So how much will a Mac Pro be realistically? (Because £8300 is taking the ****)

[risc]

Earlier in the day I spec'd up a HP XW9300 dual Opteron dual core 2.6 with the same specs as a nice high end Power Mac Quad G5 and it cost more. What is this Dell machine you are looking at? I really think bang for buck wise that Power Mac holds its own against GOOD workstations.

 

[PlaceofDis]

There's 'a bit' (a premium I was happy to pay for the iMac, Macbook and MacBook Pro) and there's 'a rip'. In terms of percentage price difference for comparable PC hardware, the system I specced definitely enters the latter description. All I can say is that I hope the Mac Pros deliver really class-leading performance for the cost.

where i think you're seeing the prices being out of proportion is in the displays honestly, not the CPU itself.

create the two machines sans displays on dell and apple's site and i think you'll find the price isn't too different. Apple displays as we all know are waaaay overpriced.

 

[Sesshi]

Earlier in the day I spec'd up a HP XW9300 dual Opteron dual core 2.6 with the same specs as a nice high end Power Mac Quad G5 and it cost more. What is this Dell machine you are looking at? I really think bang for buck wise that Power Mac holds its own against GOOD workstations.

Precision with Dual DC Xeons (3ghz). The general consensus seems to be that in desktop configurations, the dual-Xeons outperform the dual-Opteron 2xx series. I also automatically get anywhere between 10-20% off on Dell sticker prices. Not so much rebating goes on in the UK otherwise it'd be cheaper I suppose.

where i think you're seeing the prices being out of proportion is in the displays honestly, not the CPU itself.

create the two machines sans displays on dell and apple's site and i think you'll find the price isn't too different. Apple displays as we all know are waaaay overpriced.

As I said, it seems that I will have to take that path. It's just nice to be able to keep everything matched - it's a shame that the pricing structure seems to be pretty insane when you get to this level. As I keep saying while I don't mind paying a premium, I do object to being ripped off.

 

[celebrian23]

You can't have your cake and eat it too. ACD have always come with a premiumm

 

[panoz7]

Precision with Dual DC Xeons (3ghz). The general consensus seems to be that in desktop configurations, the dual-Xeons outperform the dual-Opteron 2xx series. I also automatically get anywhere between 10-20% off on Dell sticker prices. Not so much rebating goes on in the UK otherwise it'd be cheaper I suppose.

I think you may be choosing the wrong processors for the dell. The next gen Mac Pro, at least according to the recent rumors, the quad will have dual dual core 2.66 ghz xeon 5150 processors. The 3ghz xeons you selected are the last generation processors and cost about $800 less from dell then the new ones. If you configure the dell with those processors it comes within about a hundred dollars of an otherwise equal apple. That of course doesn't take into account the dell discounts. I don't get the 10- 20% discount when I go to check out... maybe it depends on who you are. Whatever the case, with a machine this expensive, i'd be willing to spend at least $1000 for OS X. Maybe you're different.

Perhaps you should consider less expensive hardware. Do you really need top of the line workstation level processors for what you're doing? You don't seem to be doing any hardcore video or photo editing that would take advantage of the extra processor power.

As for the ACDs... i'd never buy a 20" or 23" over the dell counterparts. I would buy the 30" though. At that price level the premium on the ACD is comparatively smaller and in my opinion worth it.

 

[Sesshi]

Maybe if I see it in action I'll be swayed. I'll just have to wait.

 

[risc]

Precision with Dual DC Xeons (3ghz). The general consensus seems to be that in desktop configurations, the dual-Xeons outperform the dual-Opteron 2xx series. I also automatically get anywhere between 10-20% off on Dell sticker prices. Not so much rebating goes on in the UK otherwise it'd be cheaper I suppose.

I just spec'd up a Dell Precission 690 (2x Xeon dual core 3.0 GHz) and a Power Mac G5 Quad with similar specs:

512 MB Quadro 4500
4 GB RAM
500 GB SATA HDD
..etc..

Once I had done that without monitors the price in USD$ for the Dell was $5506 and the Apple was $5949. Considering the Dell comes with a copy of XP only and taking in to consideration all of the software that comes with OS X, I know which machine I would buy.

Maybe the prices are really bad in the UK? I don't know, but I think this whole thread comes down to you can get 20% off the Dell and no discount on the Apple? So really you should buy the Dell if it does what you want. Like I said before the price of the Apple Power Mac Quad is comparable to machines in that class. I've spec'd up a Dell Precision, and a HP XW9300 now and 1 is a little cheaper, the other is a litte more expensive.

 

[DMPDX]

I say you should get one of these bad boys. 3 24" screens for 4 grand. 1000 cheaper than 2 30"

1920x1200 for each moniter i say that's pretty baddass

Zenview makes some wicked looking moniters. Ive seen ones with like 6 screens, and someone was talking about two 30" was overkill... how about this?

that alone costs 8 grand

My friend is a stockbroker and has this exact model I believe, And yes even though its small in perspective to the 8 monitor wall, it still makes your eyes burn after working on it for 15 minutes. If you need 2 30" displays you must need a lot of stuff open, or full size view of 6 different apps. 2x24 or 2x23 sounds a lot better. Or you could just go for a projector and go 106-135"?
-dsm

 

[solvs]

Maybe you should wait and see how much the high end Dells cost vs. the high end Mac Pros when the new machines are released. I know you need to budget, so use Dell's current prices on their monitors (they're ok, not great, but I hear the 30s are pretty good) and estimate Apple's rumored high end. $3300 US, plus upgraded video card. Buy the RAM and hard drive upgrades third party, as said, everyone seems to charge premiums on that stuff. And don't forget the warranties (from Apple, Dell, and whatever drives you buy). Should be more... well "reasonable" seems like an inappropriate word. See if you can get a discount being a business customer. I know they do that in the US.

You seem to be comparing Dell's price on older, discounted stuff vs. Apple's old stuff that they haven't discounted. I don't know why they do that, but hopefully that's going to change. I'm thinking Dell's new decked out dual 2.6 Xeons will be comparable to Apple's within a few hundred dollars.