How much would a similar speced PC cost compared to an iMac?

[AnimaLeo]

I'm wondering how much price difference there actually is between iMacs and Dells or whatever?

Say for example: the top end i5 (21.5 inch) (without the ram upgrade, I'd do that myself.)

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Probably about the same, or just a little bit more. This is because the monitor that Apple uses in the iMac is an IPS display, which tend to cost an arm and a leg. If you were to get a normal, $100 monitor, a comparable Dell would cost a few hundred less.

You're also paying for the iMac form factor.

EDIT: I got $1500 for a Dell with a blu-ray drive, 2.1 speaker system, backlit keyboard, a better video card, and the same i5. For $150 more, you can get a touch-screen LCD. The Apple came out to $1700, without the above features.

 

[Hellhammer]

http://configure.dell.com/dellstore...wnn1&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&kc=studio-xps-8100

About 1050$ without the monitor. 21.5" IPS monitor will easily cost you over 300 bucks so as said above, it cost you pretty much the same. If you compare it to a custom PC, you get a lot beefier system for 1000 bucks but comparing OEM to custom is always a moot point.

 

[excommie]

I wondered the same thing. Recently I tried pricing out few components.

Cheapest 27 inch IPS display that I could find is $1099.00

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...4&cs=19&c=us&l=en&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063

Core i5 CPU, 2.8 Ghz is $209.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115067

Asus MB is $129.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131404

1TB Hard drive, western digital caviar black - $87.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...n_digital_caviar_black-_-22-136-284-_-Product


Memory, 4GB about $100.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

DVD drive, about a $30.

Case, anything decent is about $150.

Add about $100.00 for shipping, but will not count in total since you might find some deals avoiding shipping

Total (still excludes keyboard, mouse, OS, wifi) = 1804.

Things look different if you get a cheap monitor, but having used IPS displays for the past few years, going back to a cheap TN display is not an option.

Therefore, iMac 27 inch is a good value in my opinion.

 

[Hellhammer]

*snip*

You forgot GPU which is another 140 buck for ATI 5750. Also, you forgot the PSU which is again, another ~70$ or so.

 

[excommie]

you're right. So whoever came up with a phrase "apple tax", must live in a place where tax rate is negative.

 

[AnimaLeo]

Holy crap, that's awesome. Thanks for the info guys. =)

 

[ninjaslim]

Apple computers are a great value. :-D