13 years ago
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
I'm Blue Over You
John talked to Dell yesterday. Want to know why it is going to take two months to get our new laptop? Because it is blue... as in the color... as in, if I knew it was going to take two months I would have just ordered black. And we would, except they seem to be completely incompetent and can't just switch the color on the order for a computer that hasn't even been built yet but has every other component sitting on shelves in stock. Now I know why we get a good discount.
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9 comments:
shoulda got a MacBook Pro. faster, cooler, Greener and ships in 2 days. but doesn't come in blue (paint uses harmful chemicals.
Dell story: When I worked for ESD we wadded up our Dell contract and threw it in the garbage. We had a $1M server contract and we would spend [no joke] over 45 minutes on hold with support.....on the other hand IBM would respond in person by phone and be at my door in less than 4 hours.
Back to Mac: iMac - 750GB HDD 4GB RAM received in 3 days, setup time was less than 10 minutes including network recognition. Out of the box software is near professional quality. Online in person support 24/7 for free. The Fahoum household is 100% PC free now. Thank the Maker....of Apple products.
...but all that would cost me 2.5x the price. Trades must be made, Dell's bad service not really a reason to abandon PCs, just a reason to abandon Dell.
No it won't, not when you compare all the software that all comes with the Mac and not sold seperately. Service is excellent and you don't need antivirus software, and it all WORKS. None of the window BS.
yep what Jennifer said. I disagree with the antivirus comment though...try ClamXav Jennifer. It's free from the AppleStore and is quite good.
I did a complete research on price for hardware and included software. If you by an equivalent size PC and get the size monitor that I did (24inches!) you would actuall run more expensive. PC monitors alone have pushed the price of a complete PC system up to equal that of Apple workstations. Then pile on the same software with the same options (usually another purchase with Windows software -templates, artwork, web authoring tools etc...) even more.
iMac. What Windows Vista only WISHES that it was.
I have a 24" iMac - LOVE it! I will have to check out ClamXav - thanks for the tip.
Ok, so I just looked. an Apple Macbook with the same processor (~2.1GHz), RAM 4GB, HD 320GB costs $1650, did not get external monitor, don't need one, hardly use it and we already have a 17" flat panel at home if we did. This Mac does not include a Blu-Ray player as we were getting in our $900 Dell laptop with the poor customer service.
I know people that have Macs love their Macs, but seriously there is a MAJOR price difference on something that ultimately is mostly used as an internet box and travel movie viewer.
So no its not 2.5x the difference, but it is darn near double the cost of the Dell.
Oh and sorry, that $1650 was for a regular macbook at only a 13in display. The Macbook Pro with the similar 15in display to the one we are getting costs $2250. Which, incidentally, is exactly 2.5x more than what we are paying.
I'm trying to look at the whole PC vs Mac subject objectively and try to take in as much information from Mac lovers as possible to make an informed decision since I know next to nothing about Mac products but it's almost like a cult with Mac followers.
Many people I know just say Macs are "better". I need specific examples that pertain to how "I" use the machine, not how others may use it. Example: Mac has good video editing software....I don't use that...so I don't need that.
Strictly talking about laptops here. Comparing apples to apples (no pun intended) I just don't see how a Macbook is worth 2.5x the price of a PC laptop. If the price was closer to that of a PC laptop I'm sure we'd take the plunge and dive into Mac world. But I can't justify the cost difference.
If product A can do A-S and product B can do A-Z but you don't use T-Z, why buy product B if it costs 2.5x product A? The correct answer is 3.
A few things:
As for price comparisons I think that in general, when a new Mac comes out, the price difference is usually smaller with the PC counterpart (equal parts comparison) then months down the road. I'd still guess the Mac is a little more for the hardware, but then again it is usually a little better quality hardware with the same specs. Never buy RAM or hard drives from Apple - way cheaper aftermarket - same goes for most PC makers. Example: Macbook 4GB RAM upgrade on a Macbook is $225 from Apple or $43 from OWC. 250 GB laptop hard drive is $150 from Apple, 320 GB drive is $78 from OWC. After the Mac has been on the market a while it starts to shift to a larger difference because Apple tends not to update the price even though the parts get cheaper over time. Dell and others update prices daily so that problem doesn't exist. Of course that can also make it maddening if you buy a Dell and 2 months later it is %15 less - when you buy a Mac just after the product is released this wouldn't happen.
The item is about specifics on why people use Macs: The whole "it just works" thing is something you don't get until you've used one for a while. Things like getting on wireless networks, getting your microphone to work or speakers to output sound, updating the OS and apps is easier, etc. PC makers try to build infinite compatibility, engineers know that is impossible. Apple has put some restrictions on components like CPUs, motherboards, and video cards so they know the configuration they are dealing with when designing hardware/software and solving issues (except of course how much RAM or hard drive space you have). I won't go too much into the antivirus can of worms, but I haven't had one in 5 years on OS X without antivirus software. I had a few in Win XP with virus software running and updated religiously. I've also had them at work with their seemingly over-protective security policies. Then there is the whole user interface deal - it looks pretty and is intuitive for most users.
Having said all that, if you're just looking for a netbook to surf the web and check email on the couch, get a little $300-400 10" laptop and run Linux on it. Cheap, secure, low maintenance.
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