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Is Apple "Worth It"?

Ongeloof

By Ongeloof,
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cyrana
cyrana
Posted
Posted

I think they are worth it. :D I have an iPhone and a Macbook, and we also have a Mac Pro at home. Aside from the 'form over function' arguments (all look gorgeous imho), the three of them 'just work'. I have tinkered and built computers for years and we also have a home built Asus P5W-DH that runs Windows for games and also has OS X installed on it.

 

But, it's still a bit of a chore keeping the Hackintosh version up to date and updates and installs to the computer itself are slightly more annoying. Granted all I've done is replace my Mac Pro video card, add extra memory, and put in new hard drives, but all of these operations took a minimal of effort (super easy actually and I didn't cut myself or break nails :D ) and OS X just worked afterwards and didn't complain about anything.

 

We can go to magical fantasyland where there is a boxed OS X that works on any computer, but I'd still have some Apples in the house since I think they are designed so well and I'm getting to the age where I just want something to work without any tinkering - in addition to looking great.

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V Plamondon
V Plamondon
Posted
Posted

This is just my opinion, but when a friend or relative who is a computer newbie or not very computer literate wants advise on purchasing a new computer, my first suggestion is a Macintosh from Apple. A Macintosh is very newbie friendly, with good manuals, packaging and technical support. For friends and family with little computer literacy, a good overall product means the learning curve is shorter, there are few, if any, technical issues, and when there are technical issues, customer support is excellent.

 

Ironically, most of my friends and family rejected Macintoshes, as they "NEEDED" a windows PC. I spend time fixing friends and family members computers that would add up to hundreds or thousands of dollars a year each if they needed to hire technical supports services.

 

I won't buy a Macintosh myself, but my current laptop, an Acer Aspire 5680 costing $800.00, runs OSX86 very well, and I don't mind rolling up my sleeves when I break the OS to fix it. Of course I saved money, but when it comes to the software I am my own tech support.

 

Technical support is always an important consideration when choosing a new computer, especially those of limited computer literacy, and especially for those without tech oriented friends.

 

For this reason, my number one pick for excellent hardware/software combined technical support is Apple Inc., as a customer can expect a reliable, stable product with less technical issues over the products lifetime and good service and support for problems that do arise.

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zeamp
zeamp
Posted
Posted

Garbage in, garbage out. The reason you're paying premium prices for a "Mac" verses a IBM-compatible PC pre-loaded with Windows Vista is that they're meant for each other. It's a match made in heaven. Apple supplies the hardware and the software. When you buy Windows, you're buying a piece of software that is supposed to run flawlessly on everything. When Dell releases the latest and greatest desktop to their line-up, it's not built to run Windows because Windows didn't know this computer existed. Mac OS X, on the other hand, knows what it needs to run 110% because the company controls everything.

 

Now we have the OSx86 scene. Granted this is mainly for fun, but the struggles we have are somewhat similar to Vista's incompatibility. Things just don't work right because they weren't made for each other. Mac OS X is built for those high-priced iMacs, MacBook Pros, etc. It "just works." While OEM's like Dell and HP struggle with Vista woes and downgrading tricks (XP), Apple continues to push computers that run 110% because they make it all. If Dell could start making the next version of Windows right now, they'd race 300 MPH to get into that position. Apple's already there, and if you want something that's more than likely going to work more times than the alternative that hopefully works at least half the time: Get a Mac.

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dillon31292
dillon31292
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I find Apple products to be worth it because of their resell value. You can go to eBay right now and find a four or five year-old Powerbook on sale for nearly $2,000. You just can't beat that. It's like being able to get a brand new Mac every two or three years for nothing.

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Konami®
Konami®
Posted
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I find Apple products to be worth it because of their resell value. You can go to eBay right now and find a four or five year-old Powerbook on sale for nearly $2,000. You just can't beat that. It's like being able to get a brand new Mac every two or three years for nothing.

 

You are truly exaggerating the price, in Ebay a four to five years old powerbook is between $200 to $400 dollars, but is still very good price for the age of the computer.

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Fishy80
Fishy80
Posted
Posted

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWi...shListTitle=Mac

 

 

 

thats almost the exact same specs as the best machine I can make on the apple site, apple's price? Total $21,037.00

 

Neweggs price? $7,214.87 add $1,000 for the apple fiber channel card, and $1799x2 for the 2 apple display's and another $800 for the raid card.... and you get? $12612.87 throw in a couple hundred for vista and there ya go... should note, I could not find every piece the same, what I couldn't find exactly the same, I UPGRADED, and yes, I know that mobo can't handle that much ram, or all 4 vid cards, but what I'm saying with this entire post is that piece for piece Mac is WAY overpriced

 

 

you can't even make an alienware computer that costs more than 15k (if even that much) and I guarantee that the alienware would beat the mac in any kind of benchmark or any performance...

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121fred
121fred
Posted
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Hi all

 

I've bought many (and spent a lot keeping the faith)Macs from MacPlus onward until recently. The reason I stopped that bloody awful mirror that they call a screen on the laptops and iMacs. So I bought a 24" matt panel and built a Hackintosh and I doubt I'll go back now. Design over substance is not always the answer.

 

cheers

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dillon31292
dillon31292
Posted
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You are truly exaggerating the price, in Ebay a four to five years old powerbook is between $200 to $400 dollars, but is still very good price for the age of the computer.

No, actually I'm not exaggerating. There were three of them up for over $1,700 last night. There's usually at least one up in the $1,000's (being bidded on, not a fixed price) on most days. I'm saying that you could get this for it, its just that most people are honest enough to put theirs up for a few hundred bucks.

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Konami®
Konami®
Posted
Posted
No, actually I'm not exaggerating. There were three of them up for over $1,700 last night. There's usually at least one up in the $1,000's (being bidded on, not a fixed price) on most days. I'm saying that you could get this for it, its just that most people are honest enough to put theirs up for a few hundred bucks.

 

How in hell a 4 years old powerbook will cost $1700? are they made in gold or something else special that others powerbook does not offer? I visit a lot Ebay and I never saw a 4 years old powerbook for that price.

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dillon31292
dillon31292
Posted
Posted
How in hell a 4 years old powerbook will cost $1700? are they made in gold or something else special that others powerbook does not offer? I visit a lot Ebay and I never saw a 4 years old powerbook for that price.

I agree, it's completely ridiculous. Alot of people don't comprehend computer specs and whatnot so they're easy to take advantage of when the word "Mac" or "Apple" is slapped onto something. :D

 

Btw here's some good examples:

 

$1,995: http://cgi.ebay.com/Aluminum-PowerBook-G4-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

$1,399: http://cgi.ebay.com/Powerbook-G4-17-LCD-1-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

$1,350: http://cgi.ebay.com/MINT-FLAWLESS-CONDITIO...1QQcmdZViewItem

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vbetts
vbetts
Posted
Posted
How in hell a 4 years old powerbook will cost $1700? are they made in gold or something else special that others powerbook does not offer? I visit a lot Ebay and I never saw a 4 years old powerbook for that price.

 

The same reason G5 Powermacs can get up in price. Macs hold value pretty well for a computer.

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KeriJane
KeriJane
Posted
Posted

Hello.

 

Is Apple "Worth It"?

 

Yes, yes, a thousand times YES! Apple is a veritable BARGAIN.

 

Please do NOT compare a complete factory made and supported computer to a home made machine with ZERO support.

 

Compare Macs to HPs. SONYs, Gateways, Dells.... you know the computers that were so great that we started BUILDING OUR OWN in the first place! :)

 

And don't just compare the on-paper specs. PC makers specialize in making the "numbers" look good. Compare the whole experience by asking around. Find out how much people ended up actually paying for that $500 Dell that's roughly comparable to a Mac Mini. It often ends up being $700, $800 or more! And support? Is it better than Apple support? Any company sponsored Geniuses around? (no, I don't mean Geek Squad)

 

The current trend is the iMac ripoff. HP, Gateway and Sony all have very pretty all-in-one Vista boxes such as the current VAIO series. Are they really cheaper or a better value than an iMac? Why, no! they are not! As I'm the computer fixit girl around here, I can speak for Sony PC quality.... it is certainly NOT equal to Mac nor is their support. Yet the VAIOs cost as much or more! VAIO 19" 2.0ghz=$1899 iMac 20"2.4ghz=$1499 (similarly equipped)

 

At the high end, we have the Mac Pro. This isn't a PC it's a Dual-Xeon WORKSTATION. An HP 8-core XEON system? $4,600. and it's a dedicated rackmount server with NO OS. Seems like the Mac Pro is about $2000 cheaper since you have to buy an OS for the HP.

 

When you compare APPLES to APPLES.....

APPLE always wins! :wacko:

 

Keri

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Fishy80
Fishy80
Posted
Posted
Hello.

 

Is Apple "Worth It"?

 

Yes, yes, a thousand times YES! Apple is a veritable BARGAIN.

 

Please do NOT compare a complete factory made and supported computer to a home made machine with ZERO support.

 

Compare Macs to HPs. SONYs, Gateways, Dells.... you know the computers that were so great that we started BUILDING OUR OWN in the first place! ;)

 

And don't just compare the on-paper specs. PC makers specialize in making the "numbers" look good. Compare the whole experience by asking around. Find out how much people ended up actually paying for that $500 Dell that's roughly comparable to a Mac Mini. It often ends up being $700, $800 or more! And support? Is it better than Apple support? Any company sponsored Geniuses around? (no, I don't mean Geek Squad)

 

The current trend is the iMac ripoff. HP, Gateway and Sony all have very pretty all-in-one Vista boxes such as the current VAIO series. Are they really cheaper or a better value than an iMac? Why, no! they are not! As I'm the computer fixit girl around here, I can speak for Sony PC quality.... it is certainly NOT equal to Mac nor is their support. Yet the VAIOs cost as much or more! VAIO 19" 2.0ghz=$1899 iMac 20"2.4ghz=$1499 (similarly equipped)

 

At the high end, we have the Mac Pro. This isn't a PC it's a Dual-Xeon WORKSTATION. An HP 8-core XEON system? $4,600. and it's a dedicated rackmount server with NO OS. Seems like the Mac Pro is about $2000 cheaper since you have to buy an OS for the HP.

 

When you compare APPLES to APPLES.....

APPLE always wins! :)

 

Keri

 

Compare the prices when you amp up all the parts... for the mac pro its $21,000 do the same with a customizable computer from alienware/dell/hp/whoeverthe{censored}else and you will see that you can make a computer as good/better than that mac pro for way less... with cash left over to buy software that you need to be running.... you will never ever ever tell me that apple computers are at a competative price... some of their stuff is a 100% markup... read my last post in this thread... you can build your own for cheaper or you can get one through any top of the line company for cheaper... if you have the technical know how to build your own computer you shouldn't NEED the support except maybe RMA...

 

 

if you do the actual math, they charge $284 per ONE gb of ram.... thats the only part in their computers that you can measure price/size that way... hdd's and other things are harder because of the size differences price per gb is so different... hard to find a standard... but $284 for 1gb of ram... compare the other parts part for part on newegg... can't find the exact part, compare it to the next upgrade... you won't go over appl'es price... leaves you money to take it anywhere for support if you had to...

 

part for part, apple is a ripoff.. not saying they don't make quality parts, just wish I could afford one...

 

oh and don't forget, there are green apples and red apples... the green apples ($$ green? get it?) well they may look nicer, more solid and smooth than the red apples, but its still just an apple... inside its still the same, the taste may be different, but its made of the same stuff (mostly)... so it comes down to people's preference to the taste, and price per pound... (if you get that entire analogy, good for you!)

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KeriJane
KeriJane
Posted
Posted
Compare the prices when you amp up all the parts... for the mac pro its $21,000 do the same with a customizable computer from alienware/dell/hp/whoeverthe{censored}else and you will see that you can make a computer as good/better than that mac pro for way less...

 

Hello.

Not to sound combative, but are you trying to say that someone else or ANYONE else will sell you a Dual-Socket Xeon motherboard with a 5400 chipset and TWO Quad-Core Xeon CPUs for less than $1,800? (2x Xeon 5440 at 720ea, lowest price 5400 board at $430)

PLUS a decent PSU, PLUS some FBRAM, PLUS a Videocard (even a cheapie like the HD2600) PLUS a presentable box to put it in, PLUS DVDs, HDDs, PLUS an OS, a Keyboard, a Mouse.... PLUS SHIPPING and you still say you can build an 8-core Xeon system for "Way Less"?

 

Let's see:

$1,870 for the CPUs (with OEM heatsinks) and Board, (you wouldn't DARE use THOSE Heatsinks would you?)

$250 for a DECENT 1,000w PSU

$135 for a measly 2GB DDR2-800FBRAM

$60 for a laughable HD2600XT/256/ddr3

$65 for a 320GB HDD

$30 for a DVD burner

$100 for OS (Vista on sale, XP Home, that sort of thing)

$100 for a presentable case (you wouldn't really get something THAT cheap would you?)

$100 for a DECENT KB & mouse (such as the aluminum KB and Mighty Mouse)

 

Total=$2710. from the Egg. PLUS SHIPPING!!!

 

PLUS all of your hard work.

PLUS all the miscellaneous stuff that you KNOW you're going to have to buy?

 

And that's just right at a base 8-core Mac Pro spec.

 

Apples to Apples, remember?

Really, the only Case that compares to a MacPro case is a LianLi that would probably cost $300 instead of the $100 mentioned, so to be fair you should add $200 to that estimate.

 

Keri

 

He's also forgetting that that 20" Vaio has a higher quality display, a Blue Ray player, and is thinner.

 

I love Vaio's personally. ;D

 

Ummm.....

 

You do not read posts very carefully do you?

 

"I said "similarly equipped". I compared a VIAO WITHOUT the BLU-Ray drive and with the closest matched CPU, Hard Drive, memory and screen size at FULL LIST Price in an attempt to make the fairest match possible.

Yes, I know that you can generally knock $400 off of that.

But you can't on a Apple, can you?

 

Staggering FAKE discounts of 20% or more are a sure sign of overpriced stuff.

 

Oh,

and

 

KEWL! I'm a "He"?

 

Can I please have that 29% raise right now? ;)

 

Tired of making 71¢ on the dollar,

Keri

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nbollinger
nbollinger
Posted
Posted
No, actually I'm not exaggerating. There were three of them up for over $1,700 last night. There's usually at least one up in the $1,000's (being bidded on, not a fixed price) on most days. I'm saying that you could get this for it, its just that most people are honest enough to put theirs up for a few hundred bucks.

 

Complete BS. I just did an advanced search of all finished auctions on ebay for powerbooks and none of them sold for $1700's. Quit lying.

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dillon31292
dillon31292
Posted
Posted
Complete BS. I just did an advanced search of all finished auctions on ebay for powerbooks and none of them sold for $1700's. Quit lying.

If you had read the thread you would have seen that I linked to three of them going for over $1,300, one of them being up to $1,995 at the time, so before you start mouthing off trying to make your miniature e-{censored} look harder than it really is you need to take some time off to learn how to read:

 

How in hell a 4 years old powerbook will cost $1700? are they made in gold or something else special that others powerbook does not offer? I visit a lot Ebay and I never saw a 4 years old powerbook for that price.

I agree, it's completely ridiculous. Alot of people don't comprehend computer specs and whatnot so they're easy to take advantage of when the word "Mac" or "Apple" is slapped onto something. :P

 

Btw here's some good examples:

 

$1,995: http://cgi.ebay.com/Aluminum-PowerBook-G4-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

$1,399: http://cgi.ebay.com/Powerbook-G4-17-LCD-1-...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

$1,350: http://cgi.ebay.com/MINT-FLAWLESS-CONDITIO...1QQcmdZViewItem

...all of which are gone now because they were sold. They were probably higher than the prices I quoted by the time they sold, since I quoted them nearly two days ago. Right at this very moment there are two up in the thousands, so you must not have looked but so hard.

 

So please do tell, who is the lying bull{censored}ter?

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Fishy80
Fishy80
Posted
Posted
Hello.

Not to sound combative, but are you trying to say that someone else or ANYONE else will sell you a Dual-Socket Xeon motherboard with a 5400 chipset and TWO Quad-Core Xeon CPUs for less than $1,800? (2x Xeon 5440 at 720ea, lowest price 5400 board at $430)

PLUS a decent PSU, PLUS some FBRAM, PLUS a Videocard (even a cheapie like the HD2600) PLUS a presentable box to put it in, PLUS DVDs, HDDs, PLUS an OS, a Keyboard, a Mouse.... PLUS SHIPPING and you still say you can build an 8-core Xeon system for "Way Less"?

 

Let's see:

$1,870 for the CPUs (with OEM heatsinks) and Board, (you wouldn't DARE use THOSE Heatsinks would you?)

$250 for a DECENT 1,000w PSU

$135 for a measly 2GB DDR2-800FBRAM

$60 for a laughable HD2600XT/256/ddr3

$65 for a 320GB HDD

$30 for a DVD burner

$100 for OS (Vista on sale, XP Home, that sort of thing)

$100 for a presentable case (you wouldn't really get something THAT cheap would you?)

$100 for a DECENT KB & mouse (such as the aluminum KB and Mighty Mouse)

 

Total=$2710. from the Egg. PLUS SHIPPING!!!

 

PLUS all of your hard work.

PLUS all the miscellaneous stuff that you KNOW you're going to have to buy?

 

And that's just right at a base 8-core Mac Pro spec.

 

Apples to Apples, remember?

Really, the only Case that compares to a MacPro case is a LianLi that would probably cost $300 instead of the $100 mentioned, so to be fair you should add $200 to that estimate.

 

Keri

 

guess you chose NOT to read my previous post like I suggested, the one where I did what you did but upgraded everything and spent less than at apples site, and got a better computer?

 

 

here I'll build the best machine I can for the same price as the mac pro's $21,000

 

ROFL, ok take a look at this wish list...

 

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWi...shListTitle=Mac

 

to try and hike up the price I added a 7.1 sound card and sound system, webcam, water cooling, and the most expensive case on newegg...oh.. and can't forget the 2k sony viao laptop lol... tell me did I forget anything on that list? and which computer do you think would outperform the other? the only real thing the mac has on this machine as that this machine only supports up to 16gb of ram, the mac has twice that... so gratz to mac on that... but even if I was to double the ram on my other wishlist, I wouldn't spend as much as I would on the mac...

 

 

try and actually add it up on newegg before proving somone wrong who is actually going to add it up and provide links...

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