On 8 Aug 2006 at 12:28, Johannes Gebauer wrote: > On 08.08.2006 dhbailey wrote: > > And your point is . . .? :-) > > Well, I think what Darcy is trying to say is that Apple currently > offers the best value, branded Windows machines of a certain > configuration. Which in itself is quite amusing.
I don't see it as surprising at all. Apple is surely one of Intel's largest customers now, and thus can get good volume discounts. > I am sure that is going to change, though. Some PC vendor is going to > bring out a similar machine for less money. . . / I don't think it is going to change. Apple is mass manufacturing this machine, whereas for Dell, it will never be more than a niche market. Apple can afford to sell the machines for less because they are making more of them than Dell. > . . . After all, Dell is not > necessarily a cheap manufacturer, or are they? Dell has this strange repitation for being more expensive, but I've never even once found that to be true once you do a head-to-head comparison of similarly equipped machines. I used to have clients come to me and ask why their Dell quote was $300 more than this Gateway/HP/Compaq/IBM/whatever they saw advertised. I'd then configute the other machine to match the Dell quote I"d created for them, and ALWAYS, the Dell ended up to be $100 or more cheaper. Dell machines in general have base configurations that are more expensive than their competitors. But that's because Dell is more sensible in designing their base configurations, starting with better quality and higher performing components. Because they design their base systems this way, they can offer higher quality/performance at relatively low prices within their own product line, even though compared to other OEMs, their base machines may be more expensive. In a certain sense, Dell is to other PC makers as Apple is to the PC market -- the basic machines start out with better design and thus cost more, but you're getting more for your money, and when you load up the "cheap" competitor with components comparable specifications, the "cheap" PC often ends up more expensive. This is almost always a result of volume pricing -- the bigger manufacturer has the ability to choose higher-quality components for their base models. I'm still shocked at the changes in recent PC prices. You can now buy a Dell machine for home use that will be a great 5-year computer for under $900, including monitor and basic MS Office. Only 3 years ago, the price point for this same machine was $1500, and 5 years ago, $2000. -- David W. Fenton http://dfenton.com David Fenton Associates http://dfenton.com/DFA/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
