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Posted on 10/30/2010 3:20:35 AM PDT by Swordmaker
On this week’s episode of The Tech Night Owl LIVE, we talk with Laptop magazine’s Avram Piltch about Apple’s spanking new MacBook Air. Along with reports that the product may already be flying off the shelves, particularly the 11.6-inch version, the early reviews are nothing short of spectacular.
Piltch, who is certainly no ardent fan of Apple, has high praise for this revision of this sexy thin and light notebook, and it’s not just the performance factor. You see, compared to other notebooks that use solid state storage, the Air is actually priced competitively. It may even be cheaper than some of the generic PC alternatives, simply because Apple is able to get the best price on flash memory.
With a base price of $999, the entry-level MacBook Air may not be the cheapest notebook on the planet, but the designs that come closest cost even more.
Now take a look at the promised iPad killers that are slowly coming to market. Some companies are tying them in to two-year data plans with wireless carriers to make them seem less expensive, but soon as you add up the price of admission — particularly in the months where Wi-Fi access is sufficient for you — you’ll find that the iPad is a much better deal.
Worse, without a 3G plan, such products as the Samsung Galaxy Tab, with a 7-inch display, may be priced at the same level or higher than the cheapest 9.7-inch iPad. Go figure!
Add to that the fact that Apple’s latest SEC filing warns of somewhat lower profit margins — still high compared to most of the consumer electronics industry — and that typically conservative outlook has spooked Wall Street and stalled the meteoric rise in the company’s stock price.
But remember that Apple never releases a product that fails to deliver great profits to the company, even if it’s a few percentage points less than some might hope. What that means is that Apple is going to be far more aggressive about pricing, not to mention the need to cover R&D for new product releases. In the end, as much as Apple is regarded as the BMW of the tech business, you can’t call their prices high compared to identically-equipped competitors.
So, yes, you can buy a big screen Windows notebook for $700. But now load it up with essentially the same options that Apple provides as standard issue, including a superior LCD display with higher resolution, and suddenly the Mac doesn’t seem so expensive.
When you move to the high end of the equation, the Mac Pro has almost always been priced similar to, or lower than, competing workstations from Dell and other top-tier PC box assemblers.
Yes, there are loads of PC boxes out there that are much cheaper than a Mac, and businesses may not particularly prefer to buy computers equipped with Wi-Fi, digital lifestyle apps, not to mention a Web cam. None of those features may be suited to an office environment, yet all of Apple’s notebooks, along with the iMac, have them. It makes them more expensive to build, and the price of admission is higher, but Apple sharply limits customization. You can’t, for example, buy ten thousand copies without these and other features, and that is often a reason why businesses won’t choose Apple.
I wonder how things might change with Apple’s new enterprise push, and their deal with Unisys to mine the corporate and government markets. Certainly Apple is taking business customers seriously, but it doesn’t appear they’re going to sacrifice product design or customization to get there.
When it comes to the iPhone, pretty much any competing smartphone using the Android OS, RIM, or Windows Phone 7 OS, will have a similar subsidized price. There may be times when a carrier will cut prices to move product, such as those two-for-one deals at Verizon Wireless. But since Verizon didn’t grow its postpaid subscription roster as much as they hoped in the last quarter, the days may be numbered for such product giveaways.
You can rest assured that there won’t be any two-for-one deals if and when the iPhone joins Verizon’s product list. Apple wouldn’t accept such a marketing scheme for a moment, and Verizon clearly would have to cede major levels of control to get an iPhone to sell. That the iPad is already available almost certainly cements the likelihood such a deal is already in place.
In any case, the next time someone tells you that Apple’s gear is way overpriced, remind them of the iPad, iPhone and iPod. At $49 for an iPod shuffle, you can’t call it costly, nor can you say anything of the sort about the $499 iPad. Indeed, that trendsetting product is priced far more cheaply than pretty much any alleged analyst expected when it was introduced earlier this year.
The version 2.0 iPad will likely be priced the same, since there appears to be no incentive for Apple to drop the price. At the same time, it’ll have more features; consider the presence of a camera almost a lock.
But Apple did reduce the price of the MacBook Air, and that decision has made it tremendously — surprisingly — competitive, even against cheap PC gear.
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And you get it with 4 GB RAM to start, customer upgradeable to 8 GB if you desire. And 3 USB ports, an SD card reader, and a real Ethernet jack, highly desirable for anyone who travels in Asia as most hotels here still do NOT have WiFi available in their rooms.
Yes, it's 12 ounces heavier, so I guess you save $500 for 12 ounces, or about $670 per pound. That's a pretty hefty premium in pricing! Even heftier if you consider the HP dm1z - about the same laptop, but for $100 less...
The closest Dell offering is the Latitude 13 at $1009.
What will the star bellied sneetches do when everyone has one?
Try configuring a Dell with a 64GB solid state drive, a Core 2 Duo or equivalent (not an Atom) processor, under 5 lbs. The only option from Dell is the Latitude 13.
For about the same price as the Macbook Air, you get Intel integrated graphics; a battery that PC World rated among the worst, at about 3.5 hours; 802.11g (vs. n on the Macbook); no multi-touch trackpad; and an extra pound and a half of weight.
Brand new Samsung 64 gig SSD $150 at Newegg.com.
Have you looked at brands other than Dell?
2.5" SATA, presumably. I don't know how many of the smallest notebooks accommodate that form factor, or have user-upgradable drives (for any reasonable definition thereof).
Have you looked at brands other than Dell?
Nope. The premise of the article is that comparable Windows notebooks cost about the same as or more than the MacBook Air -- I'm not planning to visit every PC manufacturer's Web site to find a much cheaper comparable machine that I don't believe exists.
When Apple first released the Air, Dell and others came out with me too products. Apple set the tone, the others followed.
Apple’s genius in this iteration of the Air was freeing the SSD from the 1.8” HD form factor. I believe other laptop manufacturers will follow, but it will take them a little time. in any event, they already missed Christmas.
Anyone comparing the Air to a $400-$600 laptop is missing the point. The $400-$600 laptops are a great deal and have a large audience. The Macbook Air is a great deal and also has a not as large audience, but that audience largely belongs to Apple, and not shared as Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer and Asus have to.
A few years ago, when we were building our present home, we needed an appraisal for the financing. The appraisal came in way too low. Why? Because the idiot appraiser compared our home to be built on four acres with homes in nearby subdivisions on a 1/4 acre. They are different animals, and an accurate appraisal required going farther to find similar homes. Saying that the sub-division home is “just like” the small acreage home ... except you have to tie in to village services, except you have to abide by village restrictions (3 inch thick book), except you have to submit to the HOA Nazi, except you have 1/16 of the land and one 1/4 of the privacy, except, except, except. And its is no longer a valid comparison. The second appraiser got it right.
On the Monopoly board, Oriental Avenue is a good deal for $100. New York Avenue is a great deal for $200.
“I’m not planning to visit every PC manufacturer’s Web site to find a much cheaper comparable machine that I don’t believe exists.”
Well I have to hand it to you, there is no way you will ever prove yourself wrong.
And the K325 is equivalent to the 1.4 GHz Core2 Duo in the Macbook Air (per the independent CPU testing I referenced above). And it's under 4 pounds - 3.2 pounds to be exact. So the penalty is 12 ounces for 5X the storage, and half the price.
Battery ratings? Anandtech independently tested the battery and found it rather "optimistic" at 5 hours. In fact, it came in at about 2:45, about the same as the Dell when running xVID playback and heavy web browsing. No surprise given the equivalent CPU capability, graphics capability, and bigger battery in the Dell unit (the SSD does save power, but the battery is a lot smaller).
Not to mention you can pop out that battery in the Dell and keep going. A bit hard to swap batteries on the Air; if it runs out, better plug it in, no option to pop in another battery and keep going!
And the Inspiron 101z has 802.11n as well, and a multi-touch trackpad. Oh, and it has a 1.3 MP webcam as well... Yes, it weighs 12 ounces more. Of course, it's also half the price.
So the real choice is: are you willing to pay $1000 for a 2.3 pound, 64 GB computer with 2GB of RAM, or do you want to pay $500 for a 3.2 pound, 320 GB computer with 4 GB or RAM (expandable to 8 GB)? Everything else - network speed, CPU speed, display - are the same. Except, of course, external connectivity. The cheaper device has more USB ports and a wired Ethernet jack as well, and also includes dedicated HDMI and VGA ports, no special adapter cable required.
How much is that 12 ounce savings worth to you?
Pretty much all of them. It's simple to swap the drives on a Dell, HP, IBM, Sony, Acer, Asus, or most other PCs. A screw or two, out slides the HDD tray, a few screws and the standard 2.5" drive pops off. Add your new one and you're done. It's a standard size/configuration, and pretty much all laptops save the new Airs support that format and mount. It's nice to have standards for hardware!
I'm not planning to visit every PC manufacturer's Web site to find a much cheaper comparable machine that I don't believe exists.
No need to do so; the Dell 101z and the HP tm1z both are small laptops with equivalent features for about half the price (or a little less). Acer and Asus have equivalent models as well.
The closest Dell offering is the Latitude 13 at $1009.
Incorrect reasoning. You forgot the people who are content with the specs you mention on the Dell 11.6" machine. They can buy a nicely priced Dell instead of going in for typical Apple overkill. Do you know what the word overkill means? Because no pro-Apple poster knows what it means. I mention it but never get a direct answer. Just semi-fallacaious comparisons like yours
This Dell suits average persons computing purposes
Apple Air has less weight because it's a glorified iPad that has more memory, a wall adapter and a cover to shut. Impressive specs and portability but overkill for most buyers who want an 11 incher.
You can buy the Dell 11.6" machine for $489 refurbished making it ~$60% cheaper than the Mac Air @ $1199
Translation: Apple caters to the hoity-toity elites. Dell is for the commoners like me. Same as Robin Hood. Same as Ayn Rand. Same as Thomas Jefferson.
Oh! Sorry I stepped on your toes.
I was only making the best comparison, not knowing you are only looking for the cheapest PC box one can find. Good luck with Dell Customer Service BTW.
I was only making the best comparison>>>>>>>>
Yeah but it was not the best or only comparison. You Apple guys simply won’t admit that someone can buy a lesser computer (with same 11.6” screen size here) and be happy with what it does. Sorry for my tone in the first reply to you
Thus some can buy a 11.6” Dell Inspiron and very happy with that purchase at 40% the Apple price for an 11.6” laptop. Thus to repeat....Apple is very often in the overkill business.
It’s just snobbism and one upmanship......often is that way
not knowing you are only looking for the cheapest PC box one can find>>>>>>>
And I’m not looking for the most snobby and expensive product. You guys that are....knock yourself out!
But you were making the wrong comparison. The Dell M101z also comes with a K325, about the same power as the Core2 Duo in the Air. It also comes with 4 GB (not 2 GB) of 1333 MHz RAM (and it's user expandable to 8 GB - good luck doing that with the Air), a 320 GB HDD, and more ports and expansion to boot (like Bluetooth 3.0, not the outdated 2.1 that the Air includes).
All this for about half the price - $549 versus $999 for the Air.
Good luck with Dell Customer Service BTW.
AppleCare is what, $250 for the Air? And you have to take it to the Apple store, or mail it in? And the default is only 90 days of tech support?
The Dell starts with the same warranty and a full 1 year of tech support, 4 times longer than the Air. And for $169 (not the $249 from Apple) I can get the same 3 year coverage with Dell. And Dell sends a person TO ME the next day to fix any problems. Lower price, much better service (unless you like driving to your Apple store to have your computer fixed), I don't see how that's a negative for the Dell.
And we haven't even discussed the HP Pavilion dm1z - it's about the same dimensions as the Macbook Air, slightly heavier, but with a better processor (upgrade to the K625), more RAM, bigger HDD, etc. And about half the price - again - of the Macbook Air.
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