“One of the things that really interested me in the WWDC keynote from earlier this month was Apple’s comparison of Mac Pro prices to Dell workstations. Typically, it’s really easy to refute these claims, and while I have little doubt that one could possibly configure a Dell workstation that undercuts a Mac Pro while also offering a much wider range of add-on possibilities, I think it’s fair for me to, again, state that Apple’s pricing this time around is commendable. I mention this only because I often complain that Apple’s machines are quite pricey when compared to the PC competition,” Paul Thurrott writes for Paul Thurrott’s Internet Nexus.
“With this in mind, Anandtech takes one of their standard, overly-long looks at the new Mac Pro and, in part one of its 20-part (!!!) review, notes that a similarly configured Dell Precision Workstation 490, at $3110, is far more expensive than the $2390 Apple. It’s not a direct comparison, of course, and Dell does do some Crazy Eddie pricing deals on a regular basis that lets you get free displays and massive discounts, but no matter: Apple is indeed competitive this time around,” Thurrott writes. “So they’re at least competitive, and often cheaper if you want the exact configurations Apple offers. And that’s good stuff.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Paul, if you “have little doubt that one could possibly configure a Dell workstation that undercuts a Mac Pro while also offering a much wider range of add-on possibilities,” then do it. We’ll wait.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “LinuxGuy and Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Dell cannot compete with Apple’s new Mac Pro price or feature set – August 15, 2006
Apple Mac Pro with/ 20” Cinema Display less expensive than Dell Precision 690 sans monitor – August 10, 2006
Bear Stearns: Apple’s new Mac Pro, Xserve pricing well below comparable Dell systems – August 09, 2006
Thurrot smokes bad crack.
Surprised MDN didn’t pick up on the fact that the price ($2,390) Paul lists is the machine the Anandtech could have built on their own, not Apple’s price. Apple is actually cheaper when you have a student discount like I do.
Flame bait…
Give me a break, competitive that’s bull and you know it. Can a Dell run OS X and Windows, NO. Show me a Dell made out of 1/8″ brushed aluminum, all you get from Dell is plastic from recycled drink bottles. With Apple you not only get a much better system, but you get quality.
It is quite hilarious that someone with alleged computer skills can’t go on the net and run the comparison himself. Why quote another site (and make snide comments whilst doing so) without check the statement himself.
So what does it matter if Dell bundle a cheap-ass 15 inch LCD screen with their PC (stands for Piece of Crap). That $250 savings would hardly make up for the shortfall.
Jim –
not Flame bait.
Hate Mail…
two magic words.
Why does MDN keep running this idiot’s comments? Please stop.
Zero… yeah. Hate Mail that generates hits.
MDN word is same… as in Hate Mail and Flame Bait are the same thing.
This isn’t news, Dell’s workstations were more expensive than G5s.
Don’t give this guy any more page hits.
quote: “Surprised MDN didn’t pick up on the fact that the price ($2,390) Paul lists is the machine the Anandtech could have built on their own, not Apple’s price. Apple is actually cheaper when you have a student discount like I do.”
Actually, that self built unit did not have a power supply or an OS which would be extra. I think they had to supply their own case and time to build it.
A Dell 15″ LCD does not cost $250 (Neil), try $100-$150.
Now, if only Apple would create an expandable, mid-range tower for $1500-$1700 with the Core 2 desktop chip.
MDN … stop being silly and petulant! Just because Thurrot is a … (won’t say it, my kids might be reading this) does not make him Always Wrong.
Take your ‘standard Mac Pro’ and add in Apple’s 20″ monitor.
Take the ‘comparable build’ mentioned in the Keynote and subtract the second CPU.
The Dell is now less expensive than the Mac. The Dell comes with a monitor (no savings if you decline it) and the second Core 2 doesn’t – if we are to believe Anandtech – add that much to system speed unless you are heavily into multi-tasking. And most folk just are not. Heck, most software can barely make effective use of two cores, never mind four.
Now … I’m not saying the Dell would be as good a buy, just that the cost would be lower for similar performance. Even a broken clock is occasionally right.
Thurrott is seething inside. If you look very closely, you can probably see the very subtle difference in his skin coloration as his veins fill with piss and vinegar. Of course, no one wants to look that closely at Paul, but you can see it in his writing.
I can imagine him sitting at his (sub-standard) PC, reading all the wonderful specs on the new Mac Pro, and the amazing new Leopard features that he might hope to see in Windows in the next twenty years, and saying, “Apple…” the same way that Jerry Seinfeld says, “Newman…”.
Thurrott’s frustration with his Redmond allegiance takes on the literary equivalent of the twitching of an RLS sufferer, desperately trying to get some sleep. Those of us who have been reading his ramblings for years can’t help but to sit back and smile.
You can just feel how excruciating this is for Thurrott. Poor, poor man. Someone please get him a drink.
Thanks for posting this, so I don’t need to give Thurrot any hits!
Instead, I read here, then just email him.
1. Thank him.
2. Tell him how you thought as he did.
3. Tell him how you could not get close to configuring a Dell to the Mac Pro’s price.
4. Tell him you are going to buy a Mac instead of a Dell. Why not with great pricing, and the best hardware reliability and service in the industry?
Watch him cringe. More people buying Macs and fewer web hits. Gotta love it.
The funny thing is he complains about the 20 part review — I for one like that it was thorough. But that said, the pages are also really short (not much article text) and have mostly pictures and benchmark graphics.
This guy may claim to know what’s going on, but complaining about a reasonably in-depth analysis post is pathetic. Would he rather they just say its fast and cheaper than Dell’s, with no evidence? Sounds like your typical hack analyst. No wonder they get bad reps…
I hope everyone here realizes that Paul T’s site is a Mac site. 80% of his articles on the RSS feed are about the mac.
The MS Windows brigade are in full gallop desperatley attempting to downplay all the masses of positive Apple Mac news.
Hillarious.
Idiots.
Has Steve Ballmer chocked on his donut yet?
I just customized a Mac and a similar Dell, and the Mac was $800 more.
….not that it would change my mind
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What I love most about the new Mac Pros is that a Mac/Windows software or web developer no longer needs to buy a PC and a Mac to test with, but only a Mac Pro.
CropP, of COURSE he hates long, detailed reviews. It’s so much harder to wiggle and squiggle out from under them, to deny their conclusions, when all your best FUDuments (yeah, I just made that up) are countered in the piece you’d like to counter.
Due to the BACKASSWARDS compliment from Thurott, we shall now collectively refer to him as TTORUHT.
DLMeyer…
If you take away the second processor, the Dell is cheaper? Brilliant deduction. You could probably assemble 20 different configurations that would be cheaper. That wasn’t the point of the comparison.
BTW… the saying goes “Even a broken clock is right twice a day.” (Unless of course you take a.m. and p.m. into account, then it’s only once a day.)