“I’ve started shopping for a new PC. The 2.2 GHz Athlon-64-based HP I’ve been using for almost exactly two years is finally starting to get a bit long in the tooth, what with second generation dual core chips now available and Windows Vista on the way. Whatever I get, it will be based on Intel’s Core 2 Duo microprocessor. It’s down to three choices: An Apple iMac, a Dell XPS 410, and an HP Media Center PC,” Paul Thurrott writes for Internet Nexus.
“The Apple has one advantage: It can dual boot between OS X and Windows, giving me quick access to Apple’s excellent iLife suite. But the Apple has a number of disadvantages, some of which are specific to my situation. First, I don’t really need a display: I’m using a gorgeous 23-inch Sony right now, and it runs at 1920 x 1200. I can save some money and desk real estate by not getting another display. Also, the Apple isn’t as expandable as the other options (both of which are tower designs). You can’t get a multi-format media reader built into the iMac,” Thurrott writes. “What to do, what to do…”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Why would anyone limit themselves with a Dell or HP that can’t run Mac OS X, iLife, Front Row, etc.? Only Apple Macs can run Mac OS X along with Windows and Linux. What Thurrott should obviously do is buy the iMac, use his existing 23-inch Sony as an additional display in extended desktop mode via the iMac’s mini-DVI port, and pick up an inexpensive USB media reader like Belkin’s US$39.99 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 15-in-1 Media Reader & Writer, for example (even less expensive media readers exist). Considering the iMac’s built-in iSight camera, the included remote, Mac OS X, iLife, Front Row, and more, it’s a no-brainer.
Related MacDailyNews article:
Fortune compares Mac vs. Dell: ‘you’ll get more for your money with Apple’ – September 11, 2006
Mossberg: Apple makes ‘best desktop computer on the market’ iMac even more attractive – September 07, 2006
Apple iMac line gets 64-bit Intel Core 2 Duo processors; pricing starts at $999; new 24-inch model – September 06, 2006
Thurrott pits Apple Mac Pro vs. similarly configured Dell, figures out the Mac is less expensive – August 18, 2006
Microsoft Windows five times more expensive for users than Apple’s Mac OS X – August 15, 2006
Apple Mac Pro with/ 20” Cinema Display less expensive than Dell Precision 690 sans monitor – August 10, 2006
Dude, you got a Dell? What are you, stupid? Only Apple Macs run both Mac OS X and Windows! – April 05, 2006
Apple iMac the finest, most reliable, stable, elegant and intuitive personal computer available – February 14, 2006
Thurrott: ‘I highly recommend Apple’s new Intel-based iMac’ – January 31, 2006
Thurrott: ‘Nothing on Windows approaches the quality of Apple’s iLife ’06’ – January 31, 2006
InfoWorld: Apple perfects the desktop personal computer with new iMac Core Duo – January 25, 2006
Mossberg: New Intel-based iMac the best consumer desktop with the best OS and best software bundle – January 18, 2006
So he’s comparing an all-in-one to two towers, when he already has a display. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Sell you monitor, and get an iMac. Geeze. This guy did this last time, then ended up taking his iMac back (or so he said).
Lame article. Where are all the rumors about the stuff tomorrow???
Get the HP or the Dell – You deserve them….
oh MDN, please, $40 for a USB 2.0 card reader
mine’s 8-in-1 and i bought it for $7… shop around! Belkin and Griffin are always all too eager to rip off uninformed mac users (don’t get me wrong… i’ve been using a mac for years, but there’s no question that Apple appeals to the new Whole-Foods shopping, expensive and alternative = automatically better crowd).
Um, anyone hear of the Mac Pro? You know – the one with the Xeon CPU – hook that Sony 23″ monitor right up to it
MDN: nothing – as in “This article contains nothing.”
Thurrott has no brain hence his quandary.
Personally, I could care less what he does. Why his “manufactured for ad hits” PC pontification is even mentioned on here I’ll never understand. His enthusiasm for technology rides on hype.
Most people that say that the iMac isn’t upgradeable usually buy the machine that they can upgrade, but then they never upgrade it. I considered that and by the time I felt it was needed to upgrade, I ended up just getting a whole new computer beause so many things needed to be upgraded or the motherboard would have limited the speed of the things I upgrade. He should get the iMac, and dual screen if he needs it. The 24″ imac is the same resolution as the monitor he has.
I am so thankful MDN posts this stuff for us.
I refuse to give Thurrot any direct hits, and I recommend you do the same. He is so trolling lately for hits from Mac folk its incredible. He’s the new Dvorak!!!
So again, no hits to Thurrots site. Let him live in his own misery, as he’ll never jump over, and don’t think he ever will either.
Why doesn’t he just get a Mac Pro and get a future-ready tower that way?
Silly article, but…
His dilema is valid. He can save quite a bit of money and airspace with the PC Options, especially since he’s a Windows user already. If he’s honestly interested in upgradeability, the tower form is key.
That said, he’s NOT interested in upgrading if his dual 2.2 is already “long in the tooth” for him. He’s got money and will replace his machine by the time he’d want to upgrade the video or IO hardware. The resale value on the SONY display will bring the pricetag closer on the iMac, if he doesn’t mind giving up some size. 20″ to 23″ is a big step down.
In his situation, with no OS X interest, I’d probably go with the Dell.
The guy is just trolling for hits!
Want to use your old screen? Get a mini or tower. Or, get the iMac and use two screens at once.
See bottom of this page,
http://www.apple.com/imac/graphics.html
Can someone please explain to me what purpose Thurrott serves? His articles rarely have a point or discernable direction. It’s as if he’s holding an imaginary conversation with himself. He really DOESN’T make a whole lot of sense most of the time..Kind of feel bad for the guy
Sure…it’s a no brainer. But consider the source.
Because Thurrot is a bit tard. He proved it countless times.
He is way capable of overpricing a Dell, spend more than on a Mac Pro and then writing an article to justify his choice and piss off Mac people for hits.
Tell him to get a new job and quit trolling for Mac user hits.
Paul – Do us all a favor, dude, get the Dell, and just shut up.
I’m really trying to summon up the will to care what Thurrott does with regards to computing.
Actually, I find it difficult to summon up the interest to know whether the man is even breathing.
I use an external display all the time, which is why I opted for the 17″ iMac…why spend extra dollars on a built-in screen, whether for a laptop or an iMac is indeed a valid question.
Apple has excellent but expensive standalone screens, and so far I haven’t bought one. I am writing this on my low end MacBook topped up with 2 gigs of ram, connected to a 19″ CRT, so why I would want a larger than 13″ sreen on the laptop is beyond me.
Thurott is well advised to get the iMac anyway because he can display Windows on one screen whilst using Front Row on the other, which is really a fabulous advantage that most people probably don’t even use. He hasn’t said why he wants to use Windows, but I suspect he wouldn’t do that much if he had the option of using MSOffice on the Mac. For accounting, he can use MultiLedger by Checkmark, which is cross platform. If he just wants to play games, then a PC would make sense, otherwise what would he want with iLife applications. If he were creative, he would already be using iLife apps, and since he isn’t, he isn’t.
Also he fails to point out the hassles of using Windows all the time (watching the worms being eaten by viruses) which the HP and Dell configures offer, whereas he can have his cake and eat it too with the Mac. In my view the smart move is to buy a MacBook instead. I don’t see any real difference operating most applications between the MacBook and the 17″ iMac. Hard drive size is one major difference, of course. Except the iMac is much heavier to carry from house to cottage, for example.
i refuse to click on his site…
What are the prices of the two towers he is comparing to the imac?
on second thought, nevermind. let him figure it out on his own.
You have to remember that PC’s have to be upgradeable.
Unless you run disk defrag, and other tools, eventually the PC will slow down – answer upgrade the hardware. If you do it in small enough steps, you can convince yourself that you’re not really shelling out too much cash to keep the thing alive, despite no component being more than 2 years old (on that 5 or 6 year old computer).
” I’ve had the same brush for 17 years – it’s just had 4 new handles and 9 new heads” (or something like that – fools and horses fans, please correct me….
With a Mac, I’m told you don’t need to upgrade so much. I have heard that successive releases of OS generally fractionally speed up the percived computing environments speed, not the other way round. Time will tell.
My dad has just asked if the apple wireless keyboard will work on his PC. I’m tempted to say yes, and when it doesn’t work, say he needs to either buy a Mac Mini or an iMac for it to work (with built in bluetooth). Trojan horse!
What an idiot. He is concerned about desktop real estate but thinka not about the crap stored beneath his desk.
Thurrott’s articles aren’t meant to serve any purpose other than to drive hits to his income producing web-site. By posting Thurrott’s crap here, MDN is an enabler, and beneficiary, of the strategy. They probably have lunch together, often, to discuss how they can rile Mac users most effectively.
PT is just fishing for hits and looking to start a fight with his readers. He knows what to buy.
The man is almost exactly a TOOL, and that is no approximation!
Leo
Two Towers, that’s Sauron and Saruman, right?
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Slow news day, the calm before the storm always
drives me nuts.