why are macs so ****ing expensive

nesf

Cork24 wrote: »

Inside an Imac is just as looking into a Laptop. Same thing what can MAC do different that you cant do with PC hardware.. MAC & PC hardware are more or less the same.

Who's arguing that the hardware isn't the same? It's case, integration and build quality that's different. Compare like with like and the price difference isn't that much for most Mac products.

Mister Man

I find these arguments pointless!
Macs are really nice machines, look great, and have great software!
PC's are great for gaming, and office stuff (Office part may be wrong at this stage)

Now, I know Macs can play games, but they don't have many designed for them, and have to be played through windows, and aren't as powerful. Which is fine for most users, most people buy it for the software/design or it's OS

People buy PC's because they are half the price for something around the same price as a mac and still be very powerful! Which is perfect for a lot of people, not everyone has money for a Mac!

Both systems have there ups and downs -

Macs are expensive, PC's can come in at 300quid or so compared to the bottom of the line mac @ 999quid
PC's do tend to pick of viruses etc, Macs, not so often, as there isn't many design for macs. (Don't complain about that, I'm a techy guy, and I still pick up viruses for e-mails/sites/downloads, it's general stuff!)
PC makers tend to throw in cheap parts to OEM systems (Acer being one I have experience with) were as with Apple, you know you're paying for good quality.

The list of pros and cons for each will go on and on. The way I see it is,

-If you have the money, and like macs, go for one
-If you're on a budget, get the best PC possible on that budget

Apart from the OS really,they are the same thing! So saying "Macs are ****, and you're all fanboys" etc is just a stupid argument.

Currently, I don't own a Mac (Maybe this weekend I will) but I've been looking into them for a long time now, and really, nothing is different, it's just down to the user themselves to decide which they want!

Greentree_uk

I am rarely asked these days to do a price comparison and the reason is that when you compare like for like there often isn't one. PC's rarely have the features a mac does. in laptops for example.

Backlit keyboards - Very handy in the dark or dim light

solid aluminum case - They are solid, pickup a pc laptop, a lot of them feel flimsy, I've had many buttons on cd drives, power buttons break on pc's.

Thin design - I've yet to see a laptop with the same features as a mac as thin while maintaining it's strength.

Thunderbolt - a great future proofing technology available on all macs.

Magsafe adapter - your power cord is magnetic, trip on it and your mac stays on the table or lap and not in pieces on the floor. This has saved me many times.

long battery life as standard. Yes without the need to buy a long life extra heavy battery.

On desktops.

Bluetooth keyboards and Mice. - these more are expensive than "wireless" RF devices.

Each of these components have a value, yes perhaps not everyone will use them but with a mac you don't get that option, hence the price. I'm sure there's features I've missed.

With a mac you grow with your machine, as technology moves on it takes better advantage of the features of your mac. Thunderbolt is a new technology but even if you never use it, in a few years you'll be thankful for it when transferring your data from your mac. Features like Target disk mode & migration assistant you rarely use but are great for transferring data quickly from one machine to another. ever tried migrating windows machines? it just doesn't happen. by migrate we don't mean transfer files. we mean transfer files, contacts, emails, Applications Customizations, printers even settings down to users, passwords, machine names etc.

Now the OS. Viruses, trojans, malware. Yes they exist but seriously it is your own fault if you get one. I work as a Mac Engineer and on two hands I can count the amount of machines I have come across with these problems. They are very easy to fix. Might I add I've been working in the trade for 9 years?

Most problems I come across these days are hardware related, a bad Hard disk is probably the most common failure and that happens to every machine, pc mac or otherwise.

The mac is not for Serious hardcore gamers, but they know that. Most I know have a separate rig/setup for gaming anyway. But for 99% of gamers a mac in bootcamp (running windows) is more than enough. There are many mainstream games for mac and a great gaming life can be had on the mac. So to write it off on gaming is nonsense and a non argument.

The Mac vs PC argument is long, you can't please everyone, but there isn't a product in the world that pleases everyone and that's the beauty of life. Everyone's different, and it's those that think different, that challenge the way we are today, and bring us what we need tomorrow.
Yes if you have the expertise you can build a better desktop, or you may buy a faster laptop but what you get is not something of beauty and form but one of function.
As fort the original argument of a netbook vs a macbook air. IT demonstrates most peoples knowledge of what a PC is. A computer is not measured by the processor inside it, it is by how much use you can get out of it and how much frustration you get while using it. THis is dictated by how efficient the operating system is at using the resources available to it. Windows is clunky and slow and viruses and trojans only add to that burden. Mac OS is free of those issues and is the only easy to use alternative to windows. Linux is great for a tech savvy person but not for a home user. Windows is also good for a tech savvy person and in my opinion not great for a home user. of course all your windows problems go away with a reformat and reinstall. But these things take time and are often not easy to do and lets face it, allocating a weekend to backup, wipe reinstall and restore your data to your machine every 6 months to maintain speed is just a waste of your time and not something you will ever need to do on a mac.

Seriously, the Mac is the best solution for those who can afford it. For anyone who can't there is PC.

Tea_Bag

Greentree_uk wrote: »

I am rarely asked these days to do a price comparison and the reason is that when you compare like for like there often isn't one. PC's rarely have the features a mac does. in laptops for example.

Backlit keyboards - Very handy in the dark or dim light

solid aluminum case - They are solid, pickup a pc laptop, a lot of them feel flimsy, I've had many buttons on cd drives, power buttons break on pc's.

Thin design - I've yet to see a laptop with the same features as a mac as thin while maintaining it's strength.

Thunderbolt - a great future proofing technology available on all macs.

Magsafe adapter - your power cord is magnetic, trip on it and your mac stays on the table or lap and not in pieces on the floor. This has saved me many times.

long battery life as standard. Yes without the need to buy a long life extra heavy battery.

On desktops.

Bluetooth keyboards and Mice. - these more are expensive than "wireless" RF devices.

Each of these components have a value, yes perhaps not everyone will use them but with a mac you don't get that option, hence the price. I'm sure there's features I've missed.

With a mac you grow with your machine, as technology moves on it takes better advantage of the features of your mac. Thunderbolt is a new technology but even if you never use it, in a few years you'll be thankful for it when transferring your data from your mac. Features like Target disk mode & migration assistant you rarely use but are great for transferring data quickly from one machine to another. ever tried migrating windows machines? it just doesn't happen. by migrate we don't mean transfer files. we mean transfer files, contacts, emails, Applications Customizations, printers even settings down to users, passwords, machine names etc.

Now the OS. Viruses, trojans, malware. Yes they exist but seriously it is your own fault if you get one. I work as a Mac Engineer and on two hands I can count the amount of machines I have come across with these problems. They are very easy to fix. Might I add I've been working in the trade for 9 years?

Most problems I come across these days are hardware related, a bad Hard disk is probably the most common failure and that happens to every machine, pc mac or otherwise.

The mac is not for Serious hardcore gamers, but they know that. Most I know have a separate rig/setup for gaming anyway. But for 99% of gamers a mac in bootcamp (running windows) is more than enough. There are many mainstream games for mac and a great gaming life can be had on the mac. So to write it off on gaming is nonsense and a non argument.

The Mac vs PC argument is long, you can't please everyone, but there isn't a product in the world that pleases everyone and that's the beauty of life. Everyone's different, and it's those that think different, that challenge the way we are today, and bring us what we need tomorrow.
Yes if you have the expertise you can build a better desktop, or you may buy a faster laptop but what you get is not something of beauty and form but one of function.
As fort the original argument of a netbook vs a macbook air. IT demonstrates most peoples knowledge of what a PC is. A computer is not measured by the processor inside it, it is by how much use you can get out of it and how much frustration you get while using it. THis is dictated by how efficient the operating system is at using the resources available to it. Windows is clunky and slow and viruses and trojans only add to that burden. Mac OS is free of those issues and is the only easy to use alternative to windows. Linux is great for a tech savvy person but not for a home user. Windows is also good for a tech savvy person and in my opinion not great for a home user. of course all your windows problems go away with a reformat and reinstall. But these things take time and are often not easy to do and lets face it, allocating a weekend to backup, wipe reinstall and restore your data to your machine every 6 months to maintain speed is just a waste of your time and not something you will ever need to do on a mac.

Seriously, the Mac is the best solution for those who can afford it. For anyone who can't there is PC.

Um ok... USB3. SATAexpress. Bluetooth. HDMI. Pcmciaa expansion slots.
None of which appears on a MAC and all of which is commonly used (at least 1 of those features) by many people who own a laptop. You can keep your displayport, no normal HD TV has that input.

Don't bring up Thunderbolt. By the time it becomes mainstream enough to even concider using the macs today will have been replaced. Do you know a single person using it? I doubt it.

Apple rushed it so fast to the market its impressive. I've high hopes myself for lightpeak but it needs like a year or 2 before id wish i had it and missed it.

Also, I'm getting seriously sick of this virus thing. In my 9 years of dealing with PCs I've only come across 2 viruses that left me stumped. I actually seldom come across any viruses in all the repairing I do, like you, it tends to be a bad sector on the HDD. A PC doesn't need an AntiVirus either if you know what you're doing. Malware slows down your pc occasionally but its damn easy to remove.

Lastly, you don't game on a MAC, end of.

Colonel Panic

I've been playing Team Fortress 2 and Frozen Synapse on my Macbook Pro all morning!

Greentree_uk

"Um ok... USB3. SATAexpress. Bluetooth. HDMI. Pcmciaa expansion slots."

Bluetooth - in every mac not an extra

Sata express? you mean eSata? or a technology that hasn't been ratified yet?

HDMI - ever hear of a display port to HDMI adapter?

Pcmciaa? you mean of course pcmcia. Have you seen the capabilities of thunderbolt?

USB 3? if it is so good why is it so slow to take off? Show me an SSD on USB 3 I've yet to see a benchmark close to what thunderbolt is achieving.

Lightpeak is thunderbolt.

two viruses that stumped you in 9 years to my none, but how many stumped your customers?

So your point is? oh yeah "Lastly, you don't game on a MAC, end of."

Umm I gamed many years on my mac, but these days mostly play on the xbox.

looksee

I have a ten year old mac that I almost never use now, it is OS9, which is a bit of an issue since software updates are now only for OSX. However, it has been sitting unused and turned on maybe once or twice in a year (in a shed down the garden!) and it is ready to go in seconds. The current pc laptop I am using takes about 3 or 4 minutes to be ready to go, and if you try and rush it, it freezes or crashes.

Even after 7 years or so of using the pc I still find it irritating in terms of finding stuff, moving files around, fixing things that I forget where to find them. The mac would run Photoshop, Quark and Illustrator open at the same time and in use. I assembled Photoshop documents with around a hundred layers with no time lag, and maximum size documents making banners, and stuff for van and lorry sides. And this was way before anything was measured in gigabites!

Hassles were finding service for macs - my serviceman used to come about 80 miles - and programs for macs beyond the graphic design type stuff. Also sharing stuff with pcs, macs could read pc stuff, but not the other way round. And if an image had gone from pc to mac, converted and back to pc as a tiff or jpg the pc could sometimes not read it.

I have been using pc for Photoshop for the last number of years. Its ok, though some of the shortcuts don't work as efficiently. On the other hand the price difference is significant and there is less hassle communicating with other computers. If I could afford a mac, and if the issues of communicating with pcs has been completely overcome, I would have a mac any time. In the meantime, for most purposes, the pc is fine, and affordable.

Mr. Presentable

The price is for the cool sounding components:

Superdrive (DVDRom)
Airport (wifi card)
Mighty Mouse (eh, mouse)
Time machine (backup software)
Timebank (HDD space for said backup)

aidan_walsh

Sorry kids, but Old Yeller has to go to the woods now.

From charter:

NO PC vs Mac wars, or attempts to instigate.