Is it really worth paying double $$ for mac and what for?

okay now this may look like a which PC ? thread but its not.

I already placed an order for macbook unibody and then was browsing "PC" configurations just for the sake of it. But I realized I can get really fantastic configuration/size if I buy a windows PC and if I buy it refurb $$difference goes further.

Just an example for nearly same $$ of macbook unibody you can get icore 7 Dell studio with 1080p resolution and blah blah blah...

My primary use is photography, lightroom 2 and watching few movies. I feel Dell icore 7 may be better choice

So I am waiting for my mac delivery in two days, I have started wondering why I am paying so much for, what I am getting and is it *really* worth it?

 

IMHO, this is a very subjective topic. No one will be able to answer that question for you, except yourself. I honestly feel that to some, getting a Mac is worth it, but to others, it is not worth it. I believe that ultimately, it comes down to what OS &/or program you're using & also on your spending budget.

By the way, congrats on your Mac purchase. I'm sure you'll love it. Good luck.

 

If you bought a notebook for photography right now would the macbook pro be worth it? No, as lenovo has a sale on the w700ds right now, we're talking 17inch 1200p screen + an extra 10inch screen(yes an extra screen that slides out), a professional quadro FX 2700m, a 2.8Ghz core 2, plus its the world's best built laptop, for $2099. It also has an option for a palm rest digitizer and support for quad cores, all powered by a 9cell battery that will give 6 hours of productivity. Although if you want OS X, you don't have a choice but to get the mac.

 

How about waiting 2 days and see if you feel if it was worth it?

 

As others have said; only you can justify to yourself whether it was the right choice. But a question for you; precisely why did you choose a mac in the first place? I'm sure you didn't just wake up one morning and out of nowhere you wanted a mac above all the other choices available, correct?

 

If you have to ask the question out loud, then that's a negative.

 

OK, I'm confused. Didn't you just sell a white MB a few months ago? Also didn't you just buy a Vostro 1220 on 10-4 "hoping it will replace all other PCs for my needs"? Sounds like you already knew your answer to me.

 

Nothing escapes Jervis, Private Eye.

 

Highly suspicious, or just a terrible case of ADD.

BTW, you (OP) shouldn't equate having the latest and greatest hardware for creativity-

But it's your money. You spend what you want with it.

 

Yeah, Him talking about his white MacBook. "I bought this beautiful machine recently but since then have used it very rarely and can't justfy the price for something which I am not using. Hence for sale."

 

Yeah, you're also talking about a 10lb laptop (12 if you bring along the brick of a power adapter). Granted, the machine is a beast as far as performance goes, but I wouldnt lug that thing around. One of our groups here at work has one for testing, and they are raving about it in regards to performance and the features, but, the main complaint is the weight.

 

Thats right. I have ordered both apple mackbook unibody from apple online store and Dell 1220 and have to return one of them back

When I bought whitebook it was more of a impulsive purchase and while I liked OS and stuff I was not using it much so sold it off. As I am back in market for purchasing a PC mainly for photography editing, I visited nearby Apple Store just to see "unibody" and glass notebook and since then I fell in love with it.

So long story short, my heart says go with apple and brain logic says PC is more bang for the buck.

Hope this make a bit sens now

 

The Dell Studio XPS Desktop is excellent for content creation. We are using a few in our post production offices and they are working flawlessly with Vista 64bit, Creative Suite 4 and Cinema 4D. Best of all, with the i7 processor, there is little to no need to wait on a full render like you'd have to on a core 2 duo processor (like in the macbook pros now). To give you insight on the time you save, an instance that required 20 minutes rendering to properly view on the Core 2 Duo laptop I have was showing effortlessly on the i7 core as well as the actual encoding to a high quality FLV file took over 3 hours on the core 2 duo laptop took less than half an hour on the i7 core.

This is just my account. With the i7 core, you lost portability and mobility, however, nothing a net book could not fix (showing work to clients, giving presentations, etc). You be the judge of the savings, performance, and your requirements and then decide what's best for you.

 

It makes plenty of sense. But ya, we were just joshing ya. This really isn't the forum for prospective buyers. While we will be more than helpful, it helps to get more information of your needs to allow us to better advise ya. Like filling out the FAQ.

 

it isnt even double the price. i hate people always saying appls pcs are double the price or what ever. compare an apple to a dell spec for spec and they are. pretty much. exactly. the same.
Macbook:
http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTAyNTM5ODc

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/p...dio-xps-13?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&ref=lthp

Macbook Air:

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook_air?mco=MTA4MTU3OTM

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/t...en/emea/adamo-pearl?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

Mac Mini: (£100 higher price tag but it has a better gpu)

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_mac/family/mac_mini?mco=MTA4MTg0NzI

http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/hom...esktop-studio-hybrid&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&ref=dthp


So yeah, could somebody please explain to me this "twice the price" thing that people keep going on about when they talk about apple.

imho. total bs.

 

It's usually a good idea to shop around BEFORE making a purchase...

 

Erm do you know how to READ SPECS?
Dell comes with DDR3 at 4GB while Macbook white has DDR2 at 2GB only
Dell comes with 320GB Harddisk with Free Fall Sensor and the Harddisk is 7200RPM with 16MB Buffer Cache not your typical 8MB Buffer Cache and 5400RPM Harddisk on Macbook white.
It also comes with a 9500M G Graphics card not a Integrated 9400M G.
It has dedicated GDDR3 RAM and 50MHZ more with same number of shaders.

I didn't do any customization it was the base configuration at 749 bucks

Please do some reading up before making statements about same config don't make us show you that you are wrong about same specs it is embarrassing

 

Twice the price might be an exaggeration... But Apple products are generally overpriced.
Just did a quick comparison for fun:

MacBook Pro
$4,199.00
17-inch Hi-Resolution Antiglare Widescreen Display
2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
8GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X4GB
256GB solid-state drive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (256MB shared) + NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (512MB)

Alienware M17x
$3,549.00
17-inch WideUXGA 1920x1200 (1200p)
Intel® Core™2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
256GB Solid State Drive
Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M, 2GB – SLI® Enabled

$650 less for the Alienware, everything the same except for the GPU.

Just built a Sager for fun:
Sager NP9280
$4069.00
17" Wide Viewing Angles WUXGA LCD with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1200)
Intel® Core™ i7-950 Processor ( 8MB L3 Cache, 3.06GHz, 4.8GT/sec QPI )
12GB Triple Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 3 X 4GB **
160GB Intel SATA2 Solid State Disk Drive
Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M Graphics with 1GB DDR3 Video Memory

The MacBook Pro is still $130 more expensive than the Sager, though I didn't try to build the Sager to look like the Mac. Note the 3.06 GHz (4 core) Intel processor, 12GB of RAM and the GPU. The hard drive of the Sager is smaller than the one I configured in the Mac.

 

While it's true if you were to configure a Mac and say a Dell with similar specs, they'll be much closer in price, but what I think is to be infered from that is they are saying is if you're just going on the internet, doing some office or watching videos you don't need a higher end specs offered on Macs or PCs. A PC can be configured much cheaper and still be way more than you need. That does not seem to be an option for Macs

I really like the 17" MBP for its svelteness and battery life. The W700ds is a bit chunky, but the extra screen adds a bit of heft to the package. There's W700 without the extra screen and it's significantly lighter, more in-line with other 17" notebook PCs.

I'd echo what others have said. It's really a personal preference. It's hard for me discern what you value. You should probably figure out what's most important and decide out which best meets those needs. Good Luck.

 

Now lets look at both light machine.

Dell 1099 Air 1149
1 Year Warranty No Apple Care unless you pay extra 195?
128GB SSD 120GB SATA at 4200RPM
And you know SSD are freaking expensive and high performing yet Dell can give a higher capacity SSD?
Dell uses a low power ULV but Apple opt for a normal C2D Processor which is more power but less power saving it is a see-saw situation power saving vs performance.
Memory wise Apple wins with higher FSB for same capacity.
Graphics wise I think Dell uses Intel graphics again Apple wins but not entirely considering it cost more.

 

What do you mean the Core i7 already destroyed the competition.
All bow down to Core i7.

 

Or to compare some base models unmodified:
13-inch MacBook
$999.00
13.3-inch (diagonal) glossy widescreen TFT
2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1G
160GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (256MB shared)

Dell Inspiron 13
$549
Glossy, widescreen 13.3" LCD (1280x800)
Intel® Pentium™ Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
2GB2 Shared Dual Channel DDR2 (2 Dimms)
Size: 160GB4 SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
OR
$1,079
Edge-to-Edge 13.3" HD WXGA Slim WLED LCD
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T6500 (2.10GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
4GB3 Shared Dual Channel DDR2
Size: 500GB4 SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100

Dell Studio XPS 13
$949
Edge-to-Edge 13.3" HD WXGA LCD
Intel® Pentium™ Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
3GB2 DDR3 SDRAM3 at 1067MHz (2 Dimms)
250GB5 7200 RPM6 SATA Hard Drive
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9400M G

For $450 less, you can get a basic Dell Inspiron 13 with very similar specs (the only main difference is the GPU - the Mac having the better one). So is the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M worth 450$ more than the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100?
Or for $50 less you can get the Dell Studio XPS 13 which is pretty much identical (1GB more RAM and a larger HDD).

I have yet to find/build an Apple product that comes out cheaper than an equivalent product.
You're paying extra for Apple products. You can justify the extra cost however you want it: the OS? Support? Brand name? "Quality"?
Anyone can come up with multiple reasons why they pick a certain product over an over. It's obviously not always about price.

 

Here's a good camparision between mac and a computer that doesn't suck like a dell:

Apple macbook pro:
2.66Ghz p series
4gigs ram
320gb HD
9600m GT (256mb) + 9400m hybrid Gpus
1440x900 15.4inch screen
claims 7 hours battery on 9400
$2000

Lenovo w500:
2.66Ghz p series
4gigs ram
320gb hd
fireGL v5700 (512mb) + intel AMT hybrid gpus
1680x1050 15.4inch screen
claims 8 hour battery (9cell included) on intel AMT
$1,464

Also know that the lenovo is considerable better built, with more portability, as its only .3inches thinker but give an extra hour of battery. For $500 less you also get a get a better gpu and screen. However the lenovo will not be able to run OS X, and is built by the man and looks all businessy ew. OS X and apple design may be worth the $500 more.

Get the w700ds dude its a beast

 

Thank you guys, this has helped me *lot* to come to the right conclusions for my needs

I would be returning apple and keep scouting for PC and use saved $$ on getting some good photo editing sw like Photoshop or light room

 

Finally, an accurate comparison. Good job Xhibit. Definitely not double the price, but withing the 20-30% range that is often the case.

 

well yes, some apple pricing is quite bad in some areas, but f.e. i paid 1150$ for my macbook pro and that is exactly the same that i paid for my much more powerful Dell m4400! But I don't have a feeling that I overpaid for mac! I can't really explain it, but...

And rumors suggest that apple will lower the prices with next update, which will happen this or next month!

 

Really the price premium of Macs comes from the construction of the laptop.

After purchasing so many computers, hardware is what depreciates faster than anything else. Thus my decision to get a Macbook pro and getting a high quality 24" Panel.

 

I fail to understand your point.

 

Oh boy, here we go again.

 

too many people do NOT understand how Apple prices things. They do NOT follow the pricing rules that other computer companies follow.

Apple does not constantly change prices to have a set markup... when they release a model, it stays at its released price FOREVER until the model is replaced. People always seem to like to take an Apple at 6 months to a year old price and compare it to someone else selling something for a set markup at current prices....

If you really want an Apple at a good price, you have to wait until a new substantial change in model comes out and grab it when its brand new, because at the time its new its often the same price or even cheaper than the competition... but if you wait, the price will still be the same in 6 months when all the other makers have lowered their prices...

 

The unibody construction is actually pretty weak compared to the way business class notebooks are constructed. Apple is unique company, instead of preforming tests and research to determine the best material that can make their notebooks stronger, they do a small servery to see what customers perceive as the strongest material to make a notebook out of. The process of making the unibodys is actually less advanced and cheaper than the way they made their notebooks before, however to the uneducated consumer it is perceived as strong and expensive. This is not necessarily a bad thing as most consumers buy a new laptop in 2 years before the construction becomes a problem, while thinking the whole time they enjoyed a well built product.

 

Things that depreciate slower
Speakers
Computer Montiors
TV's
Desktop Cases

Things that depreciate faster
CPUs
Graphics cards

Not a hard concept really.

I don't disagree with you about strength, but thats not the whole cost involved. It costs a crap ton more money to make something smaller. Heck look at the HP envy or the Dell Adamo.

Also you think milling is less expensive?

 

So they release new products at market price - competing with the price of other similar products on the market at the time of the release.
They then do not make changes/upgrades to their products, maintain the initial price regardless of its depreciation? So after the initial release of a product what you're saying is that it quickly becomes overpriced/outdated?
And you're okay with this? Why is it acceptable for them not to be competitive with their pricing? How do you justify defending this?

I'm not trying to start a war here but I'm honestly having a hard time understanding some of the justifications you people are using here.
If you're willing to pay extra money for a brand name go for it! You also get a different operating system that a lot of you love (and maybe in your mind it's worth the extra cash). That's fine! I'm willing to pay more for a car when I could get a similar one for cheaper, they'd both get me from A to B but hey! We all have preferences.
But you realistically can't get an Apple product for the same price or cheaper than an equivalent product (or as you stated, maybe you can right after they release new products).

 

I don't know the feel of Aluminum is second to none. I hope more PC manufactures use AL. as OS X really IMHO isn't all it's cracked up to be.

 

The way Apple works with their pricing is that they update the hardware, not the cost.

For example Apple's MBPs have been at the $2000 price point forever, to justify this cost, they don't lower the price, they just up the specs over time.

The laptop line doesn't stay stagnant like you suggest.

 

Yeah that's great but how exactly does this have anything to do with justifying paying more money for the Apple logo?

I didn't suggest it did, doh123 did in his explanation of how Apple pricing works.

If that's the case (i.e. they update their hardware and maintain their price) then we agree that their price is continuously higher then similar products offered by other brands (as shown by the few price-product comparisons in previous posts)?

 

I hope they all don't use AL. I hope they use something that's more durable to bumps and scratches. I hate to see my laptop all warped for the sake of touch.

If I want to touch something nice, I look for a woman.

 

When will you understand that the costs involved in a Macbook is not just about hardware? Yes they all have the same parts inside, but that is not the point.

Its not the logo, its not the OS, its not the hype or brand name. Look at the new HP Envy, or the Dell Adamo. You think R&D comes cheap when creating such thin laptops? If you don't like it lug around your 2" Brick of a laptop.

 

If you think a laptop is heavy, then you got it eesy. I see 16 year olds in high school carrying far heavier books, wearing their heels with flimsy straps and buckles,running to class.

Even a 2lb difference doesn't mean jack. I see girls willing to carry purses 2lb heavier on their tiny shoulders.

It's not functionality, it's form.

 

Can I get a link to valid research demonstrating Apple's unibody aluminum cases are weaker than Lenovo's plastic case?

 

See that is where Apple is wrong.
In the world of computer things depreciate, Apple should know, understand and price their product accordingly.
No use pretending what they are selling is different.
They maybe able to cheat a most of us but some of us simply know better.

I fell off my chair when I read this.

Apparently your definition of update is not the same as mine.
To me 9000 series is considered dinosaur considering all laptops now comes with G1XX series or even G2XX series.
They didn't do much update at all, product director must be sleeping.

 

Must be new to the industry. Thinkpads, along with Latitudes and Elitebooks, for years, have been through all sorts of mil spec tests. Just google "thinkpad durability tests." Even your precious Wikipedia will agree.

Apple's tests? Non existent. The proof of burden is on them

 

I can't believe this thread is still going. Same old argument with neither side willing to see the other's point of view. Pst... You're all wrong, at least in each others opinion. Maybe the Apple people need to start invading the other forums so the Haters can leave this one alone.

 

Invade? I have a subscription

 

Subscription or prescription. . Just kidding

 

HAHA.

Props man.

 

What are you trying to suggest? I've been in the weight room since I was in high school. How many times have you been to the gym?

Anyway, what I'm saying is that I'm no joe scmhoe scrawny pansy, but I can at least respect small form factor devices, whether it be laptops or cell phones.

Make up whatever excuse you want, there's a reason why small=expensive. You don't even have to look at Apple products to see that.

I consider any laptop thicker than 1" a dinosaur. I'd rather have a 9000 card than a 1.5-2" laptop. If I wanted a desktop replacement, then I would of just gotten a desktop, which is what I did.

 

I would say not...Apple's share of the market is creeping up, apparently they are doing something right with really nothing to prove. Plus the burden of proof falls to he/she that makes the claim, which in this case was you stating initially and again in this post that plastic is stronger than unibody aluminum. All I ask is you link the research from which you base your hypothesis...and that means plastic computer chassis vs mac unibody aluminum chassis, not generic arguments of thick plastic vs thin aluminum. There is more to the comparison to just the thickness of the material, there is the one piece frame vs the multipiece plastic frame...having owned both, I know for certain which one holds up better, which is why I am typing this on a MBP.

 

I'm saying your preference is out of form and not performance. If it was so heavy, it would affect your productivity. But it does not, so it is a matter of form and aesthetics.

The thickness, also does not affect the usability of the laptop, unless you are trying to jam it into a slot which is 0.5" too small. The difference in weight also does not affect the usability, functionality, or the performance of the laptop. Unless a pound will tip the scale when you board a plane. The build quality isn't superior, unless touch is a measurability of durability versus dropping the laptop multiple times.

It just boils down to aesthetics and form. Pleasing to the eye. A preference due to ideology. A bias of confirmation.

Not that this is all BAD. But insecurity due to revelation does tend to provoke a certain kind of response in these cases.

 

Ok I just have to point out that the Dell Adamo uses an aluminum body and Dell touts it's "toughness". I guess since they do so much testing they must be telling the truth. There is also a large premium paid for the Adamo when you compare it based on specs to other PCs. You can make arguments all you want and there will always be a counter argument.