Mac peeps, what am I missing?

[Ghoulish Delight]

I wouldn't go that far. Our Dell has served us for 4 years, and it's still a good machine. I think the hard drive is getting a tad flakey, but otherwise, it's in good shape. I'd say it's only within the last year that software requirements (gaming, really) have finally completely outpaced it. And considering that it was mid to low end when we bought it, and that other than installing a second hard drive that I don't use, I haven't upgraded it at all, I'd say 4 years is a pretty good run. Had we spent a little more, investing in a slightly faster processor, a better graphics card, and more RAM, it could easily have served us for the forseeable future. But at this point, putting together those components would start to approach the price of replacing the thing outright, so it's just not worth it now.

So this time around, the plan was to make that investment. And since we were considering upping our price range, that put Macs on the radar. The fact is, I could STILL buy an equally powerful PC that would be just as far from obsolecense (maybe even with a little longer life seeing as I can get PCI-Express in a PC) as a Mac for far less. But Macs have other advantages that make that price difference worth it to me. To others, it's not worth it, and that's fine.

But the argument that one is technologically superior to the other is mostly anecdotal. Yes, PCs seem more unreliable and shorter lasting in the long run, but that's because they are commoditized and MOST people (myself included) get the cheapest one that will do the job. The mid to low end is the bulk of the PC market. Mac's the opposite, it's the mid to upper end that most Mac users go for. eMacs and iMacs and the Mac-mini are a relatively new phenomenon in the Mac world. And even much of that product line isn't truly low end. So you're going to see a different reliability and longevity profile in the market between the two, that doesn't really prove anything.

[Name]

Have to concur with GD on this, I built my PC no less then 2 yrs ago, up to 3 yrs ago, and it is still a strong machine, I don't think there is yet a game or program(PC Version, I am well aware that tiger will not run, nor any other mac program ) that will not run on it. Of course I bought the best components available at the time, and I don't forsee having to replace it anytime in the next couple years, in fact I will probably use it in one way or another for another 8 to 10 years. One of my first computers I built is still going strong running freebsd and functioning as a file server (did it because I can). I will probably eventually transition to a mac, but that is purely for photoshopping reasons (considering getting a few mac mini's to spread around my place; for studio, and a few photoshop and print stations).

[DisneyFan25863]

Good to hear. I've already been looking at monitor elsewhere. Is the Dell one really the exact same monitor? Sweet, because I really like the quality of the Mac ones and was considering shelling the extra $400.

Yup, exact same panel (both are LG). Only thing is that the Dell has some rare backlighting problems (caused by the manufacturing process). But, other than that, identical. And the Dell has RCA and Svideo in also, so you can use it as a TV.

- Is there a difference between the versions of these cards sold through Apple/Apple resellers vs. the "PC" version generally available? I believe I found that the "only" difference is that the Mac ones are firmware keyed, but that reflashing is a bit of risky business. Is that correct?

Firmware and Dual Dual DVI Capibility, I believe.

- What's the difference between the GeForce Ultra 3800 and the GeForce 3800 GT?

I think the GT has more memory, better airflow, and the Dual Dual DVI.

I've looked at Mac catalog sites, including macconnection.com. I found something odd. Take a look at this system vs. this one. What gives. Here's what I see:
- System A has a crapier vid card (not a problem since I plan on replacing either of them.
- There's some odd difference between the CD/DVD drives. What's a super drive, is that just a marketing term for a CD-R/DVD-R drive? Is the drive on one of these two systems significantly better than the other?
- The important thing that caught my eye, for some reason system A has the PCI-X and PCI-100 slots that aren't supposed to be with the 2.0 Ghz system, only the faster ones. Whereas system B has only standard PCI slots. (why the heck hasn't Apple graduated to PCIe yet? Anyway) That's nifty, it'd be nice to get that.
- System A seems like the better system (due to the PCI ugrade) for $100 less. Score, or do I lose something I'm not seeing?

Could also be the new and old versions of the 2.0 GHz PM (its been around since 2003 in various different forms).

Okay, figured one bit out. System A above has a "combo drive" while System B has a "SuperDrive", the important difference being that the SuperDrive can burn dual layer DVDs. Hmm, worth it or not?

I got a combo drive on my powerbook, and I'm kicking myself about it. Literally weeks after I bought it, I had to transfer a 4 GB file to school. I ended up having to split it on 4 or 5 CDs. Quite a pain. I ended up buying a LaCie 16x Dual layer firewire DVD drive for $160. I use it all the time now for backups and such.

Wait, where do you see a Dell 20" for $400? I see it for $750.

Rebates and such. Give it 2 or 3 weeks, and a deal will come along. Good place to check for them is MacRumors.
I saw it on sale for $327 a few weeks ago.



Also, CP qualifies for an educational discount, doesn't she? Saves you a few hundred there.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by DisneyFan25863

Also, CP qualifies for an educational discount, doesn't she? Saves you a few hundred there.

Not too sure about this. I'm not a certificated teacher nor am I an actual librarian. I can check into that...I have no idea where to look, though.

[surfinmuse]

CP & GD, educational discounts can be found by going to the Education section of the Apple Store: http://www.apple.com/education/store/

Then under "Shop For Yourself" you'll be presented with a list to search for your academic institution you're associated with, and then when you get onto the online store proper, you will see all the stuff at reduced prices. The discounts, which range vary based on the price of each item, vary from $50 to $200 and up, depending on what you get.

Alternatively, I *believe* they will honour these EDU prices at the retail locations, if you provided some sort of Student or Teacher ID, or some other sort of documentation that states you are associated with an academic institution in some shape or form.

Hope this helps.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Thanks, surfinmuse! You rock.

At my first uneducated (get it?) glance, it seems we'll save something like 100 bucks with the discount.

[mousepod]

One caveat on the education discount from Apple: you still have to pay tax and shipping.
When I bought my G5, it was cheaper to buy from a catalog at full price with no tax than to get it from Apple with my discount. Plus, the catalog threw in a free printer and 1GB of RAM. Shop around.

[surfinmuse]

You're most welcome CP & GD.

MousePod's right, you do have to pay CA sales tax, but I believe Ground Shipping is free on Apple Store online orders? At least it was when I last ordered some stuff a couple of months ago.

MousePod is right, places like MacMall often sweeten the deal with free printer and RAM (with installation fee of $30 or so), so you do have to comparison price & shop. Someone told me that it's their way of discounting the product, because Apple won't allow them to sell it at under a certain price.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yeah, shipping's free through Apple. But the tax and the lack of rebates is still enough that a site like macconnection would be a better deal. Even if the 10% discount makes the system $100 cheaper through Apple, tax is like $140, the memory upgrade, free at macconnection, is $100 through Apple or like $80 if I buy the memory retail. So that's already enough to make macconnection cheaper. So we'll see. We're not going to buy for at least a few months, right now I'm just nailing down what's what and what to look for. Once we're more clear on what we want and are making a decission, we'll have to do a complete price comparisson.

[Name]

Of course legally you have to pay California use tax no matter where you buy it from.......(I dislike California sometimes)