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BadDude

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 14, 2007
20
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I'm getting really fed-up with the cost of Apple hardware and think I'm turning to OSX86 for my next compy.

Dell just introduced a new "studio" series and the prices put the MacBookPro to shame. Same processor, Similar graphics card, more Ram, more HD and about $500 less for the Dell.

I admit that Apple's prices were more competitive about a year ago, leaning on the more expensive side. But open a Best Buy flier and you'll see more than a dozen pc laptops for under $1000
 
In all honesty, you are paying for the OS, I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but it is the truth. The quality of the OS on a Mac is much better than PC's, and from what I have seen, Macs survive longer than PCs. And how many of those sub $1000 laptops will survive working conditions well over 3 years and will run nearly flawlessly?
 
I was wondering when those Studio laptops would be released.

JML42691 said:
And how many of those sub $1000 laptops will survive working conditions well over 3 years and will run nearly flawlessly?
Click to expand...
I haven't had a Dell fail before its 3-4 warranty gave out. We still have some 5 year old Latitudes in circulation.
 
Tallest Skil said:
How many of ANY Windows laptops can you sell six years later for $500?
Click to expand...

Exactly. After five years of faithful service I have finally decided to replace my 12" PowerBook with a MacBook Pro. I'll be selling the old unit to a friend for $500, but looking at the market, it could probably easily get $600-700 if I put it on eBay or Craigslist.

By comparison, my first Dell laptop, which cost about the same as the PowerBook did (that is, on the order of $3000 Cdn at the time!), sold about 2 years later, for $650.
 
I agree with the OP to a point.

I think it is a shame apple doesn't to a decent budget laptop as they do the desktop mini.

I think what helps give apple its reputation though is that it doesn't make junk - you pay a premium for the operating system and the nice design of the hardware.

I don't think it lasts longer than PC computers (I built mine and have had it for 6 years now) but certainly the resell value is better (if you can find someone who wants a 6 year old computer?)
 
Eidorian said:
PowerPC to Intel price increase on the Macbook Pro and Mac Pro.

Remember the days of the sub-$2,000 Pro hardware?
Click to expand...

I payed the same for my Stock 1.67GHZ 120GB 17" PowerBook RRP was the same as it is now. But, the iMac's iThink have gotten more reasonable, obvioulsy the MacBook went up. But the industry didn't get a whole lot cheaper and iThink that there are a lot of users who would have swayed for a Pro model that now can use a consumer model without a problem.

Also, the refurb store seems to have a lot more models then I remember. There was the sub $2000 Powermac (by a dollar). But computers have gotten better, everytime some PC maker comes out with the "Mac Killer" Cuptertion seems fine. I don't think that the attempt by Dell to close the gap between a price point that Mr. Jobs rallied on a year ago will have much effect.

We are all addicts, raise the price of the drug...we'll still buy more
 
thegoldenmackid said:
I payed the same for my Stock 1.67GHZ 120GB 17" PowerBook RRP was the same as it is now. But, the iMac's iThink have gotten more reasonable, obvioulsy the MacBook went up. But the industry didn't get a whole lot cheaper and iThink that there are a lot of users who would have swayed for a Pro model that now can use a consumer model without a problem.
Click to expand...
The prices on the low end went up and not the high end. US$1,999 was the starting point for the Power Mac G5. I'm not even going to bring up the gap between the MacBook and MacBook Pro today.

thegoldenmackid said:
We are all addicts, raise the price of the drug...we'll still buy more
Click to expand...
I'm glad I don't suffer the same addiction. :rolleyes:
 
thegoldenmackid said:
We are all addicts, raise the price of the drug...we'll still buy more
Click to expand...

LOL. Speak for yourself; Apple's prices are exactly why I'll continue to buy non-Apple computers for family members whenever they need new gear.

Eidorian said:
I'm not even going to bring up the gap between the MacBook and MacBook Pro today.
Click to expand...

Indeed. The more ridiculous that price gap becomes, the more determined I become never to buy "pro" gear from Apple. They might have some people duped into thinking it's worth paying two grand for the privilege of a laptop with 1440x900 resolution, but those of us not wedded to Apple know there are lots of cheaper (and indeed, more durable and feature-filled) laptops on the market that offer MBP stats well below MBP prices.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

Seriously? We need another "omg mac is so expensive so I'm going to windows" threads?
 
BadDude said:
I'm getting really fed-up with the cost of Apple hardware and think I'm turning to OSX86 for my next compy.

Dell just introduced a new "studio" series and the prices put the MacBookPro to shame. Same processor, Similar graphics card, more Ram, more HD and about $500 less for the Dell.

I admit that Apple's prices were more competitive about a year ago, leaning on the more expensive side. But open a Best Buy flier and you'll see more than a dozen pc laptops for under $1000
Click to expand...

You pay for the OS, you pay for additional software, you pay for a wonderfully designed and quality made product. You do pay a bit of a premium, but you don't have to buy virus software, you don't have to deal with adware or spyware, etc. You get Magsafe, you get multitouch, you get iLife, you get other great hardware and software items that help make the Mac experience what it is today!!! And best of all you don't have to run Windows! Things just work (for the most part) on a Mac!!

And best of all, if you don't like the price you can buy a Dell now...and the great thing about that is a couple of years down the road you get to buy a brand new Dell!!!:rolleyes: Me, I will buy my MacBook this fall and use it for five years minimum before selling it for a pretty good price!

I also buy Sony electronics for this same reason. Price may be a bit higher, but I have only one low quality Sony product in my lifetime of owning 18 different Sony products!! You get what you pay for with most everything in life! (And you put less crap in the landfills when you buy quality goods!!)

I have a friend that would rather buy a toaster oven at Walmart for $29 and replace it every two or three years instead of buying a good one for $60 and having it work for 8 or more years! I know people argue they can't afford the more expensive one, but in fact one would be spending more money buying the three cheap ones instead of the higher priced/quality one up front.
 
Is it wrong to want to buy cheaper things?

I still here quite a few PC gamers that want to spend several thousand on a high end gaming machine so they can keep it for an eternity. You'd be much better off getting a cheaper machine every few years.
 
flyfish29 said:
I have a friend that would rather buy a toaster oven at Walmart for $29 and replace it every two or three years instead of buying a good one for $60 and having it work for 8 or more years! I know people argue they can't afford the more expensive one, but in fact one would be spending more money buying the three cheap ones instead of the higher priced/quality one up front.
Click to expand...

Most of the time, though, it's more fiscally sound (and technologically favorable) to buy cheaper and upgrade often than it is to buy higher and upgrade rarely.
 
Which country are you in? The US Apple prices are ridiculously low.

Besides, that you can get cheaper computers does not mean that the Apple computers are expensive - you get what you pay for.
 
i just got a dell latitude d630, 1GB, 2.0GHz Core2Duo, 80GB HD + Docking station for about ~$900 at work. First i thought OMG what a sh@# but it's actually quite nice. I love the dock, screen quality is good, price is not much better than a base Macbook comparing the specs.

So i think apple is still competitive but it's getting harder to justify $1299 for the midrange macbook.
 
heatmiser said:
Most of the time, though, it's more fiscally sound (and technologically favorable) to buy cheaper and upgrade often than it is to buy higher and upgrade rarely.
Click to expand...

Except that it's a moving target, and not for the better. How many times have you had a device fail (be it a toaster, a radio, a computer, or whatever) and decided to go out and buy a new one? "I liked what I had before," you think, "so I'll just buy another one just like it." Guess what -- there's a reason we hear people say "they don't make 'em like they used to"!

This holds true even with Apple products, you look at what they put out today versus 5 years ago and you'll notice accessories missing, features removed, shortcuts taken (remember a time when Jobs publicly derided cheap PC's for having integrated video?).
 
There are many reasons, one of which is that it is highly profitable to create a high priced, high profit margin niche in the market, which allows you to be able to limit market size, which if it were to expand rapidly due to price drops, the user base could outstrip Apple's ability to provide customer support.


JML42691 said:
In all honesty, you are paying for the OS, I know that sounds kind of cheesy, but it is the truth. The quality of the OS on a Mac is much better than PC's, and from what I have seen, Macs survive longer than PCs. And how many of those sub $1000 laptops will survive working conditions well over 3 years and will run nearly flawlessly?
Click to expand...
The OS costs are comparable.
Vista Premium is 129.99
Leopard is 129.99
 
Eidorian said:
I haven't had a Dell fail before its 3-4 warranty gave out. We still have some 5 year old Latitudes in circulation.
Click to expand...

I hear ya. I also see Thinkpads that are easily pushing 10 years and still working great. Impressive for a laptop in my book... and why I own one ;)

IMO, Apple needs to abandon the aluminum thing and move to more rugged material. It would take a lot more abuse to damage my Thinkpad than my old PowerBook 12".

You really are just paying for unique design and the OS. The hardware is definitely priced on the high side.
 
notjustjay said:
Except that it's a moving target, and not for the better. How many times have you had a device fail (be it a toaster, a radio, a computer, or whatever) and decided to go out and buy a new one? "I liked what I had before," you think, "so I'll just buy another one just like it." Guess what -- there's a reason we hear people say "they don't make 'em like they used to"!

This holds true even with Apple products, you look at what they put out today versus 5 years ago and you'll notice accessories missing, features removed, shortcuts taken (remember a time when Jobs publicly derided cheap PC's for having integrated video?).
Click to expand...

It depends on the product. For example, I've got a pair of $30 earphones (Creative EP-630s) that last about six months before breaking down, and provide great sound quality throughout. Before I got these, I used to spend about $15 on cheap Koss Spark Plugs, which gave a decent (but not great) sound for about three months. In this case, even though they break about even in terms of dollars vs. time, the Creatives are a better deal to the better sound quality they provide throughout the period in which they work.

But in another case, it may make more sense to go with the shorter-lasting, but cheaper product than the longer-lasting but higher-priced one. For me, it doesn't make sense to pay top dollar for a computer that will be half as fast as computers half its price in a couple of years. If you're a heavy laptop user, for example, it's a far better value to buy a $1000 computer every couple of years (like a Macbook or a Thinkpad) than it is to buy a $2000-3000 machine (like an MBP) that you'll need to last four or more years because you won't have the funds to replace it if anything happens to it. It doesn't matter how good the expensive device was supposed to be if it stops working before you can buy a replacement. And Apple's computers don't last any longer than those of other manufacturers, which makes paying a premium for their hardware an unnecessary gamble for most people.
 
BadDude said:
I'm getting really fed-up with the cost of Apple hardware and think I'm turning to OSX86 for my next compy.

Dell just introduced a new "studio" series and the prices put the MacBookPro to shame. Same processor, Similar graphics card, more Ram, more HD and about $500 less for the Dell.

I admit that Apple's prices were more competitive about a year ago, leaning on the more expensive side. But open a Best Buy flier and you'll see more than a dozen pc laptops for under $1000
Click to expand...

I just noticed the Dell Studio laptops too, they look very nice. Sadly they really make Apple look like VERY poor value for money.

For £699 you can get this:

Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 2.1 GHz
Vista Home Premium
15.4" Wide Screen WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT with TrueLife
4096MB RAM
320GB Hard Drive
256MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3450
Blu-ray Disc (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM) With HDMI output

Compare that to the £699 MacBook that doesnt even come with a DVD burner let alone BluRay player. Infact, we should be coparing it to the MacBook Pro not the MacBook
 
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