$500 NZD to go to a ATI HD 5670 and a 1TB hard disk? An ATI HD 5670 is only about $150 - $200 NZD to begin with! If I was upgrading to an 5870 then I could see the justification in price increase, but how do these iMacs compare to PC's cost of componentry wise?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Are The New iMacs Expensive?
- Thread starter deanbo
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If the second highest priced iMac featured a 5870 graphics chip I would of called it good value for money. As much as I like the Mac experience about $750 NZD more and half the warranty is just plain bad value for money to me.
I am going to say this before the fanbois descend on this thread... from a spec to spec comparison Apple is utterly not a good value. The processors aren't bad, the screen is decent, but things like RAM, HD, and most importantly GPU are all over-priced or old. The GPU is a mid-level card from 2009. Kind of crazy for a 2,000 dollar machine.
That said... Apple's are amazing machines for intangible reasons (user experience, OS, looks, warranty) so if you want a computer for any of those reasons then it is an OK exchange. I am a heavy gamer and I "make do" with the lower spec/higher price Apple model and I'm still happy. Do whatever allows you to do what you need and makes you happy.
That said... Apple's are amazing machines for intangible reasons (user experience, OS, looks, warranty) so if you want a computer for any of those reasons then it is an OK exchange. I am a heavy gamer and I "make do" with the lower spec/higher price Apple model and I'm still happy. Do whatever allows you to do what you need and makes you happy.
Totally Agree
Very much in agreement with what you said, but I'm still bugged by the amount of difference in price in a component to component comparison.
I am going to say this before the fanbois descend on this thread... from a spec to spec comparison Apple is utterly not a good value. The processors aren't bad, the screen is decent, but things like RAM, HD, and most importantly GPU are all over-priced or old. The GPU is a mid-level card from 2009. Kind of crazy for a 2,000 dollar machine.
That said... Apple's are amazing machines for intangible reasons (user experience, OS, looks, warranty) so if you want a computer for any of those reasons then it is an OK exchange. I am a heavy gamer and I "make do" with the lower spec/higher price Apple model and I'm still happy. Do whatever allows you to do what you need and makes you happy.
Very much in agreement with what you said, but I'm still bugged by the amount of difference in price in a component to component comparison.
This is mainly my opinion
This is mainly my opinion.
If you choose to get an iMac, take off as much as 800 dollars- because that is purely display and enclosure (obviously the bigger the screen the more expensive) Now, start looking at prices. There are enough threads on here telling you which specs are worth how much, so I wont do a complete break down.
Also consider this: Apple is more expensive, and the reason people pay more, in my opinion, besides media (video editing, photo editing, etc.) is interface. It's not that the OS costs more than a Windows OS (unverified), but it's a personal preference.
If you look at an iMac and "build" it part by part without the screen into a tower, it will be cheaper (as will most any PC systems because they've got to make a profit somehow), but it's incredibly difficult to do.
Now for the last answer, are they overpriced? An iMac for gaming is overpriced. An iMac for editing is very fairly priced IMHO. An iMac display is top of the line (even though we dont like the glossy screens haha)- so movies and your screen looks great, but if it weren't inclosed you could get a 22 in. screen as cheap as 150 bucks. So, are you budgeting or indulging on that part?
I don't think this helped.
This is mainly my opinion.
If you choose to get an iMac, take off as much as 800 dollars- because that is purely display and enclosure (obviously the bigger the screen the more expensive) Now, start looking at prices. There are enough threads on here telling you which specs are worth how much, so I wont do a complete break down.
Also consider this: Apple is more expensive, and the reason people pay more, in my opinion, besides media (video editing, photo editing, etc.) is interface. It's not that the OS costs more than a Windows OS (unverified), but it's a personal preference.
If you look at an iMac and "build" it part by part without the screen into a tower, it will be cheaper (as will most any PC systems because they've got to make a profit somehow), but it's incredibly difficult to do.
Now for the last answer, are they overpriced? An iMac for gaming is overpriced. An iMac for editing is very fairly priced IMHO. An iMac display is top of the line (even though we dont like the glossy screens haha)- so movies and your screen looks great, but if it weren't inclosed you could get a 22 in. screen as cheap as 150 bucks. So, are you budgeting or indulging on that part?
I don't think this helped.