Your story sounds very similar to mine. It's funny, a lot of people started squinting at me a bit funny when i started pushing apple for home users but now people are a lot more open in general.
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Justify Mac prices for me
- Thread starter crobb1011
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Your story sounds very similar to mine. It's funny, a lot of people started squinting at me a bit funny when i started pushing apple for home users but now people are a lot more open in general.
I was in exactly the same position as the thread starter once.
If you're new to something and wondering whether to buy or not, you don't "clearly" know whether you're going to like it or not at all. I took a "risk" when I got my first mac laptop. A risk I'm now glad I've taken, but it was a plunge into the unknown for me. I had to justify the cost at that point. Now I know I like it, it is money well spent and that makes it easier.
you have a horrible case of delusion if you are honestly going to try and sit here and say that macs are not overpriced to a certain degree.
SPECS THAT MATTER TO THE AVERAGE CONSUMER:
macbook for $1099
13.3 inch screen
2.1 Ghz
1GB ram
combo drive
X3100 Intel
for the hell of it, i'll add what we gather the next macbook will have (since the studio did just come out)
macbook for $999 (?)
13.3 inch screen
2.2/3 Ghz (?)
2GB ram (?)
superdrive (?)
X4500 (?)
dell studio for $1079
15 inch screen
2.1 Ghz
3GB ram
8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450
the Dell is still better spec'd.
"iLife, iLife"
plenty of free alternatives to everything in iLife. picasa=iPhoto, for instance. not as flashy or "good", but still does it fine.
"Windows"
windows not if you have any competence with a computer. i can't speak for the OS's stability 100%, but you must remember when XP first came out it was garbage as well. eventually Vista will be on par with XP or better. i for one have NEVER had any problems with Vista whatsoever. then again, i know how to take care of a computer and avoid simple things like spyware and viruses. Trailware? i agree that's crap- but it's not something you can't uninstall through the control panel in two minutes.
i'm not trying to say apple is crap, or that i think windows is way cooler, so don't dismiss me as a fanboy. i'm on a MAC forum. i'm an apple person- I HAVE A MACBOOK. i like OS X more then Windows. i just don't understand how you can say apple's products are "$800" cheaper then a PC manufacturer when that simply isn't true. Apple makes all things apple, so they can set prices slightly higher and get away it with it if they choose to. it's always been that way with apple. i'm quite certain that if our only PC vendor was Dell, we'd have the same problem. but we have competition on that side of the industry, so that's not an issue.
all of that being said, i still stand by what was said in my previous post-
if you like a mac, get one. the premium price won't bother you. i think you'd enjoy OS X, but that's just me. and hey, if you don't like it, just return it and get a Vista notebook. it's really a matter of preference, bottom line.
I am a strong believe you get hat you pay for. My wife has Vista and she is always restarting her laptop because something locked up. I have yet to restart my mac.
Hmm.. trailware? Typical windows users. Broken or just don't use a spelling dictionary. One thing about your price chart. The Dell Studio just came out, whereas the MacBook has been around for years. And I'm talking the same class (screen size) too. And secondly, iLife has no equal. I have used Picasa, but it sucked compared to iPhoto. A lot of "specs" of Picassa just don't rival iPhoto, isn't that your main point? Dell has a better spec, well iPhoto has a better "spec" compared to Picasa. And besides iPhoto, I seem to recall there are other apps in iLife, like iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand. What are the "free" alternatives for those? Genius... Besides, iLife is $80, whereas those alternatives are free. $80 dollar value.
All I'm saying is that Apple computers aren't overpriced, they just don't give you HUGE discounts. The pricing is pretty much on par or better than competing laptops/desktops. And to your point of uninstalling trialware, why should I, the golden customer have to delete software on my brand new computer? And if I reinstall it, it gets reinstalled. My MacBook, don't think so... I got a trial of Office for mac, but I can choose not to install that when I reinstall the OS< and now they dont even come with it anymore. Read the article I linked to, the pricing isn't too offset. PCs just have a lower entry point, so ppl think it's cheaper.
It's hard to compare without the same value in software, but I don't think Macs are as overpriced as some think, but rather they give you less options for paring a system down to bare essentials. You HAVE to buy OS X. You HAVE to buy iLife. You HAVE to buy wireless, built-in camera and microphone, bluetooth, high-quality (ish) screen, remote integration, etc, etc.
Of course, now that most of these features are becoming more and more standard, the proposition of a MacBook being on par becomes less and less. But that is what Apple's line-up refresh is all about.
Of course, now that most of these features are becoming more and more standard, the proposition of a MacBook being on par becomes less and less. But that is what Apple's line-up refresh is all about.
PCs are "cheaper" because they have a lower entry point.
Macs are "expensive" because they have a higher starting point, ALTHOUGH this point is no longer valid, since the cheapest PC I could find is $499 Dell Studio Hybrid, whereas Apple Mac Mini is $599.
Macs just have a higher standard, i.e. the Dell doesn't have WiFi by default and it's OS is Home Premium. So afterall, you get what you pay for. But, by quality and excellence of design, Macs > PC. Macs won 3 or 4 IDEA awards, while no PC vendor won not even a single IDEA award.
Macs are "expensive" because they have a higher starting point, ALTHOUGH this point is no longer valid, since the cheapest PC I could find is $499 Dell Studio Hybrid, whereas Apple Mac Mini is $599.
Macs just have a higher standard, i.e. the Dell doesn't have WiFi by default and it's OS is Home Premium. So afterall, you get what you pay for. But, by quality and excellence of design, Macs > PC. Macs won 3 or 4 IDEA awards, while no PC vendor won not even a single IDEA award.
Pretty much. You get people swearing by OSX, but then the Linux fan community isn't exactly shy to announce the superiority of their OS, and Linux OS's are free distributions...
Exactly........
Is there really any help for someone who can't help themselves by doing a search before starting another thread on this???