it may be worth buying. If you have a spare $6,423.95 in your pocket. But that's less than half of the Mac Pro, and if I needed another MBP, I'd go ahead and buy that. But 4GB of RAM is too little for the money Apple wants for memory, HP can make a Vista 17 inch laptop with 400GB of storage or something like it, most people don't need to pay $2K for a second HD monitor, and most people who could buy this wouldn't need a USB modem because of broadband.

Now the point of this listing of the high-end Macs is to show their "superiority" (if that's what we should call it) to other computers. Are they good? They are top-of-the-line machines. Are they worth paying thousands of dollars for? Not it you don't need the extras that you could buy and if you're trying to save money.

I posted this in a Mac forum so that my fellow Mac users would also contribute to this. If this was in a Windows forum, I'd get scorned for claiming that Tiger is better than Vista and XP, but still, it is anyway. I'm just showing the Mac OS supercomputers.

Whoever reads this, post your comments and list any other combos of Mac hardware for good deals and stuff. Windows users or Mac users who are familiar with the other side, post your ideas of Windows overpriced supercomputers and compare them to Apple's.

I encourage others to argue with me to prove me if I'm wrong with this: HIGH-END Macs can be overpriced (MacBooks and Mac Minis are great for the budgeters), but are still better than all the other overpriced Windows machines. I use both Windows and Macs, and I have found that Windows machines are just horrible in comparison. Many of my associates agree with me.

Uncle BeatleMegaFan wants YOU to comment on this.

Discussion is locked

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Consider this.
Aug 6, 2007 7:55PM PDT

Now go back 5, 10, 15, 20 years.

Are this now quite the bargains?

Bob

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Where is the comparison?
Aug 6, 2007 9:55PM PDT

Tricking out a MacPro or a MacBook Pro and throwing the numbers out there is not quite what your title indicates.

Where are the prices for a Windows machine, not a home built, from a major manufacturer with the same specifications.
Adding software should not feature in any price comparison.

Try tricking out a Dell with the same specs as the Mac Pro and then post.

P

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Software matters, just not in hardware performance
Aug 7, 2007 12:00AM PDT

I believe that software that comes with a computer is very important because it determines how much the manufacturer wants you to pay. With Apple, you choose everything that goes into the Mac, besides the pre-installed iLife suite and OS X stuff. Most PC manufacturers load up their PCs with ****ware and stuff because they want to extract more money from customers that decide to use the stuff.

Anyway, I'll look into adding some Windows machines to the list. I posted Macs on here because that's what I use most and I'm not as familiar in the PC market. If anyone else tricks out some PCs, put them here.

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****ware is over hyped.
Aug 7, 2007 12:12AM PDT

Let's not go there. At the office we get Dells and we just toss Norton out and we're done. I just picked up an Acer and tossed Norton and the Yahoo toolbar.

Since my experience is not inline with the hype I have the view that some makers do this and some don't.

If you want a bloatware machine, look at Sony. But to bring bloatware up would derail your initial assertion.

Bob

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(NT) Point Taken
Aug 7, 2007 12:53PM PDT
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Anyway
Aug 7, 2007 1:34PM PDT

Well, that aside, you still can buy a Mac Pro for a car's price, a MBP for a trip to Hawaii, and and an HP HDX thing for the same.

Software tends not to be a major factor save one thing; Macs come with iLife already, along with pre-versions of stuff like iWork and etc. that isn't junk-ware. It can cost a few hundreds to buy Windows Vista Ultimate, more hundreds for Microsoft Professional, and much more for other stuff. Macs are different by just a bit.

That's what I meant when I mentioned software. OS's can play a big role in hardware prices, just like the Linux Medison Celebrity $150 laptop. Linux is cheap, so the producers can sell it cheaper.

The new iMacs are also pretty good, considering that you only have two screen options. You can actually trick it out to like $5K and make it much better than a MBP due to the 1TB of storage, RAM, a nice 2.8Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme CPU, etc. Don't know why it still has the ATI cards though. the Mac Pro and the MBP have NVIDIA now, so why hasn't this changed?

Odd, but I think it's because Apple owns ATI or something.

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Not the same trip.
Aug 7, 2007 9:12PM PDT

With MBP I use the machine when I need to for what I want to.

With the Windows PC I spend my time updating my antivirus and spyware protection, scan for virus's and if I have time left read my email.

The experience is like a trip to Hawaii or a trip to the dentist.

Where would you like to go?

Bob

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You are just guessing, again.
Aug 7, 2007 10:43PM PDT

$3668 is the price of a fully tricked out iMac. Including the price of high end software does not give a true comparison at all, especially when that software is not available for multiple platforms and is not likely to be used by the majority of purchasers.

If you did that you could take an E machine and turn it into a 5K machine with no problem.

I note that your initial Subject line actually had no relevance to your original, or subsequent, posts.

On what do you base you claim that Apple owns ATI?

P

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CNET claimed it did unless this site is screwed up
Aug 8, 2007 3:47AM PDT

I read a blog that a CNET editor posted talking about a "rumored" purchase of AMD for Apple. Of course, most of it was bogus, but whoever wrote it said that Apple owned ATI graphics, making it cheaper for Apple computers to have their graphics cards.

I didn't make this up.

It's on CNET somewhere. And now I can't find it. I found one saying that AMD was going to buy ATI, but that wasn't it. I know there was one. Maybe not. Whatever.

My title is relevant to my posts, which is why I talked about software.

OS's and pre-installed software that the consumers have no control of whatsoever can influence how much you pay, and how much better of a deal you're getting. You can't change anything from the iLife suite when you buy a Mac because it's already in it; end of story. Most PCs have some stuff like that, including junk that you still can't take off of it.

I'm just saying that overpriced Macs can beat overpriced PCs because Macs come with the all-in-one package.

The point is you can trick out the most expensive Dell laptop, the XPS, and the MBP, the MBP will be the better deal because it comes with everything inside, lower price most of the time, and overall, easier to use.

I am willing to bet on this: if you take the best Mac and the best PC and put them in front of a person who doesn't know how to use a computer, tell him or her to make a movie, play songs, read emails, type some documents/spreadsheets/slideshows etc., the Mac may prove to be the most preferred.

This is what my point was. It's not hard to infer that if you really knew where I was going with this. Plus guessing is a part of life. I don't fell the need to look up every price of every computer for every reason for everything.

Anyway, I need some help with my quicktime plugin, which is in the Mac apps and utilities forums. So far, it's still a problem for me.

-BeatleMegaFan

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And my final point is
Aug 8, 2007 1:29PM PDT

if you start a thread with a title such as yours, it is your obligation to present both sides of the argument and compare like with like.

Don't throw out a price for a tricked out iMac and then expect everyone to believe you. The Apple store and Google are only a click away and your "facts", like the price of an iMac and the ownership of ATI, are easily checked.

One tends to loose credibility by making sweeping, untrue, statements.

P

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I had a CNET editor's word on that
Aug 9, 2007 4:18AM PDT

The guy came right out and said that Apple owned ATI.

I never cared much for Apple's corporate world. My point to this post is to present the Mac side, and I expected others to fill the rest in. He was wrong, and I partially believed him. Big deal. Story's over.

I don't have the time to look up PC stuff and do real comparisons like the CNET people. That's part of what they do. I just presented one side and hoped that others would come to meet it with the other side.

I don't expect everyone to believe me either. I can throw up iMac prices just as long as I know that it's a possible price for one. Doesn't matter to me though.

Who am I trying to convince? I just post information that I collect through CNET, Apple, the rest of the web, and my own experience. I am presenting what I find, not my opinion. The only opinion I have really given out at all is that Macs are better than PCs because PCs are a waste of time with all their problems.

You were right about one thing though. I'm obligated to present both sides. That doesn't mean I really have to though. I'm a computer expert, but I only work with HP's and Macs because that's where I get the best results.

I don't really care about other PC manufacturers. Many of them are overpriced, like Alienware and Sony. And you know what? Maybe I made a mistake in bringing this topic up. I admit that. But I find it better to admit one's errors than to hold them in and make the problem worse.

I'll bring you some Alienware desktop and a Sony desktop when I return. Your Welcome.

-BeatleMegaFan, with my deep apologies