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Apple *is* more expensive, PJ is half-wrong | 280 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
Apple isn't more expensive
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, September 01 2012 @ 06:29 PM EDT
At one time I looked into buying an Apple computer because I
was fed up with trying to keep Windows running (long before
Apple turned into smarmy patent trolls). I immediately got
sticker shock and that was the end of that. Apple sells image
and I never was willing to pay for that.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Apple *is* more expensive, PJ is half-wrong
Authored by: celtic_hackr on Sunday, September 02 2012 @ 10:37 AM EDT

I'm sorry PJ, but you need to check your facts first. You are simply wrong that Apple products are not more expensive.

Here's a simple comparison between a top-of-the-line Apple product and a top-of-the-line Dell laptop. I chose these as they are both the most expensive models you can buy in one of my staple computer stores. http://www.microcenter.com/product/3948 29/MacBook_Pro_with_Retina_Display_MC975LL-A_154_Laptop_Computer_-_Silver at $500 more, vs. http://www.microcenter.com/product/393980/XPS_15_156_Lapt op_Computer_-_Silver_Anodized_Aluminum.
The Dell has a 3rd Gen i7 running slightly slower (2.1 vs 2.3) than Apple's, the new GDDR5 640M, which has twice the speed and memory of the Apple GDDR3 650M, a faster larger HDD (very important feature). The only thing the Mac has over the Dell is the IPS screen. The Dell screen has a full HD LCD (1920x1080), but not the IPS (2880 x 1800). The Dell also has a Blue Ray DVD player/recorder, a newer next gen wireless, and reads multiple cards. Not sure on the battery. No optical drive for the Apple, and good luck trying to add one. It would not surprise me to find the Mac has a superior battery and "stock" longer life (no DVD player). So, two very similarly built machines of equal quality, but the Dell would outperform the Mac in all things except battery and screen resolution. But seriously do you really need more than 1920x1080 in a 15" screen?

Then there is this one which is $850 cheaper, same speed CPU, but again the 3rd gen vs. Apple's most likely 2nd Gen, same specs as the more expensive better build quality Dell (Aluminum vs Plastic), except it has an even better video card and still worse battery. But Batteries are fairly cheap these days. http://www.microcenter.com/product/388512/G55VW-RS71_156_Laptop_Computer_-_Black .
I could go on and on with numerous examples. Apple is more expensive. But that Asus one is a Gaming laptop, and has features for that, including built in 3D support and a lit keyboard, and a more comfortable keyboard and live overclocking (you can overclock on the fly without rebooting, and it has the cooling system to support it). This might be plastic, but top of the line Asus. I'm not knocking Apple, they make quality stuff, but their very philosophy keeps them from being top-end SOA except on the day of release of a new model, which isn't very often (once every 3 years, give or take). Apple has no lock on quality or ease of use. That is not to say they haven't driven innovation. I've only ever had issues with a laptop once, and the HP customer support was phenomenal, for me. The one I bought 5 years ago, I gave to my daughter, and it's still a competing PC. The one, I'm using now got dropped 2ft about a year ago and other than a slightly loose hinge on one side, is still performing 100% (because I never bothered to take it apart to re-tighten it). YMMV.

Final parting shot, here's another Mac, same price and doesn't even have the IPS to claim a victory and a worse battery.http://www.microcenter.com/product/394839/MacBook_Pro_MD104L L-A_154_Laptop_Computer_-_Silver.

So yes, more expensive. Occasionally bleeding edge in one or more respects, but lagging in others. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Cost of ownership
Authored by: matth on Sunday, September 02 2012 @ 01:41 PM EDT
Last time I analyzed a hardware purchase with a lot of scrutiny, I concluded Apple was getting a better profit margin on their job of hardware/software integration than the Windows laptop makers.

Then I added up the costs of ownership: Cost of downtime, cost of making features work together, without configuration/setup hassle, cost of 3rd party vendors introducing instability, etc. and the risk of spiraling ownership costs were all on the Windows side. It was pretty much exactly as I'd intuited.

Having stuff just work is really valuable.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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