Are Mac's really more expensive than PC's ? The Results !

Ok so this is one of those questions that has been thrown around the forums and press by everyone. But there are rarely any cold hard facts backing up either sides claims. So I figured what the heck, why not do a bit of research and see just what prices are like.
In this first installment I decided to look at the Macbook, and compare it to the PC's out there. I used the following price search engine ( http://www.achetezfacile.com), as it allows for filtering based on a number of spec's, making it easier to compare similar hardware, thus making as close to an "apple to apple" comparison. Thus I was looking for 13.3" laptops with a C2D cpu and 2Gb of memory. Below are the results.
As you can see, apple is lying in the middle price wise. Its not the cheapest, nor is it the most expensive.

So at least based on the Macbook, the "apple premium" is actually less than the "ASUS/sony premium", but more than the Dell/Toshiba brands.
Make of that what you will.
until next time
a




Macbook White
Core 2 Duo 2,4GHz
2Gb memory
160Gb HDD
Intel graphics
1188 euro

Asus R1E-3P031E
Core 2 Duo T7250
2Gb memory
160Gb HDD
Intel graphics
1350 euro

Dell Vostro 1310
Core 2 Duo T8100
2Gb Memory
250Gb HDD
NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M-GS
717 euro

Sony VAIO VGN-SZ71E/B
Core 2 Duo T7250
2Gb memory
160Gb HDD
NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M-GS
1280 euro

Toshiba Satellite U300
Core 2 Duo T5750
2Gb memory
200Gb HDD
Intel graphics
870 euro

Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Si 2636-8002
Core 2 Duo T8300
2Gb memory
250Gb HDD
Intel graphics
1000 euro

 

Basically yes if you want the same specs.

Anything with integrated GPU costs far less then a mac plus the vostro(8400m GS)

Everything else with 8400m GS is a little more expensive then a mac

Conclusions: Macs are still a Rip off

 

All I know is back in Summer 2007:

Macbook Pro: $2---
Asus G1s-A1: $1830
Compal IFL-90: $15--
Dell Inspiron: ~$15--

 

Yes what?
The specs above are about as close to the same as you can get, sure its not possible to get it perfectly identical, but the above prices speak for themselves, you can't say that apples are more expensive than sony or ASUS.. its just not true... and if you want something cheaper then buy a dell...
a

 

Read the full edited post please

 

Well the most expensive laptop on the list is the ASUS, it has the exact same spec's as the macbook. Thus the point I'm tring to make is not a pro apple one, nor a negative PC, just that it is not a simple black and white yes or no. And for the most part apple is in the middle of the road price wise, definitely not the cheapest, but nor the most expensive.
a

 

I've been comparing macbooks and MBPs to other notebooks for a while and they've always come out to be reasonably priced compared to windows-based machines, and in some cases cheaper than quite a few brands/models. The "apple is overpriced" generalization is mostly a myth IMO. It's only when macbooks are compared to the cheapest Dells and Acers, which are heavily discounted with coupons and EPP etc... that macs seem outrageously expensive.

And that's not factoring in the "mac experience". By that I don't mean having the trendy MB or iMac or whatever. It's when you become comfortable with OSX and iLife and add things like .mac to do all that you need to do on a computer and having everything either built in and/or tightly integrated together, it just makes the whole experience that much better. As a result I find myself now spending less time on my computer and getting a lot more done. These are things that are typically missed or ignored when comparing macs to other machines because they don't show up on a spec sheet, but they add a lot of value IMO.

 

only in your are , the order applied but not here or in my home.

 

Anyone want to trade their Vostro 1310 for my MacBook?

 

and in this city , a decent mac book costs more than the price of a decent HP DV3006tx and the price of Sony SZ75n combined.

the Sony SZ 75 costs here around 46900baht and a decent macbook pro costs 115000baht.

the HP costs about 50000baht here.
the ASUS is not even sold here.

a decent Toshiba Portege m600(the same as the satellite U305) costs only 30000baht.

the Lenovo X300 costs about 89000baht(only one configuration for this ).

the Dell XPS is not sold here either , Dell only sells Vostro to a small business here, I can't buy a dell here so I ordered it from Japan.

the Panasonic CF Y7 costs about 89000baht.

29baht = 1US.

 

trade a Vostro for a mac , no way, I like the look of a Vostro better than the look of mac or Sony.

 

guys,this looks like a war . one cleaver man said-"you dont like the price?then dont buy".point.if you dont like the price of apple,then dont buy it,buy dell or something like it,but dont try prove that it is awfully overpriced.Apple is not for everyone,and that is one of its pros(for me).

 

My MBP cost roughly ~$500 more than a similarly configured XPS M1530.

I still opted for the MBP. Hey, if it's gonna last me a long period of time, I may as well pick the one I really enjoy.

 

Yes macs are more expensive. If you factor in towers then they are WAY more expensive and laughable from pc gamers.

Notebooks on the other hand aren't to out of the ballpark so it depends which operating system you want really.

 

But see, the Mac tower is not meant to be a gaming machine.

 

Yes Macs are expensive because they are positioned in the market as a premium product. The comparison with Mac notebooks is invariably against a non premium make such as Dell. Compare Mac prices with other perceived premium brands such Lenovo Thinkpads or most of Sony's range and they are pretty similarly priced.

Personally I feel the construction quality of my recently purchased MacBook Pro is way beyond that of the several Dell's I've owned.

All PC manufacturer's have issues with their products and Apple are no exception but if you look at the return rate for Apple notebooks you will see it is still one of the lowest around.

Just as with any consumer product range certain brands attempt to position themselves as premium brands. Whether you think that is just a perception and not based on any quantifiable measure is a personal choice.

Personally I think the design and build quality of the MacBook Pro justifies the extra expense over say a Dell XPS1530 (which I've also owned).

 

It's the only option if you want the most performance from your games while using a mac though. The iMac has a dedicated graphics card, but it can't be upgraded. Many PC gamers upgrade their hardware frequently, but Apple only wants you to use hardware that they've tested and approve. Apple is missing out one of the biggest and fastest growing industries in the world. Not that they're hard up for cash or anything.

I think that most Apple products are reasonably priced. Some of them are overpriced, such as the Macbook Air and Mac Pro, but if people buy them, I guess they're not too expensive.

 

Well VAIO is like the Mac of the PC's, kinda overpriced, but good designs. Also gives you bragging rights.

 

I agree that the Macbook and MBP are a bit pricy for their specs, but the iMac is most definitely the best value for money when it comes to all-in-one solutions, and the Mac Pro is excellent value for money if you ignore the pricing for non-ECC DIMMs.

Do not forget that the Mac Pro comes with 2 quad core Xeons by default. If you purchased a Dell or any other machine with that kind of processing power, it would easily cost you beyond the £2000 ($4000) mark.

Apple doesn't really have a machine for people to game on. There is no mini tower option or the like, so saying that a Mac Pro is overpriced for gaming would be more similar to saying that a Sun Sparc Enterprise Server is overpriced for gaming.

 

yeah the mac pro is ridiculously overpriced for a gamer. of course, its not for gamers at all. any other development machine with multiple processors also overpriced for a gamer.

 

Anywho asus g2 owner, when i was looking i found the big price differnce between the mac and my asus, was more so at the 17 inch mark, i think the macbook pro similar was 1000 more, but the 15 inch screen the difernce was only a couple hundred, which wasnt a biggy.

 

Comparing to the MB... there are cheaper notebooks. But many of them are not very good quality.
The dell 1330 is a fine example of a bit lower price (fully loaded, they cost almost the price of the MBP)... and it's got really bad components.
Sony's are the same price if not higher than Apple.

The MBP... yeah, you can get cheaper 15". They will not be as light nor as thing. I've compared tomany 15" dells, sagers and alienwares and have yet to be impressed by any of them compared the MBP.

The MacPro... Almost impossible to build something with the same specs at the same cost. Those quad core xeons are roughly $700 a piece on newegg. The motherboards roughly $400. ECC DDR ram is also pricey... So those aren't a rip off if you need a high end professional workstation. Also, dells and others that make similar Xeon based workstations weight in at roughly the same price.

 

Asus R1E is a tablet pc.
It's normal for a tablet pc to be more pricey than a macbook.

 

Uh, yeah right. As far as I know I can get any of the more expensive Zepto laptops here in Sweden for much less than a MBP with a decent dedicated GFX card. And when I see the price of a MacBook Air and then think about what I can get for that kind of money... *shudders*

 

Exactly.
Now I can't find a similarly spec'ed asus, but I found one thats better and cheaper.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=29279&vpn=90NLRAA133AABCQL350Y&manufacture=ASUS


ASUS F8SN-B1 Core 2 Duo T8100 14IN WXGA 3GB 250GB GeForce 9500M GS 512M Vista Premium BT Notebook

$1175 CAD = 740 EURO

As for quality. You can get a pretty good Thinkpad for cheaper than a macbook.

Regardless, Mac's are much better priced now though. I was going to buy a MBP, but in the end was a few hundred short.

 

The MacBook Air serves a niche market. Its price comes because its made so many changes and such. I imagine the cost of development to make the notebook every 0.1 inch thinner cost a fortune in research, testing and production.

 

I bought an asus A8JM 2 years ago and it cost me like 1700 plus taxes. I was going from a compaq which was trouble free but dated. I never seen my asus in person before buying and bought on raves from asus forum on how there notebooks are top notch quality. Well after 2 years of owning my asus it has a wobbly screen, terrible looking screen if you compare to my new macbook, the case is big time cheapo on asus but the price was a premium. I just got my black macbook and could not be happier, much better screen, battery life, looks awesome and just generaly pleased with it. My macbook was cheaper also and only thing I lost out on is a powerful video card which I will still use the asus for gaming but the macbook for everyday and traveling. I was never a mac fan or gave them a second thought until I seen a friends and then my pc seemed a bit boring by comparison.

 

I think that the 15" MBP is at a decent price, but the 17" is way over priced. Unless I'm missing something, the 17" has the same specs as the high end 15", but costs $200 more. I can build a dell 17" for $1400 with the same specs as a $2800 MBP. As for quality, my 1720 dell has held up very well this past year. I don't think 2" of screen space is worth it. As for the Macbook, I think it for the price they should have a better graphics setup. I can get a dell with an 8600m gt for less than the base MB. If you think OS X is worth the premium, then go for it.

 

Well one thing often not compared is the ram speed, max ram, hdd speed etc...

My macbook is almost a year older than my friend's compaq yet it still out performs it, similar processor but his machine is limited to 2GB ram and it uses slower ram at that. so maybe you are paying a little bit extra, but look at the details and you will see what you get for that extra. And while the macbook isn't industructable i would bet money on it outlasting a dell in an abuse test.

 

Probably true, but for over $1000 less it's worth it. I could buy another laptop with what I saved. I did hear that the dells now hive very sturdy frames. as for RAM, all notebooks are limited to 4gb, and 667 mhz is the highest speed so far.

EDIT: I just compared innards, and the tech specs are pretty much the same across the board. The only thing the 1720 doesn't have is an option for a DDR3 gfx card. the m1530 does though, and not for much more than the 1720.