Why the @#%$ do Macs still cost more?

[psycho bob]

Well I payed £2400 for my first 17in PB, never regretted it. Somebody touched on it earlier but part of the increased price is to do with production quantity, it is economies of scale. Dell use mass produced components across the board, Intel CPU's are cheaper than PPC for one. Look inside a G5 it is a work of art, the NVIDIA 6800 is uniquely engineered for the mac yet how many thousands compared to the millions on the PC side will be sold. If the next Intel Powermac is shoved in a pressed metal enclosure that vibrates Apple couldn't possibly sell it at the same price. If Rolex put a Quartz movement in there high end chronographs yet kept the premium price tag they would be highly criticised for it. Small scale, quality, custom parts equals a high price point. If people didn't buy them they wouldn't do it, so what point are you trying to make? Quality will always sell even if it is just because of looks, you either join in and savour the virtues or you don't.

 

[ChrisBrightwell]

3.2Ghz Dual Core Pentium vs 2.3Ghz Dual CPU G5...

Just a point of discussion, but I think you're referring to the P4 Xeon w/ HT Technology.

"Hyperthreading" and "Dual Core" are not the same.

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_core
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperthreading

 

[whiteg]

An Idea

If they weren't worth it you wouldn't care.

 

[shadowmoses]

Have a look at IBM hardware, its the only stuff that compares to apple for build quality, the design is behind though....

IBM Thinkpads are very expensive easily the same price if not more than mac laptops...

So a PC of equal quality to a mac is NOT cheaper, and the PC's wont come bundled with loads of software,

ShadOW

 

[pubwvj]

Actually, Mac's are less expensive...

There was a study done not long ago that demonstrated that Macintosh computers are significantly _less_ expensive then Windows PCs over the lifespan of the computer by a factor of 2 to 3. Macs are better built, last longer, are more reliable, keep their resale value better and are easier to use. Of course, you can buy a Yugo if you prefer... It is your money.

 

[BGil]

Intel CPU's are cheaper than PPC for one

PPC's are much cheaper than X86 procs from AMD and Intel. In fact, the reason why the G5 is so hard to cool is because it's die is so small. It's small so that they price is low. That's why Microsoft switched from X86 to PPC with the Xbox 360. The PPC's are cheap enough that they don't have to sell the console at such a loss (IIRC they actually make a profit on it at $299).

1. The screens generally have a larger viewing angle

Not true by any stretch of the imagination. Powerbooks and iBooks are near the bottom as far as screen quality goes.

5. Build quality, Toshiba is not known for their build quality.

Actually, Toshiba is known for their build quality. Sure their cases are sometimes flimsy (PB's are flimsy too) but the parts inside are generally top-notch. Toshiba is one of the few manufacturers who can actually make their own parts (Mobo, HD, DVD burner, and various other chips inside) and the stuff they don't make is usually high quality too. That's why Toshiba laptops come with Harmon Kardon speakers, great screens, Super-Multi DVD burners (DVD+, DVD-, and DVD-RAM), Digital Audio output (despite someone saying that they don't), amazing batteries etc.

Toshiba's service is also very good because of this. In fact, Toshiba is the only (major) company besides IBM that fully covers their batteries under standard warranty. They do this because they actually manufacture the battery themselves (usually).

Their software package is decent with a few outstanding pieces. You get the standard Sonic DVD burning software (blah), WinDVD (blah) but also Works, Media Center, and OneNote-- which are all very good for their intended purposes.

They have some custom utilties and special stuff (Toshiba was one of the first manufacturers to ship with the Synaptics utilties for the touchpad) but nothing that you can't get from Shellextension Ciy or Handyarchive.