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Dell Mac OS Drivers?

OS X Lite? I'm not holding my breath.. :)

That being said, I wouldn't be shocked if they dipped their footsies in the software market eventually, but it'll be at a point where they surely won't have anything to loose.
 
danielwsmithee said:
Your understanding of software profits is amazing. Software profits are almost 100% once the development costs are paid for. There is not a set ratio of % profit sails. If the R&D effort has not been paid for profits are ZERO or negative. If enough units have sold the profit margin on each unit sold is 100%. You can create a sudo profit margin based a forcasted number of units sold! There is plenty of profit to be made by only selling software!
Click to expand...

R&D for software is never ending. You must be thinking of console games where there is a final release and development is stopped. OSX and all other continueing software products will never have a final release. Development will continue forever. Let me repeat for ever. That means as long as there is an Apple they will be spending money on OSX or what ever it is called. Thus software costs are never 0. In fact the opposite is true, hardware is not released over time, once you spin a board you are stuck with it.
 
danielwsmithee said:
Your understanding of software profits is amazing. Software profits are almost 100% once the development costs are paid for.
Click to expand...
Correct. But at Apple, software sales represent just drippings of their overall sales. Hardware sales (iPod and Macintosh/ACD) are split close to 50/50 in their earnings statements. The software they sell is nice padding, but it doesn't generate enough money to pay for its development and support costs and it would take several years of operating at a deep loss to get Apple to have a self-sufficient software division.

As for the Dell site, it's pretty clear to me that it's just a navigation mixup. The have a set of options for drop down boxes in a site-wide template, and using ASP or PHP or whatever Dell uses, they just supply the drop-down box options. The page titles are also generated from these pre-entered array. A site with as many pages and interactive elements as Dell's is most definitely NOT coded by hand, page by page. Someone, somewhere, just mixed up a numeric code that put Mac OS into their options list for some drop down boxes that shouldn't have it.
 
Core Trio said:
And game developers dont really seem to be biting down into the Mac gaming market either...so that would be utterly pointless without a dual booting option. If you're buying a computer to play games, why would you be buying a mac..err uhm...dell with OS X
Click to expand...

So I dont have to buy 2 computers since im only gonna be using one at a time anyway?

Because I would like to have a good computer for playing games but I dont wanna give up on osx nor do I want to buy a powermac?

At the moment, apple doesnt offer anything, except for the expensives powermacs, that would suit my needs as a gaming computer

The all in one iMac with an underclocked x1600 is obviously good enough for the casual gamer but It would be a "downgrade" for me since I used to have a 256mb X800XL

Anyways, I gave up on playing computer games a few months ago so this is not an issue for me anymore, but I could understant that some people would find it convenient to buy a dell with a good pci express video card be able to boot both osx and windows.
 
TallShaffer said:
If this happens I'm just going to shoot myself in the back of the throat. I don't want to be using any software that is the same as any Dell user. I got a mac so I wouldn't have to be in the same usergroups as dell owners.
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This post made me laugh.

But the funny part is that I can relate.

I do like the Apple hardware much better than Dell, but if I could pick up a $400 bundle that I could tuck away in my bedroom where no one would see. Well, I might be tempted.
 
I'd never buy a dell;

This is partially because of the name, I don't want to have any of their ugly, second-rate hardware.


Also, I bought my mac for a ton of reasons other than what I joked about before:

I wanted to use a stable operating system on stable, high quality hardware.
I wanted a machine that was assembled well.
I wanted a 'designer' computer, I love the appearance of the casing on my macbook, the overall layout is simply incredible.
I don't mean to sound racist, but I don't like talking to Indian people who don't know a thing about 'customer service'.

I spent a little bit more money, but got a computer that is lightyears better than any other oem manufacturer, ESPECIALLY dell. I'd buy an acer laptop with a celeron and memory measured in kilobytes before I bought a dell.
 
It will be a cold day in [Ultra mega nasty 4 letter swear that will get you banned.] when Apple lets OS X run on a piece of crap (OH NO! A SWEAR!) Dell. Most likely this is for their printers.
 
TallShaffer said:
I'd never buy a dell;

This is partially because of the name, I don't want to have any of their ugly, second-rate hardware.


Also, I bought my mac for a ton of reasons other than what I joked about before:

I wanted to use a stable operating system on stable, high quality hardware.
I wanted a machine that was assembled well.
I wanted a 'designer' computer, I love the appearance of the casing on my macbook, the overall layout is simply incredible.
I don't mean to sound racist, but I don't like talking to Indian people who don't know a thing about 'customer service'.

I spent a little bit more money, but got a computer that is lightyears better than any other oem manufacturer, ESPECIALLY dell. I'd buy an acer laptop with a celeron and memory measured in kilobytes before I bought a dell.
__________________
1.83 MB, 1.25 GB // 60 GB // Combo // White
HP dv5000 w/p4 (Boo intel)
Click to expand...

Uhhhhhh HP SUX worse than dell dude hp does not know the word quality!!!
 
markkk! said:
speaking of hp why did they make ipods for like 10 seconds...wtf.
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Because apple felt sorry for them so offered them to hp for a while then hp wanted to do something else to them and apple said NO! so hp said thanks anyway! Besides their ipod warranty sucked compared to apples ipod warranty!
 
I don't wanna get off topic but Apple+HP didn't happen because Apple "felt sorry" for them. It was a smart alliance to get iPods sold in places where HP products are, but Apple products aren't. Also it got iTunes on a lot of HP boxes. The deal ended when HP decided to produce their own media software or use somebody elses, I forget.
 
gekko513 said:
I think that model has been discussed before, and it's not identical at all. I just configured a Dell Inspiron 6400 to be as similar to the MacBook Pro as possible and it came out at $1772 and that is still with just a 1280x800 display and just a X1300 GPU. On the up side, it did have 1GB RAM as its minimum config and had a double layer DVD burner. Oh, and its large and heavy compared to the MBP.
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Try this one (I'm comparing it to the bottom-level MacBook, $1099)

Dell Inspiron E1505 Dual Core
  • Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2400 (2MB Cache/1.83GHz/667MHz FSB)
  • 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display
  • 512MB Shared Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM 533MHZ, 1 DIMM
  • 60GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
  • 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
  • Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
  • Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini Card
  • $839

The only difference between the Dell and the Apple are the screen size (which is a + for the Dell) and overall size and weight (which is a - ).

Very few people would be willing to buy the MacBook for two reasons:
1) People have used PC's all of their life, even if the PC is running Mac OS X, they are still going to buy from a manufacturer they've dealt with before.
2)Why spend the extra $250 ?
 
3)Bigger screen.

Reasons people would be willing to buy the Macbook
-Lighter
-More portable.
-Better screen.

Believe it or not, they actually appeal to different types of customers.
 
Actually, you are looking at $1184 for the equivalent Dell.

You skipped the remote, dual channel memory, a battery to match the runtime on the Mac, the Dell wireless isn't nearly as good as the Mac's... (mac is A/B/G at 100mw, Dell is B/G at 40mW) and don't forget the $49 for Dell's 30 Days of on-the-phone support.

Then you have to add on a $49 BlueTooth USB dongle if you want the BlueTooth on the Dell.

Then there is the size...

Dell: 1.5" x 14" x 10.5" @ 6.2lbs
Mac: 1.0" x 13" x 9" @ 5.2lbs
 
Transeau said:
and don't forget the $49 for Dell's 30 Days of on-the-phone support.
Click to expand...


I'm just going to clarify this:

It means you'll be on the phone for about 30 days waiting for an answer to your problem/talk to 'Richard' from India.
 
Transeau said:
You skipped the remote
Click to expand...
I skipped the remote on purpose. The Apple remote is useless.


Just to clarify; I'm not saying I wouldn't buy the MacBook (because I would) - I'm just looking at the choices from the perspective of a naive PC user (the ones that usually buy Dells). ;) :D
 
EricNau said:
The average PC user thinks bigger is better. I'm not saying it's right, but that's what they are going to think.
Click to expand...
I don't think that's a fair assessment. The average person might think bigger is better. Given a Mac user who would think the 13" screen is best for their needs, I don't see how a PC user with the same needs wouldn't also come to that conclusion.

The Inspiron E1405 (not 1505) is the closest to the MacBook. Configured to match the entry MacBook (and skipping the $29 MCE remote, as I think the PC remote is far superior if not as aesthetically pleasing), it came to $1305--albeit with 1GB of RAM. The higher-capacity battery, which would deliver more MacBook-like battery life, is an additional $99.

1.83GHz Core Duo, Wifi and Bluetooth, 14" 1280x800 display, 60GB hard drive, 1GB dual channel RAM, GMA950, XP MCE, 5.4 pounds (higher capacity battery would make it even a little heftier).

The MacBook has the built-in iSight, remote, and of course iLife, but the Dell has more RAM and a DVD burner. It is .42" thicker and a few ounces heavier than the MacBook. In any case, it's $206 more expensive with less battery life. For almost the exact same price as the Dell, you can get the handedly superior 2GHz MacBook with SuperDrive (the E1405's only MB-besting feature would be RAM and maybe its slightly larger [matching resolution] screen).

Edit: I went back to the site and configured a 512MB/Combo drive version to match the base MacBook even better, and it came to $1236. Again, worse battery life (add $99), no remote (add $29 if you wish), no iLife, no iSight. All other specs are the same as above. The MacBook just in raw hardware is $137 cheaper.
 
cal6n said:
Only if you don't use keynote

or connect to your hifi for iTunes

or connect to your television for DVDs
Click to expand...

i'm sure that was a very wide generalisation, that statement. one specific to him. :confused: :rolleyes:
 
See, EricNau, your examples don't hold up.

The Remote is useless. :confused: You really need to wake up and see the world from a more objective perspective.
 
bigandy said:
except, it's the sibling kept in the basement for 20 years because it's just *too* ugly for the world to see. :rolleyes:

they're trying so hard to excite people the way apple do, and methinks they're failing completely. haha.
Click to expand...
Well, that's because Dell doesn't have a huge fanbase. That's why DellRumors is hilarious (when it was updated).
 
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