Mac vs. PC costs

[Robert Krawitz]

   Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 16:06:13 -0400
   From: Dan Ritter <dsr-mzpnVDyJpH4k7aNtvndDlA at public.gmane.org>

   On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 01:21:23PM -0400, Robert Krawitz wrote:
   >    From: Richard Pieri <richard.pieri-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>
   >    Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 13:11:33 -0400
   > 
   >    On Jun 20, 2009, at 1:57 AM, Tom Metro wrote:
   >    > Care to share some numbers? I've ran comparisons between  
   >    > approximately equivalent Mac and PC laptops on several occasions,  
   >    > and the Macs always end up having a substantial price premium.
   > 
   >    A new 17" MBP, 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 500GB disk: about $2500.
   > 
   >    A new Dell Precision M6400, 17", 2.93GHz Core 2 Duo (closest match),  
   >    320GB disk (largest available): about $2500.
   > 
   > And a year or two from now, the MBP will hold its value and the Dell
   > won't.  Which is good for the Mac if you like the latest and greatest.
   > If you live a generation or two behind the times, which I do, the
   > value proposition is reversed.

   Of course, if you don't tie your life to your fragile laptop, you
   may discover that a $400 one serves pretty well. After two years,
   it may be worth only $100 on Craig's List... but I'll bet you the
   $300 depreciation in two years is much better than the depreciation
   on either the Dell or the Apple, plus you saved $2100 up front.

   Buying expensive laptops is for people who either actually need
   them (very few, I suspect) or for status symbols.

Again, it's a matter of what you're doing.  I use it at work, and I
really like having the big screen real estate (I can get 3 emacs
windows across, for example).  On vacation, it's very useful to have a
powerful laptop -- a wimpy laptop simply isn't much good at building a
panorama.

I buy them used, when they're already 50% off their original price.

-- 
Robert Krawitz                                     <rlk-FrUbXkNCsVf2fBVCVOL8/A at public.gmane.org>

Tall Clubs International  --  http://www.tall.org/ or 1-888-IM-TALL-2
Member of the League for Programming Freedom -- mail lpf-BtI67efEdsDk1uMJSBkQmQ at public.gmane.org
Project lead for Gutenprint   --    http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net

"Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works."
--Eric Crampton