do you really need the i7?
a 27" i5 is only $1850AR, thats a $350 instant savings, for just a few ticks slower.
http://www.macconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Product/Detail.htm?sku=10682076
Applecare is cheaper at LA Computer by $30 (and more when on sale)
Fusion is $40 if you just shop a bit
You can upgrade the drive in an iMac, not impossible. Plenty of external options. You are starting with 1TB, thats a bunch. You are only looking at 1.5TB or 2TB at the current time...
The need / desire for the i7 is based on my previous purchase patterns for desktops (every 5 - 7 years) and a strong desire to start archiving and editing home video, to tinker around with photo editing and having as many applications running in the background as possible
. Thanks for the tip on LA Computer, although I am unfamiliar with them - is purchasing Apple Care from a secondary vendor something fairly common? As for Fusion, I thought that was only the upgrade price, but either way not a big factor in the overall cost.
Can you actually link the HP? A lot of the time there are significant differences in hardware beyond processor/HD size/RAM, so I'd hesitate to compare them based on just that description.
The HP is sold at Frys, here's the specs (sorry if the formatting is messed up):
Processor
Model: Intel® Core™ i7-860 Processor
Speed: 2.8GHz
# of Cores: 4
Cache: 2MB L2 Cache + 8MB Shared L3 Cache
Hyperthreading: Intel® Hyperthreading Technology
Chipset: Intel® P55
Memory: 8GB, DDR3, PC3-10600, 4 DIMM, Open Slots: 0
Storage
Hard Drive: 1TB, 7200RPM, SATA
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Player and SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology Write: 16x max DVD-R, 8x max DVD+RW, 6x max DVD-RW, 12x max DVD-RAM, 40x max CD-R, 32x max CD-RW. Read: 16x max DVD-ROM, 40x CD-ROM
Media Drive: 15-in-1 memory card reader: supports SmartMedia, xD, MultiMedia Card, Secure Digital (SD), Mini Secure Digital, Compact Flash I, Compact Flash II, IBM Microdrive, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick Pro Duo, RSMMC, MMC Mobile, MMC+
Graphics
Type: PCI-Express x16 Video Card
GPU: ATI Radeon™ HD 4650
Memory: 1GB
Ports: DVI, HDMI & VGA
Sound
Type: High Definition Audio
Channels:8 (7.1)
Front Ports: Headphone, Microphone
Back Ports: Optical Audio Out; Microphone/Line-in/Line-out; Rear speaker-out; Side speaker out; Center (subwoofer)
USB
Front USB: 3
Back USB: 6
Networking
Wired: 10/100/1000 Base-T
Wireless: 802.11 a/b/g/n
Expansion:
Slots:3 PCI Expressx1 (2 Open)
1 PCI Expressx16 (Occupied)
Bays: 2 External 5.25" (Occupied)
2 Internal 3.5" (1 Open)
1 External 3.5" (1 Open)
1 External PMD bay (Open)
Well after looking at your calcs, you seem to have missed the office suite on the Windows side of the calc, but missed the photoshop suit on the Mac side of the calc. The screen on the Mac side is an IPS LED screen, and lets face it in the end if you go the Mac option, you have your choice of OS's. Mate no one can tell you what right for you, but personally, I am more than happy to pay double for OSX, call me a fanboi, whatever, it suits me, and Windows doesn't.
I've got office for XP, hoping it'll run on Windows 7 (which I guess I could use on the Mac, but that doesn't really appeal to me). As for Photoshop, I was hoping iPhoto would cover my needs for the near term.
If you go the HP route, you don't need that "security product". If your behind a router w/NAT, all you need is the built in Windows firewall, and the free Microsoft Security Essentials.
A bit more risk then I'm willing to take. Yes, I've got my router nailed down fairly tight, but I got others in the house that use the desktop, so I need to be a wee bit more cautious. The Microsoft products are ok, but I've been really pleased with the 2009 release of Norton IS. Peace of mind is what's driving me in that direction.
Could you link to the specific HP. As I have looked at the HP site and did not find an exact match to what you describe.
Also does this HP include.
- Radeon 4850 (much faster video card than the 4350 in the closest HP matches I could find)
- Win 7 Ultimate as it is the fairest comparison to Snow Leopard (encryption, connect to domain networks, language switching, backup and restore)
- Wireless-N and bluetooth
- High quality Bluetooth keyboard and mouse (much greater range than standard RF plus no cords on the desk which the ultra short range RF usually requires)
- All in one just slightly larger than the screen by itself (the cooling system and engineering going into that case costs a lot more that a bulky desktop)
- MS Office (the HP likely only comes with MS Works if that is good enough then the free Openoffice.org should be sufficient for the Mac)
- 3 year warranty (or else the Applecare should be removed from the comparison)
Also as opposed to the HP you could build you own computer for a good deal less using like components. Or for the same price using much higher quality parts or faster parts. You won't have the bloatware, can choose a case that you really like and can pick and choose all of the best reviewed parts. Rather than the lowest bidder like the manufacturers use.
If you are looking for a direct comparison this is the closest match I could find. Much to my surprise the iMac comes out with the favorable price advantage. Though in 3 months iMac price will not change while the HP will drop.
HP e9270t series
i7 860 2.8Ghz
27" LCD (1920x1080 with is much cheaper quality and cost than the iMacs higher res screen)
Radeon 4850 1GB (better than iMacs at 512MB)
8GB RAM
1TB HD
Win 7 Ultimate
Wireless (RF) keyboard/mouse
Basic cheap speakers (the iMac has basic quality one built in)
Wireless N and Bluetooth
Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 and Premiere Elements (closest match to iMovie/iPhoto)
MS Office Home and Student
$2183
+ $500 (hardware offset)
Total $2683
iMac
i7 860 2.8Ghz
27" LCD (2560x1440 much higher resolution and quality than the HP)
8GB RAM
1TB HD
Snow Leopard
Bluetooth Keyboard and Mouse
Basic quality speakers built in
Wireless N and Bluetooth
iLife
MS Office Home and Student
Total $2530
As direct hardware matchs can not be found. I tried to create an offset for the superior parts used in the iMac. These values can not be perfectly matched as some parts do not have direct like components available for PC's. This also does not account for the far more expensive cooling system, mounting and case used for the iMac.
Hardware offsets
- Monitor offset $445 (value of Apple from average costs of Acer 27" 2048x1152 $430 to HP 30" 2560x1600 $1200 subtracted by cost of HP 27" 1920x1080 $370, prices off of newegg.com; [$430+$1200]/2 - $370 = $445)
- Keyboard/Mouse Offset $90 (Mighty Mouse $70 + Apple Wireless Keyboard $70 - Logitech LX310 RF Keyboard and Mouse $50 = $90) edit: Logitech chosen for correlation of HP's RF keyboard and Mouse
- Video Card Offset -$35 (though 1GB and 512MB 4850's run the same on Newegg now this is just because they are trying to dump the stock pile in favor of the 5000 line)
I have my customers use Firefox and the free Avast Anti-Virus Home Edition and they don't have further problems. I also have all of my friends, family and myself using this combo and none have had a problem with malware or viruses since.
Avast also uses hardly any system resources. I have never noticed a difference in data transfer speeds, gaming frame rates or other tasks with the A/V on or off on a high end single core CPU or better with sufficient RAM (1GB for XP, 2GB Vista/7).
Ref specs above. I don't know how the 4650 compares to the 4850, so the iMac may have an edge there.
Good point on the Windows Ultimate, although I think the Professional version would be enough to serve my needs - still, that will add a bit to the cost of the PC. Wireless N comes with the HP, and I'm relatively pleased with my MS RF keyboard and mouse (although the mouse isn't nearly as cool as the new Mighty Mouse). Agree with your packaging assessment, hence my "+ Pretty"
I've got Office already, so no savings / cost there.
The warranty part is a bit of an unfair knock from me on the iMac. The problem is, if I have a HD, graphics card, sounds card etc. go bad, I'd feel reasonably comfortable cracking the case and working on it. I just don't see that as a viable option for the iMac.
The monitor is another tough one to judge. I don't *think* I need a high-res 27" display, so a mid-pack 24" should do the job for a while. The advantage of having a separate monitor is that I can always add a second, or as prices continue to drop a larger / better primary.
As for the build your own suggestion, wellll ... I don't think my skill-set (and time allotment) support that as a viable option.
I guess I do have to agree with your HW offset ref., just not sure that I'd value it quite as high as you suggest. Thanks for the detailed analysis and breakdown on that one.
Thanks for everyone's time and thoughts. Your input shows this as a tighter comparison than my original analysis - still probably looking at about a $750 delta. If anyone has any other thoughts on what I may have overlooked, please let me know.
(as an aside, I dropped by the Apple store yesterday afternoon - man that 27" is sweet! Almost too big. Unfortunately they didn't have any of the quads on the floor to play with, just the C2D 3.06 GHz. Not sure how much that really matters though since I didn't have any applications to drive all 4 cores.)
