[edchambers]

(snip)"They actually COST a lot less than Windows machines. Their initial price is higher, but the cost is lower."

Hmm, I see, the complete Dells and HPs I see for around $400 somehow "cost" more than the $795 eMac.

2 What are the specs? Do you not know the specs of your machine?I know the Dell I bought two years ago with a 17" monitor,2Ghz processor, 60GB hard drive,DVDR burner,and 256 megs of RAM was about $600.Since then I have spent around $200 doubling the RAM and adding a 128 meg video card.

"Look better. Easier, more consistent interface. Faster number crunching. Less maintenance."

Unfortunately none of this does enough for me to be willing to spend nearly twice as much.

"they're a hardware company. They would have to develop ten thousand driver pieces for all the incompatible crap that PC users tolerate."

Microsoft does it, so does Linux and all of it's variants, and they do it for free.

"Do you think Windows would be doing Internet serving / surfing if Mac hadn't done it first?"

Sure they'd find someone else doing it and buy them out like they've done since the original MicroSoft Disk Operating System.
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[Paridel]

Hmm, I see, the complete Dells and HPs I see for around $400 somehow "cost" more than the $795 eMac.

I could sell you a complete C64 system for $200 but that wouldn't make it a better deal.

You can buy mac systems from $10 (an early used Powermac) on up. OK, so it wouldn't be new from Apple, but my point is that your comparison isn't really valid. If you want to argue that for $1000 you get a lot more PC than you do for $1000 on a mac that would make sense.

Microsoft does it, so does Linux and all of it's variants, and they do it for free.

And again, the fact that Apple doesn't have to is one of the reasons that people like its OS. You plug in hardware and it works. In addition to the hardware being extremely compatible the user interface across applications is very standardized, something I would like to see more of elsewhere.

Look, I don't use a mac personally, I have about a half dozen PC lying around, although I personally only use a couple of them anymore. I did at one point in time use a Wallstreet Powerbook and it was an excellent machine. But I'm going to have to venture a guess here: you aren't really looking for enlightenment, you are looking to agitate some mac users. You can fool some of the people some of the time.... ;-)

-paridel

[Izzy Dunne]

Hmm, I see, the complete Dells and HPs I see for around $400 somehow "cost" more than the $795 eMac.

Sure. Add an anti-virus program to your Dell bill. Add all the time you spend twiddling with it to your bill. If you enjoy that sort of thing, go for it! Then indeed, your time is not work, but pleasure. Me, I need to DO work on the computer, not work on the computer.

Do you get a music-making program with it, like GarageBand? Do you get a decent photo-management program? A decent music-management program? A calendar? A DVD-making program? A DVD drive, even? Add all those in..

[Izzy Dunne]

2 What are the specs? Do you not know the specs of your machine?

Yo,Ed, he didn't ask about the specs of my machine - he asked about the specs of a Mac. In general. A question just as silly as what are the specs of a Windows machine.

[Izzy Dunne]

Unfortunately none of this does enough for me to be willing to spend nearly twice as much.

So?

Don't buy one.

[Izzy Dunne]

"they're a hardware company."

Microsoft does it, so does Linux and all of it's variants, and they do it for free.

Yoo-hoo. Read it again. Apple is a HARDWARE company. Microsoft is not. Linux is not.

[papertyger]

Hmm, I see, the complete Dells and HPs I see for around $400 somehow "cost" more than the $795 eMac.

Yup. And unless you have first-hand experience, you have no basis to dispute the claim.

2 What are the specs? Do you not know the specs of your machine?I know the Dell I bought two years ago with a 17" monitor,2Ghz processor, 60GB hard drive,DVDR burner,and 256 megs of RAM was about $600.Since then I have spent around $200 doubling the RAM and adding a 128 meg video card.

Yup. The problem is you wouldn't understand the answer. You seem to think you would be speaking spanish if you just switched your english words for spanish. Languages aren't one to one compatible, and neither are computer platforms.