G4's and Macworld SF

[jeffberg]

Last Macworld in NY apple made the superdrive in the middle of the g4 line. Does anyone think they will put it at the bottom of the line in Macworld SF?

I am going to switch to Mac soon but only if i can get a superdrive computer for less the $1800.

[jefhatfield]

as previous macworlds' top of the line filters down toward the middle and later to the bottom, there is always that chance

...but maybe we will be talking G5 in january



[Edited by jefhatfield on 11-06-2001 at 10:31 PM]

[SPG]

I'm not so sure that the superdrive will make it down to the bottom of the line, there is a need for a cheaper machine and not everyone needs a superdrive.
There will however be huge price cuts in any kind of G4 if G5's are announced.

[ShawnLavin]

Many users have no need for the SuperDrive at all and this is maybe $300 increase in the build cost over a CD-RW/DVD ?

Sure, if you have a digital camera and want to make your own movies, having a SupreDrive is great, but if you are working in an office where the backup procedures are already set up, this is probably not a necessary piece of hardware (on the other hand, if you do not have a backup procedure, the SuperDrive pretty much beats tape all hollow if you user DVD-RW given the cost of tape machines these days)

On a $1800 price point, Apple cannot reasonably be expected to fold in that extra cost.

What I suspect we may see of the other hand is offering the SuperDrive across the pro desktop product line as a BTO option (as opposed to the current limitation to the 867 and dual 800).

[jeffberg]

No I disagree. I think if they told the manufacturer they wanted to buy more superdrives and if the manufacturer can not provide them they'll go to a different manufacturer. This will cause the manufacturer to change some factories and the cost of manufacture would come down to almost CD-RW Prices. they are really not that different. (part wise)

Also apple has to compete with the PC world in their top o line stuff like superdrive. and pc superdrives are dropping rapidly.

P.S. the main reason that superdrives are expensice now is because most companies making them also make cdrw's. Why have one product compete with and eventually replace your main selling product.

It makes some logical sense to jack up the price as not to lose sales on the cdrw's

[Ensign Paris]

I think we will see G5s with possibly all SuperDrives, you can always buy a low end G4 (£1099) and then buy a SuperDrive (£800? I think)

Guy

[mnkeybsness]

actually, the price of dvd burners are not "jacked up" very much. i think last time i checked, they were only selling $40 above cost.

[SPG]

Anybody else making a DVDburner? Just Pioneer last time I checked. Sure there's a bunch of people putting them into different boxes, but they are all the same A03 drive inside.
BTW they ain't cheap or easy to make. If you forgot or didn't know, before the A03 the only thing that could burn a DVD was the Pioneer S201 for about $4500.
Unless Pioneer comes up with another breakthrough, the superdrive price will only come down a little bit more...maybe a few percent.