[ale] OT New thread -new iMacs- Joe's question

[Mark Wright]

I have been using Macs since 94 and I will admit the $4000 520C that  
my company gave me made me want to scream!  On the other hand I still  
have it and can use it for web browsing and email.  I have FreeBSD on  
it as well as OS 8.

My point however is that over the last 10 years the price premium for  
owning an Apple product has all but vanished.  I have seen comments  
like the one below, "especially when you're paying a premium already  
for the Mac logo."  on this list several times and I am surprised by  
this.

We are all Linux users for a reason.  It is complicated but I think  
it boils down to most of us don't swallow B.S. about things.  We all  
saw people lining up like lemmings to receive their copy of Windows  
95 and we all called B.S.,  there is a better way.  Some of us more  
than others and some for other reasons but I think most of us were  
smart enough to recognize a poorly executed OS design and we wanted  
more and were willing to take the road less traveled to get it.   
Today Windows is not the steaming pile of  trash it was in 95 partly  
because of Linux and Mac.

It just surprises me that many people in this group of thinking  
people still look at Macs as over priced.  I don't see it.  Over the  
years I have seen several friends come to the same conclusion after  
disagreeing with me.  If you look you can find very cheap laptops but  
you can also find very expensive ones.  Compare Apple prices and  
features to Alienware.  Feature for feature I think Apple will win.   
How about Sony?  Is sony hardware always much cheaper than Apple?   
Toshiba is one of my favorites for value and compatibility with Linux  
and they have a few units cheaper than iBooks and they have some more  
expensive that still don't match all the features.

Ok I'm done.

Joe,

Your question about value between iBook and PB is reasonable.  Apple  
is very meticulous with their pricing .  They put a value on every  
little feature and place the feature content of each model  
accordingly.  I think if you will take the time to look at the line  
up and see the differences you will see really what you are buying or  
not for the extra money.

I would buy a used or refurbished Mac for family member that has  
modest needs.  Right now on the Apple store you can get a 14 inch  
iBook 1.33, 256, 60g, super drive and g wifi for $1000.  That is a  
good deal if you need that much.  If you look on Cragslist you will  
find lots of cheap iBooks.  Apples refurbs and current models are  
really pushing used prices down.

That refurbed ibook is better in every spec than my Ti PB except for  
the size of the screen.  As I said before the differences in ibook to  
PB are sometimes small and if you don't need whatever that difference  
happens to be there is just the prestige.  Apple does want the PB,  
now Macbook, to be something special and the iBook line to be more  
common.

Apple does not want to market their computers as commodities like  
"IBM compatibles"  fortunately for us the market won't let them price  
their products as a luxury item.  Look at the ipod.  It is expensive  
but not outrageously so.  It is usually $50 or less than any similar  
competition.  When you add itunes and consider that your kid really  
only wants it because it says "ipod " on it that $50 is a bargain.

Back to powerbooks and ibooks.  The short answer is there is no  
reason to buy a powerbook unless you want the latest and greatest at  
the moment you purchase.  My advice, get a the fastest processor  
(around 700m-1 ghz or better)  you can find in anything used;  
powerbook or ibook that fits your other needs.  ie screen size, wifi  
or cd dvd options.


Sorry for the high word count.  I'll slip back into the background now.


On Feb 1, 2006, at 6:22 PM, Joe Knapka wrote:

> fletch at phydeaux.org wrote:
>
>>> I'm sure there will be new models introduced with higher clock  
>>> speeds when
>>> as
>>> replacements to the Power Mac G5 line for high-end professional  
>>> users
>>> (especially once more of the high-end software is re-compiled so  
>>> it runs
>>> natively on Intel processors).  But, for an initial release, it  
>>> makes
>>> sense to
>>> go with a slower, but cheaper processor, especially when you're  
>>> paying a
>>> premium already for the Mac logo.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> And keep in mind that the iMacs are the "consumer" grade  
>> machines.  If you
>> look at iBooks versus Powerbooks the later usually are a  
>> generation of
>> processor ahead of the former (of course since they've run into  
>> the G4
>> wall it's not as pronounced a difference as it used to be).
>>
>>
> I've been thinking about getting a Mac laptop, and I recall someone  
> here
> dissed iBooks a while back.  But looking at the specs for iBooks and
> PowerBooks at apple.com, it's not totally obvious why I'd want to
> pay 20% more for a PowerBook with essentially the same hardware
> and software as a high-end iBook. Can anyone enlighten me?
>
> Of course it looks like the MacBooks are the shape of things to  
> come, so
> this question is mainly idle curiosity.  But I'd like to get my whole
> family on
> OSX for desktop use -- laptops for me and my wife, and maybe a
> Mac Mini or iMac for my daughter.   I don't see a good reason not  
> to go
> with an iBook for my wife, who's your basic WP-and-email kinda user.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -- JK
>
>
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Mark Wright
NASA Maintenance Specialist
Mark_Wright at NASAsupport.com
www.nasasupport.com

1.800.724.9692

"Whatever It Takes"

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