Posted on 03/19/2005 9:13:58 PM PST by Swordmaker
The Mac mini has received rave reviews from some of Apple's harshest critics for its low price. However, some of them are still implying that a comparably equipped PC can be had for slightly less. Harry Rider submitted the following editorial to osOpinion / osViews which continues his series on comparing Macs to equally-equipped DIY PCs. This time his comparison deal's with Apple's new Mac mini.
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Sometime last year, I wrote an editorial comparing the price of Apple's new iMac G5 with a comparably equipped PC to see which of the two was less expensive. Apple has a reputation for selling "premium-priced" hardware and I've found that not to be true as Apple's prices are in fact less expensive. To the surprise of many, the iMac turned out to be nearly $250 less than an equally equipped DIY PC.
Apple's incorrect premium-priced reputation was best summarized by osViews's editor's prelude to my editorial: "The reason for [the false reputation] stems from the fact that Apple doesn't allow you to build your own computer from commodity parts. But that doesn't make PCs less expensive... though it does make the Mac less configurable."
Apple sells a limited number of computer configurations. As a result, the company has managed to secure larger margins than average... though not because their computers require you to pay more, but because they require you to buy more. In essence, they didn't offer a low-end machine thus allowing you to buy less and get less as you can with the large assortment of PC suppliers as well as the opportunity to build your own.
With Apple's introduction of the Mac mini early this week, the company has finally started competing in the low-end computer market. This caused me to ask the same question as I did before... "How does Apple's latest computer stack up against a comparably equipped PC?"
Same as before, I started by building a PC at Dell's web site to match the specs listed on Apple's Mac mini. The problem with this strategy is that Dell doesn't offer an equivalent system. You can buy a config with less and pay less, or you can buy one with more and pay more. So to make the comparison fair, it had to be made against a DIY PC.
So how does Apple's new computer stack up??
Here are the specs of the lower-end Mac mini:
1.25GHz PowerPC G4
256MB of PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SRAM
ATI Radeon 9200 with 32MB of DDR SDRAM
40GB Ultra ATA
Slot-loading Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
One FireWire 400 port; two USB 2.0 ports; DVI output; VGA output (adapter included)
Built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet and 56K V.92 modem
Mac OS X version 10.3 Panther
iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand), AppleWorks, Quicken 2005 for Mac, Nanosaur 2, Marble Blast Gold
Price: $499
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Here are the specs of a comparably equipped DIY PC
Intel Pentium 4 2Ghz CPU................$145
P4S800 (SiS 648FX) Series P4 Motherboard................$63
256MB of PC2700 (333MHz) DDR SRAM................$51
ATI Radeon 9200................$90
40GB Ultra ATA................$56
DVD-ROM/CD-RW................$60
Case/PSU................$40
Windows XP Professional................$199
Adobe Photoshop album (Compares with iPhoto)................$50
Windows Movie Maker (Compares to iMovie)................$0
Ulead DVD MovieFactory (Compares with iDVD)................$40
Fruity Loops (Compares with Garage Band)................$80
Microsoft Works (Compares with Apple Works................$50
Quicken 2004................$60
Nanosaur 2................$15
Marble Blast Gold................$15
Hardware Price: $505
Hardware and Software price: $1,022
In my last editorial comparing the iMac and a DIY PC, I read reviews of my article from other sources redoing my comparison but leaving out software and then bringing down the cost of the PC as a result. This seems to be a common practice amongst PC hardware review sites and I think it's a mistake. Software is an area where Apple ads value to their hardware. I think their mistake can be attributed to the fact that most bundled software on PCs is shareware or junkware, so factoring in equivalents to Apple's iLife is so easily overlooked.
Regardless, to appease those that only look at hardware, I ran the figures both ways. The Apple hardware comes out less in both scenarios. The price comparison reiterates that Apple doesn't charge the supposed "premium" that is often equated with their systems. Can we finally do away with the fallacy that implies that Apple charges a premium for their computers?
Mac Mini vs. DIY PC cost comparison PING!
This should be interesting...
If you wan to be on the Mac Ping list, Freepmail me.
Mac Mini vs. DIY PC cost comparison PING!
This should be interesting...
If you wan to be on the Mac Ping list, Freepmail me.
Sorry about the double PING but something weird has been happening to FR in the last few minutes. Trying to post the article resulted in a NO SUCH THREAD and then TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE... and then it appeared. The PING post didn't appear... and then did... strange.
Well... I find I didn't even get a single ping... when I thought I double pinged. FR was acting even weirder than I thought,
Oh well. Try, try again.
Mac Mini cost vs. DIY PC PING!
This should be interesting.
If you want on or off the Ping list for Macs, Let me know through Freepmail.
bump
Oh, and he left off the anti-virus stuff from the PC :-)
Better Computer from Dell with laptop, mouse, and keyboard for $399. Having zero interest in the software listed and knowing no one that does, I wonder why they didn't include $4 for the can of black spray paint (or white) to make them exactly the same.
Oh wow, Apple gives me a photo album program! (I got one with my last Dell and promptly removed it.)
Another Apple review who lies ping!
That's the best idea for a topic you've *ever had*. ;'D Thanks for the ping!
Heck, I only steal ideas from the best!
Kudos to SunkenCiv for the link... heheheheh
Well, that was supposed to be an inside joke (a very obvious one), but hey, I'll take the kudos. I used to go through boxes of those...
Unnecessary, they could just use XP Home. A recently downloaded copy of linux might work even better for really hardcore DIYers (cheaper still).
Paid too much for a case by at least $15, can get the DVD/cd-rw for $6 less
WIN XP Home.... $88 and shipping
Kodak Photo program, Panasonic Camedia photo program, opensource photo programs, Paint Shop Pro image browser is a good one...... all free
DVDStyler or Varsha. Varsha is much more flexible then Ulead.... Free Opensource GPL
OpenOffice... free
Quicken 2004... Instant Rebates available everywhere online
Kids games, way to show your bias author.
But hey, he's getting paid to write this presumably, I'm just up late...
Why do Mac owners think updating Aunts Selma and Patties' slideshow of their trip to Acapulco to digital format is such an absolutely fascinating selling point?
Mistake, Varsha is for Linux/Posix. Ulead would be the best comparison I know of then...
Free software is only a bargain if you use it, and probably 95% of Apple users don't have a garage band - eliminate Fruity Loops, which is not really comparable anyway, so subtract another $80. Apple bundles some bottom-of-the-line shareware-quality games, and I'm supposed to ooohhh and ahhh and open my wallet - nobody buys a Mini to get Nanosaur 2, so including them in the price is just silly. Subtract $30 that we can put towards real games not available for Mac. MS Works? OpenOffice - price: free, and it's more than comparable to AppleWorks. Subtract $50. Quicken 2005 Basic edition - $30, not $50. Subtract $20 for that. Eliminate the Ulead DVD software - neither the Mini nor the DIY machine have DVD burners, so paying for that is just stupid. Subtract $40 more.
And so forth and so on. I just shaved $349 off the software, and $204 off the hardware, and I'll wind up with a more powerful machine, because I actually built one the way a real DIY'er would do it, for a whopping $469. Flame away.
Yeah, but neither the Mini nor the DIY box have DVD burners, so why pay for DVD authoring software at all?
Like myself I think the main reason most people don't use Macs is that they don't want to be associated with the lefty, artsy image that Macs have and also having to shop at that one small shelf at the back of the software store.
I was a field service PC network tech for Unisys for seven years. I RARELY ever encountered a Mac in the Hundreds of businesses I visited (except maybe in some design firms). I don't uderstand why the lefties at our schools are allowed to invest all that money and teach the kids on Macs when 90+ percent of the world uses PC's.
Please post a link so I can look over the 399$ dell and see how it stacks up against the mini..
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