Hardware Analysis - Comparing Apples and Oranges [almost said lemons]

Re: Comparing Apples and Oranges [almost said lemons]

John Harris — 2005-04-17T03:52:09-05:00

Okay, buy any 2 PCs and one brand new loaded Powerbook. Wait 2 years and sell all three. You will have a greater return on investment with the MAC by at least DOUBLE... More money at the start? Yes, but MACs just hold their value. They run faster with "slower" chips, it's just the way it is...

Re: Comparing Apples and Oranges [almost said lemons]

mark D — 2004-02-21T03:18:59-05:00

Since most any new PC notebook out classes the PB CPU (power, speed) wise, it's silly to even compare a PB to a new PC. Find me some like powered PC notebook and then compare.

Speaking of things you cant get, can you get a PB with a 128M upgradable video card?, a 3Ghz CPU or anything faster than a 2002 era 1.25?? agp 8x anyone? faster (choice) fsb? Dell will sell you an XPS with those features for about the same price.

Do you have a choice in CPU's or chipsets?, no. A choice in who makes your motherboard?, no, can you get a 64 bit PB?, no, but you can get an Athlon 64 if you wanted. Can you get a notebook with an upgradable motherboard, cpu, video chipset or screen?, nope.. but you can get a Desknote with these options. Can you buy a new PB with no OS or software to save $$??, nah.. even if you already own this software you must buy them again.

If the slot loading super drive dies can you go to Frys or like computer store, buy a new one and be ready to work later that day?, nope.

Macs in general are ok, I have one, but they're far from perfect, crash proof and far from the clear best choice considering the limited amount of hardware / options. Apple should be embarassed to still be selling a 1.25 Ghz notebook in 2004.

Re: Comparing Apples and Oranges [almost said lemons]

Daniel Reiss — 2003-09-08T16:10:11-05:00

Well Jonny:

You should spend a little more time reading the original comment before you reply. The point is that you cannot buy a comparable laptop for half the price of a 17" PowerBook. When you add in all of the components that come with the PB you have an equivalent price.

However, that ignores the fact that until recently you could not buy a WinTel laptop with a 17" screen; a slot loading DVD/CD drive that reads and writes all formats [built-in] or Gigabit Ethernet [built-in].

Given you lack of maturity [name calling in other replies], lack of basic grammatical skills and lack of knowledge [the device is an Apple PowerBook and the model type is a Mac. btw - MAC stands for Media Access Control] I wonder if you will benefit from this

Re: Comparing Apples and Oranges [almost said lemons]

Jonny Allen — 2003-09-04T16:17:39-05:00

OK, take a look at the Apple website one more time and tell me that the $999 mac laptop has all those cool things you were bitching about. The thing is -you CAN buy a laptop with all those bells and whistles (Firewire, USB, s-video out, extra VGA out, dvd-writer drives) for about half of what the new powerbook costs.
Yes, MAC computers do look pretty but it's a matter of you wanting your computer to entertain you or you using your computer to work.
I personally don't feel that browsing the contents of my hard drive should be a multimedia experience. I've spent hours on MAC computers too, and honestly, most of that time is spent waiting for it.

Comparing Apples and Oranges [almost said lemons]

Daniel Reiss — 2003-08-22T14:51:48-05:00

Well Sander - you would not buy the 17" PowerBook because you can replace it with 2 Centrino based WinTel boxes for the same price.

I understand budget constraints as well as anyone. The secret to success - and it is in fact no secret - is to match your requirements to your budget. That is where performance [more specifically capability] vs price comparisons come in.

So - where is the price performance comparison to which you referred? Do those WinTel boxes have 17" screens? - no you already said that. Do they have built-in slot loading SuperDrives - no. Do they have built-in: Gibabit Ethernet; Bluetooth, 802.11g & b; S-video Out; and IEEE 1394 ports all part of the price? No, no, no, no and no. So what are you comparing except A Price and the fact that they are notebooks.

If you look at Apple's website you will see that they offer G4 PowerBooks starting at $1,599 for the 12" or $1,999 for the 15". You can also aquire a 12" iBook for $999.

regards