This is a repost from another page but I think it is appropriate to repost since it's my take on why I'm having a hard time switching.
I am a PC user who really is interested in switching to a Mac. My biggest problem with the Mac is the price to performance ratio. I currently use a Dell 4100 with a 933 P-III, 512 MB of ram, an 80G HD and a GeForce-3. The original box cost me ~$900.00 a little over 18 months ago and I added the GeForce3 and 80 Gig HD after that. My problem is now, 18 months later, SJ is trying to sell me the same technology for $1400.00 more that what I paid for my PC (and w/o a monitor). We can argue all day about the differences between PPC and x86 and all that, but I still have the perception that I'm getting screwed! If we look at the total cost of a me (and I would say an average PC user) to switch, roughly, just for the basics, $2300.00 more for the same technology w/o a monitor, another $460.00 for MS Office, $600.00 for Adobe Photoshop7, $70.00 for Nortons anti-virus). My total cost to migrate would be $ 4830.00. For that kind of money, myself and most PC users who are interested in switching to a Mac either can't afford to, or, just don't see the value. Why not an iMac? I'm a gamer and for the same price performace reasons they are not appealing either. I am starting to hate MS, but the truth is that WinXP is extremely stable (never had a problem yet - although WinMe was a disaster!). I think for apple to pull more PC users over to Mac, they are going to have to, even if it's at a more expensive price (but not double!!), sell computers that are roughly equivalent to an "average" PC in both performance and options. Apples biggest problem I think is that they have made switching so unappealing that PC users who WANT to switch still just can't do it. We can argue about quality and this an that, but like I said, my PC is very stable, pretty quick and hasn't given me a single problem yet! I'm looking forward to a PowerMac update as long as they're not trying to sell me a 1.2 G4 for $2200.00 without a monitor (maybe I would pay that for G5 after seeing some benchmarks).
Remember, I'm a PC user who WANTS to switch, basically looking for any reason to switch, but still can't with the state of Mac processors and memory.
