“Despite all the urban myths to the contrary, when you actually compare Apples to comparably equipped Dells, the Apples are not only tastier-looking, but they’re less fattening, too! Every single one, which I have to admit surprised me a little bit,” Leland Scott writes for Musing from Mars.
“And my shopping experience also confirmed my suspicions about Dell. In every single case, Dell starts you off at a ridiculously low price, only to lead you slowly and surely to a much higher one. They do make you feel better–at least, in the “home” computer section of their store–by showing you that you’re still getting $250, or $350, or $500 off, but the discounted price still turned out to be higher than Apple’s,” Scott writes.
“The most ridiculous case is their ‘budget’ system. Walk into the store, and you look around and say, ‘Wow! Look at that, Martha! They have a computer for $299! It comes with a printer, too!’ But what a crock that is. The $299 system is so ridiculously crippled that no one will ever walk out of the store with one and be happy. No, before you know it, the price has climbed way up, well above the Mac Mini comparably equipped,” Scott writes.
“How refreshing it was to step into Apple’s store after the confusing mish-mash that is a Dell shopping trip,” Scott writes. “At Apple, the choices are simple, and you can make your choices and be out in a few minutes. It’s very easy to understand the differences between the systems, and the choices are clearly explained without distracting you from your task. Try that at Dell! No way.”
Scott looks at Apple Mac vs. Dell in five categories: Consumer laptop, Pro laptop, Budget desktop, Consumer desktop, and Pro desktop and finds that, in every category, Apple’s Mac models cost less than comparable Dell PCs.
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple Macs are less expensive, more secure, longer-lasting than Windows PCs – April 21, 2005
Switching from Windows to Mac? Save money by asking to ‘crossgrade’ your software – April 12, 2005
Apple Macs are far easier, cost less to manage than Windows boxes – March 02, 2005
Yup
Awesome!!!… Go Apple!
There are still people that will try to compare diffrent configurations that are the ‘same’ and come up with lower prices on either side, especially the DIY people.
Whichever side is right, good for them, I don’t mind paying a tad extra for an OS that’s twice as good as it’s main competitor, and if the hardware is even less expensive, that makes owning a mac all the more satisfying.
Dells are the masters of the bait-and-switch. I know I tried to buy a Dell instead of buying virtual PC – the damned thing (once configured to a usable specification) cost more than twice as much as the advertised price after rebates. That is just ridiculous. The automotive industry got in a lot of trouble for doing this, Dell should be subject to the same scrutiny.
Dell are the biggest purveyors of FUD among computer makers. Confuse and obfuscate. They’re experts.
I think Dell’s are just de-LIC-ious! I especially like their slot-loading drives. Though I think their “hard” disks can be a bit small. Ta-he-he-heeeee.
Good article. Too bad it’s on a website few people have ever heard of.
as a mac-addict i say the following thing:
this article is crap and isn’t an objective comparission
at all. There are a lot of shortcomings in it. I’m affraid Dell is still cheaper if you want a real comparative system.
…and if you start charging in the man hours of patching, anti-virus software, system reformats and buying in external help because the couple that bought that $299 system don’t know anything about computers…
Apple is fifty times better value than any PC system. Its an open and closed case. Nothing to argue about whatsoever.
Having read the excellent post above – why doesn’t Apple commisssion a survey on how much time an average Joe spends keeping his system going in the first year of its life. Be fun to see, no?
“Walk into the store, and you look around “
Dell has stores?
Dell Shopping Trip?
An Online Shopping Trip?
FINALLY! I’ve been saying this for years, having to purchase both Macs and Dells for school. I can _never_ get as good a machine from Dell for the price I pay for my Macs…..
It’ why I bought a Powerbook instead of an x86 laptop.
Well that and I was tired of dealing with windows.
I couldn’t find a linux laptop I liked and bought a powerbook after using OS X once.
At home I have an eMac, and have used them for over 15 years with very little trouble (some occaisionally from software, but not from hardware).
As work we use MS and Dell. 3 to 4 times a week I simply unplug it from the wall because just starting Word or Outlook crashed the XP machine. The Win 95 and 98 machines were never pacthed and won’t start or shut down without intevention.
Tersely put – we have to run Dells and MS in the workplace, and every single person from the IT department uses a Mac at home.