I bought my first Mac (the newly introduced mini) almost one year ago now, and I just realized that I haven't spent nearly as much money on computers during the past years as I normally do. I have been so used to upgrading and changing things (and spedning big money), but now I just compute! So what if a Mac costs a little more initially, it will cost you much less in the end.
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Who says Macs are expensive?
- Thread starter danny_w
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I don't think there is a single person here that will disagree with you. There's more to owning a computer than the purchase price. It's called TCO - total cost of ownership.
It's my experience that Macs have a lower TCO than PCs also. Never having to pay the "Norton Tax" again is nice.
It's my experience that Macs have a lower TCO than PCs also. Never having to pay the "Norton Tax" again is nice.
danny_w said:
I think in your case, this has to do more with your Mac's limited opportunity for expansion and upgrading, compared to a regular PC.
Not to mention that the best programs to keeping your PC in good shape are free (Adaware, Spybot, etc).
I think in the end it works out about the same. Macs are more expensive initially, especially compared to the cheap windows boxes people build now for next to nothing. However they last longer with little need to upgrade all that much. The biggest difference is that people love their Macs and not their PCs.
Then, figure out how much you think your time is worth per hour, and count how many hours that you didn't spend removing viruses, finding corrupt registry entries, and fighting DLL Hell.
Multiply, and subtract from total TCO.
Multiply, and subtract from total TCO.
Today I had to price up a few iMac Core Duos for my Dad's company, and he asked to provide me relative costs from Dell. They worked out, for the same spec (screen size, ram, hard drive, dvd±r dl, etc) as £200-300 more expensive. And that was before I realised that the Dell prices didn't include VAT or their £50 delivery, while the Macs did!
Admittedly, the Dell systems did have faster Pentium D chips for dual core-ness, but even without them they were more expensive..
HA! Eat that all you "Apple's more expensive than Dell etc" people!
Admittedly, the Dell systems did have faster Pentium D chips for dual core-ness, but even without them they were more expensive..
HA! Eat that all you "Apple's more expensive than Dell etc" people!
I think it is pretty clear these days that Mac's do not carry the price premiums that they once did. And, yes, in many cases, the actual ownership cost (with saved time and money) is far less.
However, this is not the real issue. It is pretty hard to dispute these facts. The real issue is in people's perceptions of Mac's still being pricey. This whole situation is pretty common. A lot of people shied away from Audi's long after the accelerator "issues" were fixed, I bet not too many will buy BMG discs even after they've been recalled, and when people pass the Apple store in the mall, they still whisper, "Oooo, no, those are expensive!" My opinion is Apple needs more advertising for the Mac, but hey, they've probably already got a plan in mind.
However, this is not the real issue. It is pretty hard to dispute these facts. The real issue is in people's perceptions of Mac's still being pricey. This whole situation is pretty common. A lot of people shied away from Audi's long after the accelerator "issues" were fixed, I bet not too many will buy BMG discs even after they've been recalled, and when people pass the Apple store in the mall, they still whisper, "Oooo, no, those are expensive!" My opinion is Apple needs more advertising for the Mac, but hey, they've probably already got a plan in mind.
When I worked at the Apple Store and a customer mentioned how much more expensive Macs were than PCs, I always took them to Dell and Gateway's respective websites and outfitted their computers similarly - they always ended up being the same price or more. Then I said, "So what it comes down to is do you want pretty or ugly?" I made so many freaking sales just off that tactic. Point being, for what you get, Macs aren't a bit expensive. And you get a lot more than you could ever find in a PC.
The hidden costs for PCs are ridiculous. The things need constant care an attention, they're like women*.
Having said that, it's pretty easy to spend up at the Apple Store but it's generally unnecessary. Take, for example, iLife. I could have got along fine with 05 but I just had to have 06.
*Disclaimer: I am mad, don't listen to me and certainly don't get offended by anything I do or do not say.
Having said that, it's pretty easy to spend up at the Apple Store but it's generally unnecessary. Take, for example, iLife. I could have got along fine with 05 but I just had to have 06.
*Disclaimer: I am mad, don't listen to me and certainly don't get offended by anything I do or do not say.
mad jew said:...it's pretty easy to spend up at the Apple Store but it's generally unnecessary. Take, for example, iLife. I could have got along fine with 05 but I just had to have 06.
I have discovered that the "Norton Tax" is replaced with "Apple Envy" whenever there is a new Apple release. Guess which one is more fun to pay.
mad jew said:
Well, you are "mad jew" so shouldn't we know that already* - LOL!
*Disclaimer: I am an idiot, so don't listen to me and...well, you know the rest.
mojohanna said:
I think most Windows lads would love to see OS updates that often.
Actually, I think most Windows lads would love to see OS updates that didn't have the word security in them.
Verto said:
Just beacuse you can't put things in the box, doesn't mean there isn't plenty of expansion capability outside the box. Just like iPods there are lots of external add-on USB/FW devices.Yeah, but your machine isn't at risk of being hijacked by spammers if you continue to use iLife '04. Not updating your firewall/AV on a PC can be dangerous!ChrisA said:
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