On 24 Feb 2005, at 04:48, Dyna wrote:
The $500 Mac Mini has upset the whole Mac pricing structure and the market will force a correction. As a result the eMac is probably extinct and the the iMac will have to be given a substantial upgrade and/or it's price cut to under $1000. Meanwhile, the PC makers have responded to the Mini by offering a PC with Windoze AND an LCD display for a bit under the Mini's price point. In the laptop market with Linux and Windoze running PC laptops below $500 there's no point in spending over $1000 for a laptop. The PowerBook's market is thusly limited to a small but loyal cadre of Apole devotees and the iBook will need further price drops to be competitive..
flame away...
Dyna
Really, your statement is about as accurate as saying "In the auto market, with Korean and Malaysian cars selling for less than A$15,000, there's no point in paying more than A$30,000 for a car" -- if there wasn't, Lexus, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, and Lamborghini would be in severe trouble. So, instead of getting distracted by the ultra low-end, why don't we compare the price points Apple actually competes in?
For example, for A$2999 (same price as the entry-level 15" PB) would get me an Inspiron 6000, with a 2GHz Pentium M (similar to the 1.5GHz G4 -- a 1.25GHz G4 is much faster, in my experience, than a 1.5GHz Pentium M), same RAM as the PB, a smaller, slower hard drive, a significantly worse GPU (X300 versus 9700), and a similar optical drive. In terms of software bundles, you'd have to spend a few hundred on the Dell to get it comparable to the PowerBook. And then you'd have to pay A$99 for delivery on the Dell, compared with free shipping on the PowerBook. If that's not enough, the Dell is also incredibly ugly, and over half an inch thicker (and doesn't have Bluetooth, doesn't have FireWire 800, probably doesn't have DVI out, is unlikely to have gigabit Ethernet, etc.).
Low-end PC laptops (the ones below US$500) are invariably based on the Pentium 4 processor, which generally means no integrated wireless, and always means appalling battery life, chunky appearance, and hefty weight. Let's see what the Dell catalogue offers --
A$1699 (plus $99 shipping, so really A$1800) gets the Inspiron 1150 ("Awesome Value").
Pentium 4, 2.8GHz
XP Home Edition
256MB DDR RAM (shared with the "graphics card")
30GB hard disk
Integrated Graphics (the desktop version is laughable enough, imagine it on a laptop!)
DVD burner
15" 1024x768 display
and a "free" "leather" carry case...
For A$200 less, you could get the 12" iBook:
1.2GHz G4 (admittedly somewhat slower than the Pentium 4)
OS X (equivalent to XP Professional -- that's a $100 upgrade for the Dell)
256MB RAM (NOT shared with graphics)
30GB hard disk
Radeon 9200 32MB (slow, but vastly, vastly better than integrated graphics)
Combo drive
and a 12" 1024x768 display
The iBook also comes with wireless, a much better battery life, and much, much smaller dimensions (the Dell is more than half an inch thicker).
Cheers, Ben
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