And that's all you need to say to prove your "comparison" to be pointless, idiotic, and irrelevant.
YOU *BUILT* IT. OF COURSE IT'S CHEAPER!!!
Try spec-ing out a MacPro-equivalent from Dell or HP, for a more valid comparison.
Apparently you didn't read my entire post, otherwise you would have seen this:
I also checked Dell, and after suffering through their horrendous selection process, I was able to similarly spec a system (except using a 5870 instead of a 5850) for $1799. A couple of hundred more than mine, but still $1100 beneath Apple's price.
I did do a valid comparison. And the Apple system is still more expensive. Thank you, come again.
sccaldwell said:
t's like saying "Hey, dude, I built a twin-turbo V8 car that's as fast as a Ferrari, and it only cost me $50K vs. the Ferrari's $200K!!" Yeah, but you've got a home-built P.O.S. vs. a sleek, well-designed PROFESSIONALLY-BUILT machine.
So you're saying that my home-build system is a "P.O.S" just because I built it at home? Pretty ignorant.
sccaldwell said:
Never mind the TIME you spent building your own machine (there's a COST there), and never mind the fact that the average use neither has the time, inclination, nor ability to build their own machine.
The time I spent building it? Try maybe an hour. Mostly due to the nature of micro-ATX cases (we're talking about a case size that is maybe as wide and deep as a standard textbook, stacked oh 4 or 5 high).
And if you want to talk about time investment, let's say you build a MacPro online through the Apple Store. The time it takes you to order it? Negligible. But how's that build time/shipping wait treating you?
And if you go in a store, you still have to do some browsing, do some considerations, etc.
You're right, there's always a time investment, but everything has a time investment.
I'll fully agree though, the average person wouldn't want to (not saying they couldn't, a computer is actually very simple to build), so yes, it's not ideal for most people.
sccaldwell said:
You're on the fringe. That's fine. Stay there. Be happy there.
On the fringe? Of Mac users? Sure, as I've seen quite a few Mac "users", and most are just like PC users: they know how to turn it on, they know how to open applications (usually those located in the dashboard), and they know how to point and click.
But there are millions of people who build their own computers (or do upgrades themselves). If there weren't, you wouldn't see so many manufacturers putting out retail parts for use.
sccaldwell said:
But stop trying to proclaim that something professionally-designed and built is overpriced just because you can cobble something together yourself for less from parts. It's a useless comparison.
Professionally-built? Do you actually know the process of a "professionally-built" computer? It's pretty much someone just like me (and all the others who build a system for themselves) assembling a system in much the same way. You must have a fantasy that fairies or leprechauns work their "magic" in assembling these computers, and that because it has a company logo on it, it's somehow "better".
Sorry, that's not how it works. There's only one thing I'm "missing" by building my own system: the manufacturer's warranty. The thing is, Apple's default is a year, with additional years for a extra, high cost (and to be fair, this is the case with others, such as Dell, HP, etc.).
The average warranty length on most of the components I use? Three years. If a part fails in a Mac, depending on what type of system it is, it may be unavailable for a little bit of time. If one of my parts fails? I RMA it to the original manufacturer, and they repair/replace it.
Seriously, I'm not touting that building a system is better for everyone, or even a large share of users. But don't brush it off as some "backyard, dirty hobby". Because, after all, even Apple started off as a couple of guys building computers out of a garage
