[Swordmaker]

This should raise some Microsoftie hackles....

[Swordmaker]

Mac Mini vs. DIY PC cost comparison PING!

This should be interesting...

If you wan to be on the Mac Ping list, Freepmail me.

[Swordmaker]

Mac Mini vs. DIY PC cost comparison PING!

This should be interesting...

If you wan to be on the Mac Ping list, Freepmail me.

[Swordmaker]

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.

[Tribune7]

bump

[Tribune7]

Oh, and he left off the anti-virus stuff from the PC :-)

[Joe_October]

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!

[SunkenCiv]

That's the best idea for a topic you've *ever had*. ;'D Thanks for the ping!

[af_vet_rr]

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

I don't agree with the above for the simple fact that they don't work as well or as easily as the Apple counterparts. I've seen friends struggle with these, I've tried them, and they just don't stack up. Plus they don't integrate as well - on the Mac side, I can create an album in iPhoto, turn it into what is basically a nice little movie with nice effects (the overused Ken Burns effect as an example) in iMovie, and then import it into iDVD (while creating the menus from photos already in iPhoto).

It's late and I'm not being coherent, but I guess it's just one of those things, that unless you've done it on the Mac, and have seen others tried to replicate it on the PC, it's too hard to explain. I can do all of the above in at least half the time, if not less, on the Mac side, compared to their Windows counterparts.

It's really hard to explain to somebody who has only used Windows. It's the conversation that many of us have had with others - somebody says "my PC is twice as fast as your Mac" and your response "I can do the same thing on the Mac in a third of the time that you can do it on the PC - where's your speed advantage again?".

[mbennett203]

" Windows XP Professional................$199"

Unnecessary, they could just use XP Home. A recently downloaded copy of linux might work even better for really hardcore DIYers (cheaper still).

[JerseyHighlander]

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

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?

[general_re]

MacMoonie BS. $208 for the CPU and mobo? I can get an Athlon 1 GHz CPU and the motherboard for $100, and it'll be significantly faster than the Mac. This guy rolled a more expensive machine - it's also going to crush the Mac performancewise, even moreso than the Athlon I'd build. So subtract $108 from the PC price, and we're down to $397 on hardware. That Radon 9200 is also a $50 card, not $90 - subtract $40 and we're down to $357. An OEM 40GB Seagate drive is $35, not $56 - subtract $21 and we're down to $301 on the hardware. There's no reason to pay extra for XP Pro on a home machine supposedly comparable to a Mini, other than because some MacMoonie decided that only XP Pro was worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as OS X - subtract $199, which is a farcical price for XP Pro to begin with, from the final cost and include XP Home at $70, for a net subtraction of $129.

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.

[mowowie]

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.

[Bush2000]

Alas, since many DIYers pirate most of the software that you see there, their actual cost will be significantly less...

[Poser]

I, for one, am sick of these "Macs are as cheap as PCs" threads.

My $300 Dell is a good comparison. Let's try it.
Dell Demension 2400 with

• 2.8 Gig processor
• 256 MB RAM
• 80 Gig hard drive
• 52x CD ROM
• Intel 82845G Graphics Controller
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Speakers
• 6 USB 2.0 ports 2 on front)
• Serial Port
• Parallel Port
• Sound card
• Built-in 10/100 Ethernet
• Word Perfect Office Suite
• Paintshop Pro 8.0
• A bunch of other worthless software (just like the Mini)

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

So... Basically, with the addition of a DVD-ROM/CD-RW ($45 from PC Connection) I have a computer with double the processor and double the hard drive (plus a keyboard, speakers and mouse) of the Mini. I added RAM up to 1 Gig, a firewire port and a CD/RW plus my old monitor. For under $500 I have an expandable machine that is a whole lot more computer than the Mini, including software.

I understand that I got a good deal on the Dell, but those types of deals are available all the time. I bought a Mini. It took 8 weeks to show up, but I'll pick it up Monday. This is the cheapest Mac ever and the price got me to buy one (just for fun). There is still no comparison in price and features. Apple costs more than the PC, usually by a factor of about 50%. All of the posts in the world about the Mini won't change that.

WalMart is selling a full-size PC with 128MB RAM and a CD for $199. It is a Xandros/Linux machine with Open Office and a host of other open source stuff. It includes a mouse, speakers and keyboard. For under $125 you can bring it up to the same specs as the Mini.

Good computers are cheap, including the Mini. A few years ago, I had resigned myself to paying $1,500 for a decent computer. Things changed fast.

[balrog666]

When 90% of buyers are just replacing an older machine, they don't need any stinkin' (promo) software at all.

[Doohickey]

How many PCI slots that Mini got?

Oh, and I'm an old-school home user and I need a floppy drive.

[Sloth]

A thoroughly dishonest comparison.

[television is just wrong]

I bought one. It is great. The only thing is that there is no airport card or antenna in it yet.

Not til at least 3/21

[dennisw]

bttt

[anonymous_user]

The author doesn't address that the "pc" is actually a pile of parts and no support... and it's still more expensive.