High-End Personal Computers Account for Less Than 10% of PC Market

Cute, but you’d really have to work to spend $3,000 on a Mac these days. The highest-end base configuration for a 27” iMac is $2,000, so you’d have to jam a whole bunch of upgrades to get there.

A bit easier if you have the 15” MacBook Pro with Retina display — the highest base configuration there is 2,800, so you’re only one or two upgrades away.

I got my iMac, Parallels Desktop, and 3 years of AppleCare for less than $1,200. I also do a lot more than just Facebook on it.

People want cheaper, smaller and they want to replace them more often. Very few PC users, except gamers, want to chase upgrades.

As a gamer and one who does a lot of side work for people on their home PC's and networks, I could not agree LESS!

People do not like replacing and/or upgrading. It's all a big headache to them. They're always complaining about how now they'll have to re-learn everything all over again. Every time MS comes out with a new OS or version of Office, many, many things are relocated and it is a big headache not just finding what folder an app has been relocated to, but the interface for it has changed (Defrag, anyone?).

As to gaming, I can't wait for consoles to be able to do simulation-style games. It's way cheaper than any PC as you can connect wireless to your LAN and get on the internet with a USB mouse and KB). Every game that comes out requires more powerful CPU/GPU combinations than the last iteration of the game, but will run on a 2005 XBOX 360. Go figure.

I'm not sure you understood me, especially the second sentence:

Very few PC users, except gamers, want to chase upgrades

Sure, nobody wants to have buy a new machine, but they prefer it over upgrades and the increases in processor, memory and storage have consistently driven these purchases. Moving data and reconfiguring has become much, MUCH more simple since USB came along.

I ditched my PC-gaming for consoles and haven't looked back, except for CandC and other simulation and strategy games.

Sorry. I focused on the "replace" etc. And still, us PC gamers do not like having to upgrade. That is very different from doing an upgrade when we want to (and not when we have to).

I think consoles will be able to do good simulations very soon. Now if they just had decent programmers who could write a game in-depth enough to last more than a couple of weeks, LOL!

I know a few gamers that LOVE to upgrade. For some reason, swapping up for a new video card is the hilight of their day. Seriously. They’re like the “ricers” of the PC world.

Consoles don’t have enough inputs for really good sims. Maybe a USB HOTAS setup or input overlay, but not yet.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.