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Outrageous Apple prices

J

johnsy

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 15, 2006
443
0
Here is comparison of 2 laptops- HP dv6700z and Macbook

Macbook 2.1 GHz - $1099; 2.4 GHz $1299

Hp dv6700z with standard AMD Athlon 1.9 GHz is
+$50 for 2.1 or +$75 for 2.2 or+150 for 2.4 to the standard price.

apple memory standard is 1 GB. +$100 to upgrade to 2GB. or +$500 for 4GB.

HP comes with 1GB. there is free upgrade to 2 GB. 4GB +$150

to upgrade dv6700z to 256 MB video card you will have to pay $99 extra.
Macbook doesn't offer this option.

wireless and bluetooth for dv6700z will cost you +$45. It is included in Macbook price.

dv6700z has dvd burner. Macbook doesn't unless you will pay for more expesive 2.4 model.
for +$15 you can get lightscribe with dv6700z.

hard drive update for macbook is +$50 for 160Gb or $150 to 250GB vs +$25 for 160GB and +$75 for 250GB. Hell you can upgrade dv6700z to 320GB for $150!

+$19 will cost you System recovery dvd for dv6700z.

So summarize this- 2.1 macbook 4GB,250 GB sold for $1749 vs 2.1 HP 256Mb video card, Microphone, webcam, wireless LAN, bluetooth, 320GB hard drive, Lightscribe, OS recovery DVD, dv6700z for $1133.99. So savings of $615!!!
So basically you end up paying for OS X $615!!!

To be fare to replace AMD processor with Intel and it will be $ 1272.99. So still $476 savings!:eek:
 
rule #1 don't buy ram from apple.
rule #2 do upgrades yourself much easier and cheaper (RAM and Harddrive)

and finally their not the same processor, OS, or size
 
Eidorian said:
Try again with another laptop. The HP is a 15.4" model and it's not even Intel.
Click to expand...

Well they use the same hard drives, the same capacity memory. Plus see second post- it is still cheaper even with Intel processor than mac. OK, it is 15 inch model so it is cheaper than macbook AND Macbook Pro! :p
 
i get so frustrated when people come on here and bitch about prices, when they first don't even have fair comparisons, and even if they do, they aren't all that valid. there is more to a computer than what the spec sheet states
 
johnsy said:
Well they use the same hard drives, the same capacity memory. Plus see second post- it is still cheaper even with Intel processor than mac. OK, it is 15 inch model so it is cheaper than macbook AND Macbook Pro! :p
Click to expand...

So if price is your concern you should buy the HP. Some people don't see the value in driving an Audi or a BMW so they buy a Honda or a Saturn. Enjoy that Saturn!:rolleyes:
 
My Hyundai is cheaper then your BMW!

This isn't even a comparison. AMD to Intel is like a high school runner to an Olympian, they aren't the same size, the HP is their garbage low end model (HP sells nice biz laptops, this is not one of them)...

Awful argument and not even well presented.
 
johnsy said:
"Snip"
Click to expand...

It is a never ending source of bemusement to me when people come on the forums and start a thread declaring "Apple is Expensive", as if they and they alone have cracked the secret. They then go on to rant how much less ABC Computer Inc is selling comparable hardware for as proof positive of their position, never realizing that the only thing they have proven is that they have absolutely no understanding of the basics of product marketing and pricing. So here's a few quick and dirty lessons from the wonderful world of selling things.

Lesson #1. "What something costs to build has absolutely nothing to do with how much you sell it for."

Let's repeat that.

"What something costs to build has absolutely nothing to do with how much you sell it for."

Everytime you feel an overwhelming urge to mewl about "but they both use blah blah blah chipset", repeat "What something costs to build has absolutely nothing to do with how much you sell it for", 500 times.

Of course, Lesson 1 is hard to comprehend, until you combine it with Lesson 2.

Lesson 2. "When you do something different, you get to charge extra."

So exactly what does the HP do different. It is, essentially, a beige box running Windows Vista on an Intel chipset. It is not in any way significantly different from a Dell or a Fujitsu or a Lenova or a Toshiba or a etc etc etc. If you removed the identifying labels and handed it to someone to use for 6 months, would they be able to figure out what brand it was? Would they care?

Do you really think the BOD of HP decided one day, "Aw to hell with it, lets sell our comps for $600 less, we're rich enough!". If you do believe that, then price shouldn't be an issue. Just write your letter to Santa and be a good boy til XMas and all will be taken care of.

The truth is that Windows based PC's are cheaper because they have to be. When Asus drops it drawers on price in an effort to increase brand penetration and recognition, all the other little beige box makers have to keep pace or lose sales.

Sorry for the rant, pet peeve.
 
.:R2theT said:
So if price is your concern you should buy the HP. Some people don't see the value in driving an Audi or a BMW so they buy a Honda or a Saturn. Enjoy that Saturn!:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Hey! Now that's not fair... I drive a Saturn! :D

And I own a MacBook Pro. I would rather have a Mac and drive a Saturn than have a Dell and drive a Audi. I think... Being in college, I spend a lot more time on my computer than driving. The only thing I really care about on my car is gas milage and safety...

dsnort said:
...The truth is that Windows based PC's are cheaper because they have to be. When Asus drops it drawers on price in an effort to increase brand penetration and recognition, all the other little beige box makers have to keep pace or lose sales....
Click to expand...

QFET (Quoted For Epic Truth).

HP and Dell don't sell cheap (as in low quality, not inexpensive) computers because they are your friends or are less "greedy" than Apple - always cracks me up when people call Apple, a firm in a capitalist society, greedy. All companies are "greedy."
 
Well it cost more for different design. When you compare laptops, the same case is reused for different badges (the best example was emachines-gateway-arima-...). Only Apple exclusively use cases for themselves. However that doesn't explain other stuff. For example Macbook Air is well worth the price. There is tiny chip with soldered memory on it. There is no component available to replace for user. You can try to replace HD, but there is not much choice on a market. However every other Apple laptop/desktop have user replaceable components- memory, HD, so why charge customers more than competition? I mean essentially there are 2 choices- buy preconfigured from Apple and buy standard and upgrade yourself. Apple uses the same components! The same widely available HDs and memory. Memory is not soldered or anything. You can buy the same Hynix memory, just google it. I wouldn't mind some surcharge for OS X and iLife, design might be,but to boast for Apple that these things available on every mac free of charge is deception too. To compare Apple to Audi, BMW or whatever and HP to Saturn is not fare too. Apple might be better in design, OS, but not invincible. What happens is that Apple fanboys all the time look to mac as it is perfect product.
 
The cycle continues.....

OP (usually a n00b) posts a ******** hopelessly biased comparison between Apple and some **** brand of PC, bitches, moans and complains about Apple being more expensive. Other posters respond to the borderline trollbait, calling out for a fair comparison, providing one of their own, trashing the OP and the occasional agreement. It goes on for posts and posts, pages and pages of useless text until everyone finally gets bored and goes back to whatever incredibly important thing they were doing in their lives before.

In other words, blah blah blah blah blah blah bite me blah.
 
no sense in complaining about it, if you find something too expensive and out of your price range then there's nothing you can do about it just get whatever is in your price range..... i would love to own a ferrari but its way out of my budget so i have to settle for my BMW 3 series :D and its been this way since the beginning of time and with all product categories, so why attack apple? if you buy a pair of jeans at old navy you might see a similar pair at banana republic same texture same color but with a banana republic tag on it, they accomplish the same thing you wear them and they probably have the same cut and look but one is going to be alot more expensive..... the point is this happens with every product group in our economy since the beginning of time, and no i'm not an apple fanboy i just got a macbook for the first time like 2 weeks ago, but if the prices are too high at apple then go to dell, hp or buy used crying, complaining and cursing out apple wont do anything.
 
There are some things on the Apple products that you won't find on your precious lower priced laptop:

1. 5GHz Wireless N
2. Operating system that doesn't take 5 times the power to run thus making it faster.
3. Easily integrated with other products under Apple.

You can tout all you want about other laptops being a better value, but Apple products have strengths in areas that are important to users who want functionality.

Besides...Vista?....Yuck!
 
dsnort said:
Lesson #1. "What something costs to build has absolutely nothing to do with how much you sell it for."

Lesson 2. "When you do something different, you get to charge extra."
Click to expand...

Very well spoken!

This topic has been hashed and hashed and rehashed. There are several articles you can look up (try Googling "Mac PC price comparison") which show that once you really make an apples-to-apples comparison and take into account the total cost of ownership (TCO) and user experience of a Mac versus a PC (little or no viruses, not having to purchase anti-virus and anti-spyware software with annual subscription fees, registry clogging up and slowing down your system, etc.), Macs are usually in the same cost ballpark.

You are correct about the price of upgrades (RAM, hard-drives, etc.) from Apple. Apple's price for these items is exorbitant and you *definitely* want to purchase these items somewhere else and install them yourself.
 
johnsy said:
...so why charge customers more than competition? ..."Snip"... Apple uses the same components! The same widely available HDs and memory. Memory is not soldered or anything. You can buy the same Hynix memory, just google it.
Click to expand...

See, you weren't paying attention! :(

dsnort said:
"What something costs to build has absolutely nothing to do with how much you sell it for."

Everytime you feel an overwhelming urge to mewl about "but they both use blah blah blah chipset", repeat "What something costs to build has absolutely nothing to do with how much you sell it for", 500 times.
Click to expand...

And when you're done chanting that, give this a go for a few thousand times.

dsnort said:
"When you do something different, you get to charge extra."
Click to expand...

It will take a little time, but the payoff as you're newfound understanding blossoms will be titanic.
 
I'll quote Sumo Boy from 'The Replacements'

".... you don't like it? get the **** out!"

Someone said it best in a previous post, there's more to the laptop price than whats on the tech spec sheets. Argue that all you want.

When you compare what ACTUALLY comes with the Apple computer and that POS HP (I'd rather buy an e-machine than an HP) in respects to software, hardware, support, stability, etc THEN you may come back and apologize. :cool:
 
kkat69 said:
(I'd rather buy an e-machine than an HP)
Click to expand...

I read in an article somewhere where that Gateway, the maker of e-machines, had done a better job of upgrading their build quality and support in 2007 than any other Windows based PC manufacturer. I guess there's life in the old cow after all!
 
dsnort said:
I read in an article somewhere where that Gateway, the maker of e-machines, had done a better job of upgrading their build quality and support in 2007 than any other Windows based PC manufacturer. I guess there's life in the old cow after all!
Click to expand...

Yah I read that too. The 'cow' plant was near some relatives of mine in South Dakota (they said they can see it from the highway) and it quickly grew as one of the best especially in customer support, then they went down faster than the OP in popularity but yah, they are making a slow transition up. To little to late? Never! Still, my days of buying Windows machines (at least as far as I can see in my lifetime) is done.

So summarize this- 2.1 macbook 4GB,250 GB sold for $1749 vs 2.1 HP 256Mb video card, Microphone, webcam, wireless LAN, bluetooth, 320GB hard drive, Lightscribe, OS recovery DVD, dv6700z for $1133.99. So savings of $615!!!
So basically you end up paying for OS X $615!!!
Click to expand...

Hmmmmm anyone else caught this? Let me correct it:

So summarize this- 2.1 macbook 4GB,250 GB, Microphone, webcam, wireless LAN, bluetooth, OS recovery DVD, iLife (BETTER than average Photo Editing/Management, DVD Production, Movie organization/production, Web Editor), OS SDK and Development tools (for creating your own software to run on OS X), a few more feel good things that are debatable sold for $1749 (never buy Apple Ram, every idiot knows that, apparently you don't fall into that category)
vs

2.1 HP 256Mb video card, Microphone, webcam, wireless LAN, bluetooth, 320GB hard drive, Lightscribe, OS recovery DVD, dv6700z, (low grade, very vanilla plain, wouldn't give the software away) movie editing tool, a folder for picture organization, ms paint for photo editing for $1133.99. Should I even add the price for Visual Studio (to develop apps for the OS and web editing) cost into this?
So potential savings of $615!!!
So basically you end up paying for OS X, better social management tools, software development tools, et al for $615!!!
Subtract the cost of the memory because unlike Windows we don't need that much ram to run these things, they run fine off defacto 2g ram at a faster speed than Windows
Click to expand...

But who are we kidding, the OP is an HP secretary on her lunch break.
 
You can't compare those two. That's like saying a BMW is overpriced after comparing it to a Ford.
 
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