FWIW, here's MacWorld's Mac Pro vs. Dell price shooutout:
<http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/features/macproprice/index.php>
They used a different model Dell than I did (Precision 690).
Apparently the reviewer felt that the 490 I used "isn’t really
comparable to the Mac Pro in terms of expandability."
An interesting and perhaps relevant passage:
What makes the Dell so much more expensive? Surprisingly, a big
chunk of the cost is the second processor. If you need only a
single 2.66GHz Xeon, the Dell’s price drops a whopping $869; it’s
still more expensive than the Mac Pro, but at least they’re in the
same ballpark. Which means one of two things: Either Apple is
getting an amazing deal on the Xeon processors used in the Mac
Pros, or Dell is soaking dual-processor customers.
And, uh, this:
(If you’re looking to find all the technical differences between
the two, good luck. If you go to Dell’s basic tech specs page for
the 690—the one you encounter while building it—you get one set of
specs; however, if you go to the more complete page, available
before you start building, and linked at the top of the above
table, you get a very different set of specs. For example, the
maximum RAM for the 690 is stated as either 8GB or 64GB; that’s
like Toyota saying its new Camry gets either 12mpg or 70mpg! I’ve
attempted to make sense of these conflicting specs; with such a
significant difference in price, at least I’ve got a good margin of
error if one or two mistakes would result in a smaller or larger
difference in capability or price.)
And finally, this:
I’m sure some Dell fans will also quibble with my choice of video
cards. It’s true that less expensive cards available from Dell will
be adequate for many users, and some of those will even offer
comparable performance to the Mac Pro’s Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT.
However, the Quadro FX 3450 was the least expensive video card from
Dell that offers both dual-link and single-link ports, allowing you
to drive a 30-inch Apple or Dell display along with another smaller
display—something the Mac Pro’s stock card can also do, and a task
that’s more popular than you might think among professional users.
Cheers,
- Darcy
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[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://secretsociety.typepad.com
Brooklyn, NY
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