Comments on: Apple: The cheaper alternative?

Is Apple becoming the cheaper alternative to competitors? Don Reisinger thinks it's happening, and he couldn't be happier because of it.

[jeffharris]

If you're comparing some stripped down POS PC, sure the generic PC will beat a Mac on price.

BUT, if you compare a Mac with a SIMILARLY CONFIGURED PC, a Mac costs about the same and often less.
This has been the case for quite a few years. just do a little research.

Apple does not sell cheap, stripped-down computers, they include every port you'd want or need: gigabit Ethernet STANDARD, FireWire 400 (and FireWire 800 at the higher end), USB2, DVI out (every laptop can drive an external monitor out of the box), Bluetooth and Airport (802.11n standard). FireWire is perfect for adding external hard drives (unlike woeful USB). Just max-out the RAM and you're done.

Also, your typical generic PC is OS -limited, in that it will only be able to run Windows or Linux, NOT Mac OS X (which is real UNIX). Macs can run pretty much every Intel-compatible OS on the planet. Why would anyone want otherwise?

[scooter185]

UNIX is real UNIX. OSX Is a fork of Darwin OS which itself is a fork of FreeBSD, which is a fork of BSD UNIX which is a fork of 'real'/AT&T UNIX

[Macbrewer]

All the windoze zealots have been absolutely freaking out for months, but now you are really going to twist in the wind.

And going to Mac is easy, you just have to learn the many things that Microsoft failed to copy and forget about all the nonsense they left in from DOS. Also, stop expecting the machine to lie to you, such as hooking up a printer on the network, you don't have to indicate it's not 'local' because it's not tethered to an incredibly overpriced MS server.

It's always funny to look at PC magazine, etc.. at all the hoops you guys have to jump through, but reading this page is absolutely hilarious.

What price premium? Apple has already been besting even the worst hardware, such as Dell, for years now. Wake up people.

When Apple does slash prices, all the cash strapped board pluggers at Dell, etc... who have never innovated one thing other than how to plug the boards cheaper or outsource tech support could be completely run out of business.

Why would anyone want a generic PC when they could have a Mac? There aren't enough windoze zealots in the world. There are more Mac Zealots than Windoze Zealots (for good reason) with only 12% market share (easily doubling every 18 months, that give you guys 3 years or so to learn 'how to use a Mac' (The most ridiculous thing I ever heard is you can use Windoze and you can't use Mac--sure, using windows would warp anyone, but come on, how hard is it to learn things the right way for a change?)

[Zimm2]

Don,

With all due respect, I think you are a little out of touch. In the high-end market, Apple has less expensive for a long time (price an 8-core workstation with specs similar to a Mac Pro). The scientific community has known this for some time time; however, good luck getting the purchase past the bean counters or IT department...

[aztec92154]

I worked at SDSU, the IT department loves working with Macs (and Dells). They require any new computer to come with an extended warranty, both Macs and Dells get through without any problems.

[lantzn]

Apple a competed for years with similarly equipped PCs. Just because they have not sold bargain basement PCs doesn't make them more expensive. When are you reports going to check your facts before writing your articles?

http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/18734/

[Constable Odo]

I'm still using my 1.42 GHz PPC MacMini as a media hub for my Sony 42" HDTV. It's perfect for watching movie files using MPlayerX, DVDs, and playing my iTunes music or video files. I can stream videos to it over my WiFi LAN. I can record programs from my cable box to my MacMini using EyeTV and Plextor ConvertX. The MacMini might not be very powerful computer but it really comes in handy as a media helper device. It's quiet, unobtrusive, reliable and doesn't waste a lot of electricity.

[molotov]

At what cost will Apple bring us the cheap Mac? The corners they will cut will be ridiculous. I think giant computer manufacturing companies are going to laugh and scoff at Mac with their new plan to appeal towards budged conscious customers; just wait till these shoppers find out that they need to buy $100 Mice and pay $200 to install windows on this new Mac. Or if the customers going to go Mac OS; buying new Office, Photoshop software will run $400.00. Now thats what I do not call a cheaper alternative. In Mac world you pay a lot more and the customer will not be suckered into a cheaper machine just to plunk out money later on.
Everyone knows running windows on $800 Mac will be a terrible experience; it will be slow, unless you're loading the baby up with 4 Gigs of Ram and ton of Hard Drive space. Your Mac will be slow to run Windows. And thats what Jobs wants. Do not be suckered.

[ballmerisanape]

You are so out of touch it's funny.

When PC magazine tested Vista... it ran the fastest on a Macbook Pro..

You can run Windows on the Mac as well as Unix, Linux, and the Mac OS.. via virtually or bootable. NO OTHER PC CAN DO THAT.

For $30, you can run your windows version software through the Mac OS via parallels or VMware.

.... and the list goes on and on...

[molotov]

The list goes on to say that you do need a Macbook Pro. Exactly; Pro. The expensive version of Mac laptops. Thats good news for you, you rich, artistocratic, out-of-touch with reality type of person. The reality is that majority of the people buy computers that cost between $500-1200. Your above $1500 laptop that you're singing about is totally out of league of a normal person. The $800 Apple laptop will lag while running Windows and an overall a step down from a regular Laptop. Out of touch I certainly am not. Out of mind you are. And thats a little bit funny.

[EinRand]

Oh, that it were true!

Macs last so long that one is loathe to scrap such exquisite technology. Their Operating System is so smooth and logical as to question why anyone would ever burden themselves with hours of tedious troubleshooting.

If you paid yourself $10. per hour when trying to fix one of Gates labyrinthine absurdities, then you would easily recoup your extra money spent buying a higher priced Mac.

Why do people become incredulous when offered something to good to be true, then on the other hand expect their cheap PC to operate rationally?

You rarely get what you pay for, and often get less - unless your willing to depart from the Sheeple. Yet, I would - as many Legacy Mac owners jump at the chance to upgrade.

[FormerPCwonk]

It's not a change in the "business model." Their volume has increased substantially over where they were a few years ago, and iPod/iPhone sales have left the company awash in cash. So, now that volume is up, you bring price down. This was always SJ's model; it was the model with the iPod, and it was his model before he left in the 80s. Don't act like this is something special. . .in business, as volume climbs, you can cut price and not **** of your shareholders if the price cut leads to even more share gains. It's not complicated.

[chucksmaria]

cheap computers heavy many problems


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[spmalan]

Maybe Steve Jobs thinks the time has come to take the first steps that will take Apple to a 20%,30%, or
higher market share. Maybe he is looking at the weakness of Vista plus the weakness of Dell and other PC makers and said the time is right to strike.

[perumula]

Let''s talk ideal here...I'm drooling for an Apple version of the Kindle, small but with keyboard so finally I can lay in bed, read, type my diary, love notes, work notes, email, whatever and still be able to pop-in a DVD to watch a movie at the end of a long hard day. Ideally Apple would do a deal with Palm to be able to use a parallel Palm OS and i'd just be a contented little creature to be able to use the Palm OS program Agendus to map out my contacts and next week's activities!!

Or maybe I could be happy with Palm/Apple on the iTouch WITH KEYBOARD!!! so I could justify it instead of another TX!!

[Motyoj]

I have a Mac mini at work and for what I use it for, it's a very capable computer. It doesn't run as fast as my iMac but it was much cheaper.

[cyclelogicpress.com]

The integration of the iLife apps is amazing. It all works together so well. It's wonderful that such capable software is included in the price of the machine.

[solitare_pax]

No, Apple isn't a CHEAPER alternative - that's the PC, before you buy MS Office and other important programs when the demos run out, get Anti-Virus & Spyware Protection, and make enough upgrades on it to get it to run Vista like the box says it might.

Apple is the AFFORDABLE alternative. Most everything you need to roll, right out of the box. You just pay for it all up front, instead of being nickel and dimed for it for months after your purchase.

[Dalmatian28]

haha....nice way to spin it! The problem is you aren't telling the "whole truth" about what is happening! The idea that Apple will do "anything" only because it feels consumer pain is bunch of BS. We are talking about Steve Jobs here remember! The only person that Steve Jobs cares about is Steve Jobs so don't even try! Only reason why their price is coming down is because one thing called "competition" and the other thing is called Economy. Lenovo/ Aser/ HP are selling laptops that are offering better value for the money and their design is also getting better with every new model. There is tons of new laptops that are coming up that cost under $ 500. Sonny has produced model that can compete with iMac and has faster hardware, Dell is attacking the top of the line with Alianware hardware. Apple is selling a lot of hardware but its growth is too slow if they want to compete with Asian manufacturers. If you look at the entire world, they are actually falling behind its competition! They have also notice economy and know that a few people will choose to pay top dollar when they can get much cheaper substitutes. In 21st century a lot of thing quacks and walks like a duck...but it doesn't mean that it is duck!

[the_iceman]

I'm a PC...keep your cheap Macs

[JimMcDish]

I am SOOO Close to buying a mac just to try it out. I am told once I go Mac, I will never go back. True?

www.privacy-center.ru.tc

[3rdalbum]

>Apple is quickly becoming a company that offers high-quality products at a relatively affordable price.

Affordable? Kinda.

High-quality? It's been years. The iPod is not a high quality device, my friends. Check out the Sony Walkman MP3 players.

[ballmerisanape]

Have you ever played with an iPod Touch?... there is nothing like it. Nothing.

[ekarjala]

Lets see the specs on the $800 Mac notebook to determine how good a deal it is. If Apple stays true to form, the hardware will be similar to a $500 Windows notebook.

[jimoase]

Apple has been the best buy for small business for years and that got even better with the Intel Macs because of being able to run Linux, Windows and OSX on one machine.

HP or Dell are just hardware built to an agreement not a standard. Over the years the variations in Operating System software and individual hardware manufactures has cause significant problems and associated costs. XP took years to bring to market and VISTA is failing as a replacement. Failing to such a degree that XP's support life time has been extended several times.

Companies are reluctant to upgrade computers and software because of volatility when combining Microsoft operating system software with HP or Dell hardware. Those are costs companies are unwilling to incur.

Consider all that and the longevity of Apple hardware, at equal cost HP and Dell are becoming unfavorably priced because Microsoft has been dropping the ball for several years.

Jim