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Comparable PC to imac i7 specs?
- Thread starter roderick
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The debate is not about hardware or quality or style. THIS IS RELIGION. Once you cross that threshold, it all becomes a waste of effort. Ironic how the height of technology has brought us down to the level of the zealot. I suggest we go on about our lives and screw what anyone else thinks.
That's not true, and statements like that make all the anti-mac rats come out of their holes...
All branded computers are expensive, and Macs are amongst the most expensive branded computer if you simply compare hardware specs. You can custom build a PC with the same specs as any mac for a much cheaper price, and you'll get all the custom build advantages (upgradeability, customization, cheap and easy repairs, etc..). You won't get any of the Mac advantages, and that's why people buy a Mac, its not the hardware price, its everything else. So ease down with the price argument, you're gonna lose every discussion.
Well I don't know about US prices, but in Australia, the screen alone is worth $1500 and it is worse quality then the iMac's one. Then all the other parts in the iMac equal around the extra price, for the i5.
i've been building since the late 1990's. once the refresh comes mac's will be price competative again. and even now a Mac Mini for $1000 including tax and applecare is as good a value as a custom build. i just added all the parts up a few days ago
In Austarlia, the Dell U2711 costs 1200$. The C2D imac costs 2200$, the i5 imac costs 2600$. A similar C2D PC will cost much less than 1000$, and an i5 PC much less than 1400$...
But it doesn't matter. Like I said, nobody buys a Mac for the price, leave that argument.
How is that possible? About 2 weeks ago I build a computer for a friend using last generation technology for about $430, including a mouse, monitor, and keyboard. Without all that, it would have been just under $300.... $400 if I wanted to add 6gb of RAM, something the current mini can't even handle.
not when you factor in the price of the monitor. try to price out an LED backlit IPS monitor on the internet. it's not $200 for a 23" screen.
http://www.bing.com/shopping/LaCie-320-LCD-Monitor/search?q=lcd ips monitor&p1=[CommerceService%20scenario%3d%22o%22%20docid%3d%22277ECBACD1BC784C8228%22]&wf=Commerce&FORM=ENCA0
$1000 for a 20" screen
Ah? A custom build PC better speced than the high end Mac mini:
Mobo + CPU - 169$ (E6500 2.93Ghz - faster than the mobile processor of the mini)
Vid. card - 25$ (9500GT)
4GB RAM - 75$
Case + PSU - 50$
DVD-RW - 20$
Shipping - 15-20$
Total - ~380$
Tax (if required) - 38$ max
Total after tax - 418$
Faster, more powerful hardware, less than half of the price...
But again, it doesn't matter, you don't buy a mini for the price or for the hardware..
The U2711 is 27", IPS, amazing screen. 1100$.
The Apple screen isn't of Lacie's or Eizo's quality. It's Dell's quality, and they're great!
Plus another 1000$ for the 27" Dell display to make it an "iMac". Also, power consumption is a lot higher in that PC so it'll become more expensive all the time.
Only very few % of people need much from their computer. Reading emails won't be any faster no matter do you have 2GHz C2D or dual 3.6GHz i7s
Only very few % of people need much from their computer. Reading emails won't be any faster no matter do you have 2GHz C2D or dual 3.6GHz i7s
does Lacie make their LCD panels? last i read LCD's were made by AU Optronics, Sharp, LG and Samsung. maybe one or two other companies.
doesn't really matter which brand you buy, it's who made the LCD panel and which generation LCD technology it is
if you read on the details of the iMac, the power supplies are 87% efficient. a PC power supply like that will run you close to $150 if you build your own PC
Come on.. we're talking electric bills now?
You can try and convince yourself and others that buying a Mac is good for your wallet, but don't be surprised if "PC people" would think you're a blind mac fanboy when you do that.
Buy a Mac, enjoy it, that's what you spend your money for. You don't need any financial excuse.....
You can try and convince yourself and others that buying a Mac is good for your wallet, but don't be surprised if "PC people" would think you're a blind mac fanboy when you do that.
Buy a Mac, enjoy it, that's what you spend your money for. You don't need any financial excuse.....
Why do you think so? Here is what Anandtech had o say about this issue:
"For one, Apple uses LED backlighting whereas the U2711 sticks with CCFL technology. But isn't CCFL worse? That depends on what you're after; the iMac 27 offers a 72% color gamut while the U2711 has a 102% color gamut (based on the CIE 1931 standard). Using RGB LEDs, it would be possible to get a similarly high color gamut, but our experience with RGB LEDs to date is that they cost more and consume more power than regular LEDs, so we can understand Dell's interest in sticking with the "older" technology. (We've only seen RGB LEDs in a few laptops so far, and as one example it's a $175 upgrade on the Dell Studio XPS 16 compared to a regular white LED display.)"
"hardware specs" are what irritate me. People are constantly only comparing the "hardware specs" that interest them.
You know, a custom milled aluminum unibody enclosure is a 'hardware spec' as well, but no one ever counts that one. Other things that go into the price, like 'english speaking, quick answering tech support' seems to be conveniently ignored. (I've gone through Dell tech support and it is sometimes good and sometimes bad. My experiences with Apple support have all left me saying 'Wow! I wish all companies were like this' - this is all anecdotal)
You can't just compare
CPU speed
RAM
Hard drive
and say you've compared all hardware specs.
haha
thats 30 seconds of my high wasted.
these people need to learn to speak english.
the argument boils down to this. if you dont think a mac is good value for money, or worth the investment, buy a PC.
i only care about the decisions people i love make, because I want their lives to be easier.
seriously guys, dont rise to these nobs. juts let em talk there ****, go home and use ur mac, knowing they will have to deal with the **** that made you switch.
T
thats 30 seconds of my high wasted.
these people need to learn to speak english.
the argument boils down to this. if you dont think a mac is good value for money, or worth the investment, buy a PC.
i only care about the decisions people i love make, because I want their lives to be easier.
seriously guys, dont rise to these nobs. juts let em talk there ****, go home and use ur mac, knowing they will have to deal with the **** that made you switch.
T
1. You can't compare high end gaming PCs to the imac.
2. The 30$ increase isn't the PCs fault. A High-end PC with the best vid. card available would consume ~450W at 100% load. When using the PC surfing, ms office, etc..., you're down to ~150W. When idle, its even lower. At an extreme scenario, we're looking at 4000 KiloWatts hour a day. Depending on his provider, that translates to ~25-30 cents per day, or 7.5-10$ a month. Bear in mind that this is a very unusual scenario. Most PCs won't cost more than 2-3$ a month.
Wow! Right timing for this thread to open. I was actually looking for a similar thread that was posted not so long ago but couldn't find it.
See, I'm one of the frustrated i5 buyers who ended up not buying it at all. I went through 7 exchanges in store and all had some sort of LCD defects, coupled with dead pixel on the iSight. I finally decided to wait until the next revision.
In the meantime, I put together a gaming PC using the money I alloted for the iMac. I am PC gamer at heart and been building my systems since 2002. I became a MAC user in 2003 and I've bought 7 Macs since. I originally wanted the i5 for my video editing needs this year but I thought I can do away with my current 13" MBP for now.
At first I wanted to match the i7 iMac's processor, memory and the likes. But as I gathered all of the info, I noticed I can go more on specs without even going over the price of an iMac i7.
At the end, I built the gaming PC of my dreams without breaking the bank. All the games I put through it, including Direct X 11 games, run at or over 60 frames per second (a must for me) at a resolution of 1920 x 1080. I didn't know this is even possible until now (you can tell I haven't been PC gaming in a while).
In total, I spent CAD$1,900 and my rig includes:
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 (I think the i7 Imac is of a lower i7 model)
MEMORY: 6 GB, 1333MHz, 3-Channel
VIDEOCARD: Sapphire AMD Radeon 5850, 1 GIG RAM (Second only to the best card out there that will run Direct x 11 games-5870)
CASE: Antec 900 (awesome case with blue LEDs galore. Yes it's big but it's freakin' cool looking.)
KEYBOARD/MOUSE: Microsoft Sidewinder KB and Mouse (both with red LEDs)
OPTICAL DRIVE: LG Blu-ray/HD-DVD recorder
OS: Windows 7 (I actually like it you know)
Sorry for my boasting...hehehe, but I never felt good after my iMac frustrations. I'm still a Mac fan, but a gaming PC doesn't hurt to have on the side to console me for now.
See, I'm one of the frustrated i5 buyers who ended up not buying it at all. I went through 7 exchanges in store and all had some sort of LCD defects, coupled with dead pixel on the iSight. I finally decided to wait until the next revision.
In the meantime, I put together a gaming PC using the money I alloted for the iMac. I am PC gamer at heart and been building my systems since 2002. I became a MAC user in 2003 and I've bought 7 Macs since. I originally wanted the i5 for my video editing needs this year but I thought I can do away with my current 13" MBP for now.
At first I wanted to match the i7 iMac's processor, memory and the likes. But as I gathered all of the info, I noticed I can go more on specs without even going over the price of an iMac i7.
At the end, I built the gaming PC of my dreams without breaking the bank. All the games I put through it, including Direct X 11 games, run at or over 60 frames per second (a must for me) at a resolution of 1920 x 1080. I didn't know this is even possible until now (you can tell I haven't been PC gaming in a while).
In total, I spent CAD$1,900 and my rig includes:
CPU: Intel Core i7 920 (I think the i7 Imac is of a lower i7 model)
MEMORY: 6 GB, 1333MHz, 3-Channel
VIDEOCARD: Sapphire AMD Radeon 5850, 1 GIG RAM (Second only to the best card out there that will run Direct x 11 games-5870)
CASE: Antec 900 (awesome case with blue LEDs galore. Yes it's big but it's freakin' cool looking.)
KEYBOARD/MOUSE: Microsoft Sidewinder KB and Mouse (both with red LEDs)
OPTICAL DRIVE: LG Blu-ray/HD-DVD recorder
OS: Windows 7 (I actually like it you know)
Sorry for my boasting...hehehe, but I never felt good after my iMac frustrations. I'm still a Mac fan, but a gaming PC doesn't hurt to have on the side to console me for now.
You're abseloutely right, and that's my point exactly. Some of the Mac buyers try to justify their purchase with the dry tech specs only. They can't.
you sound like a Jonny Ive groupie.!
a precision milled piece like the UB doesn't cost anywhere near what you think or what JI tries to make out.
not like its hand made!
stop drinking the kool aid and come back to the real world!
and now that Win 7 is at least as good as Slow leopard.
why exactly DO people buy Macs?
Steve Jobs, the biggest con trick in tech history....
You can't get a nice case + PSU for 50$, at least here in Finland. It's +50 for case that you can look without your eyes bleeding. Don't forget OS either, Windows 7 Home Premium OEM is ~100$.
I built my grandparents a PC for 300 (3GHz AMD, 4GB RAM, integrated GPU) + OS and it's very fast for their needs.
But again, most people won't see difference between 2GHz dual core AMD and 3.3GHz quad core Intel. And in the end, software sells hardware