waltchan said:
I'm absolutely sick of the high prices Apple charges for their computers. It puts too much pressure on my buying needs, and I ended up not being able to afford it.
A $1,799.99 plus 8.25% sales tax on a MacBook Pro only comes with a 80 GB hard drive and 512 MB memory RAM. I need 120 GB hard drive, 1 GB memory RAM, and 2.0 GHZ processor speed, so that rings up to $2,600 for everything. This is absolutely pathetic and a disgrace in the computer market, and Apple should be ashamed of themselves.
Why don't you just buy refurb 12" iBook. I've seen them for about $700.
But If you really _need_ a MBP then $3K is not unreasonable if you are using the MPB to earn a living. That's kind of the definition of "profesional" computer - something that you use to make a living. If you use three year depresation and a three year loan, after taxes the thing might cost only $700 per year out of pocket $700 is less then one day of billable time for many profesionals.
One other way to think about it: It costs $3K. It lasts 3 years. That's $1K per year. In one year how much do yu pay the guy who ues the computer? One would hope at least 40 times that much plus that much more in benefits, payrol taxes and insurance. The MBP is less than 3% of the total
On the other hand if the MBP is used as a toy at home for web surfing and watching DVDs $3K is an unjustifiable waste of money
All that said. A "fair" price by definition is a price where after the transaction both the buyer and the seller are happy. As it turns out Apple is happy to sell the MBP at currnt price and many, many buyers are waiting in line to buy. So by definition it is a fair price.
Will I buy one? Absolutly not. I don't need a notebook like that and $3K will buy a much more powerfull desktop. I'll buy in 2007 after the dust from the Intel trasition settles and the universal binaries are available.
I may buy the Intel iBook or maybe a used G4 iBook. All I need is a gadget to hold and display photos
I do have a computer I use every day at work. I think we spent about $10K
Down stairs in the lab, I think they are into 8 figures.