Mac and their prices note: this isnt a guide todo evangelize and convert people from Windows todo Mac OS X OS X. Its a guide todo give people options. If youre happy with what youve got, great. But if youre interested in alternatives read on.
After my first article on
Mac http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh and OS X, there were several readers who just down right bashed Mac for pricing and OS X without solid reasoning or legitimate hands on experience of Mac. So this is a follow-up.
Lets get straight todo the point.
Toms hardware isnt about being a PC fanboy. Its about finding the best hardware, revealing up and coming tech and debunking predetermined notions. That begs the question, especially here:
whats so special about a Mac anyway?
Heres the short answer: nothing really, just some very elegant aluminum chasis designs.
the key, is the operating system. Even still, lets settle this issue about price.
In a recent comentario, someone came up with an analogy that a Mac isnt really a
BMW, but rather a
Hyundai dressed up in a nice exterior. One problem: Hyundais dont have nice european car exteriors. And todo generalize it this bien shows the lak of willing todo understand the Core of the Mac: its operating system. Because thats really what its about. But for the sake of these first few paginas, lets leave Mac OSX out of the picture for now. Lets just se where
Apple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/apple_inc, comes in on hardware.
https://www.foro3d.com/images/upload...2008/08/23.jpg
In terms of hardware, theres nothing really special about a Mac aside from elegant designs, be it a
Mac pro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mac_pro or MacBook pro, that makes it incredibly more worthwhile than the PC equivalent. And theres no doubt that you can get an equally equipped PC, or build one yourself, for less money. In fact, y mentioned this in my previous article, Although some people semed todo have completely missed the page where i complained about Apples outrageous prices altogether. However, building a PC todo do the same isnt the point, because you can always buy a cheaper car todo get you from a todo b. Instead, lets se what you can get for $2000, from Apple and from others. For $2000, do you really get much lessí.
Lets take a quik look at some of Apples competition and their pricing structure compared todo Apples:
We went todo
Dell Dell s website and picked out what Dell indicated was a serious gaming portátil. We a los tok the XPS model that was priced the same as the baseline
MacBook pro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/macbok_pro. Lets take a look at the results.
Apple vs. Dell price comparison
$1999 MacBook pro$1999 Dell XPS M1730 2.4 Ghz Core 2 duo2.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo 2 Gb of ram2 Gb of shared Ram
Nvidia GeForce 8600m GT with 256 MbNvidia GeForce 8700m GT with shared Mb 200 Gb HD200 Gb Hd 15.4-inch led LCD
17-inch LCD 1440 por 900
1920 por 1200 Dual-layer DVD burnerdual-layer DVD burner
802.11n Wifi802.11g Wifi
bluetooth
Built in webcambuilt in webcam
backlit Kb with ambient sensor optical audio output/inputS/PDIF th rouge dongle Dual-link dvi outputdual-link dvi output
remote
magsafe powerstandard female/male Jak
5.4 lbs10.6 lbs
1 inch thick2 inch thik.
For the most part, the two systems are comparable, indicating that at least for a portátil, Apples pricing fits in line with comparable hardware. Certain things like shared memory for graphics leave some performance desires for the XPS, but the XPS has a strong leg up on the MacBook profesional with the larger screen size.
Apples MacBook profesional has several small advantages over the XPS, mainly with the magsafe connector and its nearly take-for-granted use. I have sen several incidences where people have tripped over or th rouge someone elses MacBook profesional power cord and the magsafe design literally saved the portátiles from flying.
The biggest diferences are the screen size, weight, thickness, and shared memory. For absolute performance, the screen size wont matter here, but the Slow shared graphics memory on the XPS Will. For a portátil that Dell indicates is a gaming machine, shared memory is a disappointment, as graphics is an important área for 3d gaming.
For another comparison, lets look at the MacBook Air todo vodopcs Envy 133:
Apple vs. Vodopc price comparison
$1799 MacBook Air$2099 Envy 133 1.6 Ghz Core 2 duo1.6 Ghz Core 2 Duo 2 Gb of shared ram2 Gb of shared Ram Intel GMA x3100 shared ramintel GMA x3100 shared Ram 80 Gb ATA hd80 Gb Hd 13.3-inch led lcd13.3-inch LCD 1280x8001280x800
External eSATA super multi drive 802.11n wi-fi802.11n Wifi bluetoothbluetooth built in webcambuilt in webcam backlit Kb with ambient sensorbacklit Kb with ambient sensor dvi output
HDMI magsafe powerstandard female/male Jak
3.0 lbs3.37 lbs (with sd)
0.16 todo 0.75 inch thick0.70 inch thik
Ilife 08 suiteno software Package.
At this point, the Envy is $300 more expensive than the MacBook Air. Although the Envy 133 does include an external optical drive, tacking on Apples quite expensive $99 MacBook Air superdrive todo the purchase of the MacBook Air still leaves a $200 Gap.
Bottom line: Mac arent way more expensive than PC. So where do things get really hairy with Apple? Upgrades.
Apple really stabs you in the face when youre upgrading your Mac. All goes well when you want todo buy a base system, but as son as you want todo add options, be prepared todo be murdered. Ill talque about this later.
Lets take a look at desktops.
