Proven...

There was a comment on an entry that I posted earlier this month by Blackfish:

"If only they weren't 50% more expensive for the same power."

He was referencing Apple computers and their prices. Unfortunately, he is incorrect in his statement. A lot of people believe this and I would like to set the record straight.

I went to Dell.com and to Apple.com and priced out similar specifications. I got as close as I could. Here are two comparisons:

XPS and MacBook Pro

Dell XPS M1710 17" Black
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.33 ghz
2GB of RAM
160GB Hard-drive
Wireless G card
Bluetooth
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 7950 GTX
$3,288

Apple 17" MacBook Pro
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 ghz
2GB of RAM
160GB Hard-drive
Wireless N card
Bluetooth
Built-in iSight camera
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M
$2,799

Next the XPS and MacBook

Dell XPS M1530
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 ghz
1GB of RAM
120GB Hard-drive
Wireless N card
Bluetooth
$1,169

MacBook Combo Drive
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 ghz
1GB of RAM
80GB Hard-drive
Wireless N card
Bluetooth
$1,099


There you go. Proof. Now, they all have their ups and downs. I would also like to point out that Dell just updated their prices and specs and Apple hasn't done that quite yet. They are due to change quite a few things in January. Point being, they are pretty comparable to each other and the Dells are more expensive. I used Dell since they are one of the number one retailers of PC's.

But, I am not saying that the Apple machines aren't expensive. I am saying they are not more expensive than a PC. The true statement that Blackfish could have said would be that Apple has no true low-end computers. I can't walk into an Apple retailer and buy a new computer for $300-$500. They are kind of like the Mercedes of the computing world. Not everyone wants to pay that much to surf the web or word-process. I can respect that. Hell, I got my PowerBook for $100.

As with most things, it is all about preference and how you want to spend/invest your money.