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post #31 of 68
3/5/09 at 9:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jigglybootch View Post
Say what now? Where is it $300 off?
Mac Pro used to be starting from $2799, if I remember correctly.

As for the pricing on the iMac, you might want to factor in OSX and iLife '09. Although they come bundled with all Mac purchases, it will cost you $99-$129 each. Microsoft Vista doesn't come standard in every purchase, you have to pay extra money for Ultimate, Business, etc. with no bundled software.

Don't forget all the space you save from using an All-In-One iMac, versus the Desktop that Dell have to offer.

If you factor in everything, you only pay about 10-15% more in premium. Sometimes, you gotta look into the bigger picture and not just the hardwares.
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post #32 of 68
3/5/09 at 12:46pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by xkRoWx View Post
Mac Pro used to be starting from $2799, if I remember correctly.

As for the pricing on the iMac, you might want to factor in OSX and iLife '09. Although they come bundled with all Mac purchases, it will cost you $99-$129 each. Microsoft Vista doesn't come standard in every purchase, you have to pay extra money for Ultimate, Business, etc. with no bundled software.

Don't forget all the space you save from using an All-In-One iMac, versus the Desktop that Dell have to offer.

If you factor in everything, you only pay about 10-15% more in premium. Sometimes, you gotta look into the bigger picture and not just the hardwares.
Wasn't the $2799 old baseline Mac Pro a dual-processor system? I honestly don't remember.

I'm not sure how much of a value iLife really is (for me anyway). There are plenty of free alternatives that are, in my opinion, vastly superior to what iLife offers. But then again, I probably wouldn't use most of those apps anyway so for me it's not an issue one way or the other.

Space isn't much of an issue, either. My desktop rests on the floor, with only the monitor, keyboard and mouse on the desk and I have no problem with that. And not having an all-in-one allows me to customize my system to my liking. That's the one thing I truly hate about the iMac.

In any case, I don't know what I want to do. I'm thinking that waiting for Snow Leopard might be my best option right now.
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post #33 of 68
3/5/09 at 1:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jigglybootch View Post
I priced out a desktop system using the same hardware as in the iMac (including a needlessly expensive motherboard, case and power supply) and a nice 24" monitor (newer HP model, can't remember the model off the top of my head) and my system still came out about $600 cheaper.

And on a completely unrelated note, what happened to Dell's 24" Ultrasharp monitor offering? I was looking for it yesterday to include it as part of my price comparison (because I know it's ridiculously expensive) but couldn't find any trace of it on Dell's website. Was I just having a bad day yesterday or did Dell suddenly axe it?
Not to take Apple's side on this (I agree that their products are ridiculously overpriced) but a 24" IPS monitor will set you back at least $650 for the cheapest model. As for the Dell, it is an inferior PVA panel.

I'm a happy owner of an HP LP2475w.
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post #34 of 68
3/5/09 at 2:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by MCC View Post
Not to take Apple's side on this (I agree that their products are ridiculously overpriced) but a 24" IPS monitor will set you back at least $650 for the cheapest model. As for the Dell, it is an inferior PVA panel.

I'm a happy owner of an HP LP2475w.
I've seen the LP2475w for less than $650. In fact, Newegg has it for $599.99 (assuming, of course, that it the panel is IPS, otherwise I have no idea what I'm talking about). I haven't tried digging to see if anyone has it cheaper.

Speaking of that particular monitor, how do you like it? I'd really like to get a 24" monitor and if I don't buy an iMac, I've definitely got my eye on the LP2475w.
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post #35 of 68
3/5/09 at 4:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jigglybootch View Post
Speaking of that particular monitor, how do you like it? I'd really like to get a 24" monitor and if I don't buy an iMac, I've definitely got my eye on the LP2475w.
It's great- the picture is significantly better than my old Dell 2005FPW (also an IPS) but there are a few flaws. First, the right side of my panel has a pinkish tint- it's a common problem with this model, and it's evening out with time. There's also a typo every time I turn it on- "currect input" instead of "current" and the option to turn off the power LED doesn't stick when I cycle the power.

Other than those minor things, it's well worth it. One of my labs last semester was in a room outfitted with Dell 2408FPW's and the color shifting problem they have is very annoying to me. There is also a red/blue ringing effect around text in my peripheral vision when I look at text on either side.

Be sure to buy a colorimeter to calibrate it if you buy one. It's not possible to achieve the best results by hand IMHO.
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post #36 of 68
3/5/09 at 4:40pm
I have a Mac, and occasionally have to use a PC running windows at work.

The windows machine has higher specs, but I'd gladly pay double for the privilege of using a Mac running OSX. I know there are a lot of Windows lovers out there, but I personally can't stand it.

I hated the windows that I had on my netbook. I was actually considering hackintosh-ing it, finally deciding against it since I didn't want to break the law.

I ended up installing Ubuntu on it, and I've been happy ever since.

I actually sort of agree with the OP that the upgrade of the Apple desktop line hasn't been as good as hoped. I was hoping for hdmi output on the mini so I could use it as a media center, but Apple refused to cut into their sales of Apple TV I guess.

Apple seems to always play it "their-way-or-the-highway", but they seem to think things through enough that I'm willing to play by their rules for now. It can be frustrating for some of us consumers some of the time, but of course we can't always have everything (cheapness, usability, design, etc...)

But based on my netbook experience, I think they have to start looking over their shoulders. In terms of OS, the Linux community is gaining on them, no joke.
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post #37 of 68
3/5/09 at 4:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by krmathis View Post
Well, I did!
But decided to post my feeling, since I could not second the OP's feeling.

I am well pleased with Apple's products, and don't find them overpriced for what they are.
'Gotta agree there! Typing this on a 2.66 iMac, have a 1.42iBook (G4) at school, a 1.83 iMac (G5) upstairs and a 1.8 Mac Mini at another home.

"only a Core 2" is a but of a misnomer, you can do a heck of a lot of computing with a core 2 and some skill..

NK
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post #38 of 68
3/5/09 at 5:12pm
Would have thought the mac mini would have gotten a quad seeing as how the market is obsessed with them lol.
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post #39 of 68
3/5/09 at 6:49pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick 214 View Post
"only a Core 2" is a but of a misnomer, you can do a heck of a lot of computing with a core 2 and some skill..
But can it run Crysis? j/k

It's not so much that the Core 2 Duo isn't a capable chip, it's just that it's ancient (by computer standards). Apple couldn't spring for at least a Core 2 Quad?

Also, on your iMac, how's the optical drive when it comes to ripping CDs, speed and quality-wise?
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post #40 of 68
3/5/09 at 9:26pm
I know faster more powerful is the thing most people want but has anyone looked at
the power consumption of some of these new processors along with the video cards
and all that goes with it.
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post #41 of 68
3/5/09 at 9:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ozz View Post
I know faster more powerful is the thing most people want but has anyone looked at
the power consumption of some of these new processors along with the video cards
and all that goes with it.
I can tell you with reasonable certainty that the Radeon 4870 x2 in my current system is probably making the electric company very happy right now.
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post #42 of 68
3/5/09 at 11:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by D-EJ915 View Post
Would have thought the mac mini would have gotten a quad seeing as how the market is obsessed with them lol.
The Mac Mini and iMac are laptops masquerading as desktops. They have laptop CPUs (they can't dissipate the heat of a desktop CPU) and those won't go quad-core until the end of the year.
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post #43 of 68
3/6/09 at 3:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jigglybootch View Post
You're a better man than I, because I can't look past what is basically a $1,000 price premium for the Mac Pro. And after all this time for the iMac to get nothing more than a video card change and a higher RAM limit is pretty weak, IMO.
Consider the following

Basically core i7 equivalent server processors 1 of those at 500 bucks
Newegg.com - Computer Hardware,CPUs / Processors,Processors - Servers,Intel,LGA 771,Quad-Core,2.5GHz - 2.99GHz,2.66GHz,

Find a single or Dual socket motherboard that takes those chips and that will easily be 250+ and more for dual.

And also keep in mind its memory is fully buffered dimms which plain old cost more.

So keep in mind, while you could get similar specs for 1k you are paying for server grade higher quality components.
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post #44 of 68
3/6/09 at 8:42am
Thread Starter 
Holy crap! The 8 GB RAM upgrade is expensive! I don't get it. Are they using special DIMMs or something? The same upgrade for my Windows desktop would cost me less than half of that price (over $700 direct from Crucial).
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post #45 of 68
3/6/09 at 1:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jigglybootch View Post
Holy crap! The 8 GB RAM upgrade is expensive! I don't get it. Are they using special DIMMs or something? The same upgrade for my Windows desktop would cost me less than half of that price (over $700 direct from Crucial).
Two 4GB sticks of laptop DDR3 memory = expensive. Lenovo actually charges a bit more for the same upgrade on their Thinkpads.
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