End of the Road
Macs are overpriced! Macs are underpowered!
Okay, first, let's put the first myth to rest. Let's compare the 20 inch Intel iMac to a Dell
From Dell's own site:
XPS 200: (Small form factor to compete with the iMac's size)
Pentium® D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB) (A little faster, but the iMac's got the newer chip, the Yonah)
Operating System:
Genuine Windows® XP Professional (Equivalent networking capability as OSX. And OSX has features now that Microsoft hopes to have with Vista. Sometime soon. Honest.)
Video Cards:
128MB PCI Express™ x16 ATI Radeon™ X600 SE (Same as the iMac)
Memory:
512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x256M) (Same as the iMac)
Hard Drives:
250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) (Same as the iMac)
CD or DVD Drive:
8X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) (iMac is CD-R/W,DVD-R only)
Floppy Drive and Media Reader:
No Floppy Drive Included (Ditto)
Modem:
Integrated 56K Data / Fax modem IM [313-2823] 14 ($50 more on the iMac)
Monitors:
SAVE $100!! 20 inch UltraSharp™ 2005FPW Widescreen Digital Flat Panel (The exact same Samsung screen the iMac has)
Sound:
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio (Same as the iMac)
Speakers:
No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) (iMac has a small pair of speakers, you really need more, though)
Keyboard:
Dell USB Keyboard EK [310-5234] 4
Mouse:
Dell Optical USB Mouse (Same as the iMac, which now comes with the Mighty Mouse standard)
Office Software (not included in Windows XP):
Microsoft Works Suite 2006 - Includes MICROSOFT WORD plus much more! (iMac: Pages +Keynote+Mail+Address Book: $50)
Network Interface:
Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet (iMac has built-in Gigabit Ethernet as well)
Miscellaneous:
Award Winning Service and Support (If "Worst" is an award...)
Hardware Warranty:
1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support (iMac has no in-home warranty service, length of time is identical)
Anti-Virus/Security Suite:
McAfee SecurityCenter with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 15-months (Good luck after that 15 months is up!)
Dell Digital Entertainment:
Starter Entertainment Pack -Basic digital Music, Photo, and Casual Gaming SEP [412-0865][412-0856] 399
Separate Photo & Music Software:
Musicmatch Plus by Yahoo! Music- Music Player. Included in Deluxe and Prem MMPLUSB [412-0843][412-0838] 220
Separate Photo & Music Software:
Corel Photo Album 6 Premium -Photo Management. Included in Deluxe and Prem DPSPREM [412-0846][412-0839] 220
Enhanced Software for CD or DVD Burner:
Combo: Sonic DigitalMedia and MyDVD Plus (DVD+RW only) RNDVDLX [430-1353] 72
(These last three are an attempt to mimic the music/movies/DVD functions of iLife, which comes with the iMac. And it doesn't include iWeb or Garageband, so kick in for that, too.)
Adobe Software:
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0 (iMacs read/write to PDF natively)
Dial-Up Internet Access:
6 Months of America Online Membership Included AOLDHS [412-0687][420-3224][412-0787][420-5256] 37 (yay!)
Wireless Networking Solution:
Dell Wireless; 1450 WLAN (802.11a/b/g) USB 2.0 DT Adapter (Built-in on the iMac)
No Bluetooth option. No webcam built-in, both come with the iMac. And then there's Front Row...
The total from Dell: $1864.oo.
The 20" iMac, to the same specs? $1827.00, with Bluetooth, webcam and Front Row included, too.
And to address the "underpowered" issue, might I direct your attention over here.
And that, as they say, is that.
Okay, first, let's put the first myth to rest. Let's compare the 20 inch Intel iMac to a Dell
From Dell's own site:
XPS 200: (Small form factor to compete with the iMac's size)
Pentium® D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.80GHz, 800FSB) (A little faster, but the iMac's got the newer chip, the Yonah)
Operating System:
Genuine Windows® XP Professional (Equivalent networking capability as OSX. And OSX has features now that Microsoft hopes to have with Vista. Sometime soon. Honest.)
Video Cards:
128MB PCI Express™ x16 ATI Radeon™ X600 SE (Same as the iMac)
Memory:
512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz (2x256M) (Same as the iMac)
Hard Drives:
250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) (Same as the iMac)
CD or DVD Drive:
8X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) (iMac is CD-R/W,DVD-R only)
Floppy Drive and Media Reader:
No Floppy Drive Included (Ditto)
Modem:
Integrated 56K Data / Fax modem IM [313-2823] 14 ($50 more on the iMac)
Monitors:
SAVE $100!! 20 inch UltraSharp™ 2005FPW Widescreen Digital Flat Panel (The exact same Samsung screen the iMac has)
Sound:
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio (Same as the iMac)
Speakers:
No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) (iMac has a small pair of speakers, you really need more, though)
Keyboard:
Dell USB Keyboard EK [310-5234] 4
Mouse:
Dell Optical USB Mouse (Same as the iMac, which now comes with the Mighty Mouse standard)
Office Software (not included in Windows XP):
Microsoft Works Suite 2006 - Includes MICROSOFT WORD plus much more! (iMac: Pages +Keynote+Mail+Address Book: $50)
Network Interface:
Integrated Intel® PRO 10/100 Ethernet (iMac has built-in Gigabit Ethernet as well)
Miscellaneous:
Award Winning Service and Support (If "Worst" is an award...)
Hardware Warranty:
1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr At-Home Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support (iMac has no in-home warranty service, length of time is identical)
Anti-Virus/Security Suite:
McAfee SecurityCenter with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 15-months (Good luck after that 15 months is up!)
Dell Digital Entertainment:
Starter Entertainment Pack -Basic digital Music, Photo, and Casual Gaming SEP [412-0865][412-0856] 399
Separate Photo & Music Software:
Musicmatch Plus by Yahoo! Music- Music Player. Included in Deluxe and Prem MMPLUSB [412-0843][412-0838] 220
Separate Photo & Music Software:
Corel Photo Album 6 Premium -Photo Management. Included in Deluxe and Prem DPSPREM [412-0846][412-0839] 220
Enhanced Software for CD or DVD Burner:
Combo: Sonic DigitalMedia and MyDVD Plus (DVD+RW only) RNDVDLX [430-1353] 72
(These last three are an attempt to mimic the music/movies/DVD functions of iLife, which comes with the iMac. And it doesn't include iWeb or Garageband, so kick in for that, too.)
Adobe Software:
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0 (iMacs read/write to PDF natively)
Dial-Up Internet Access:
6 Months of America Online Membership Included AOLDHS [412-0687][420-3224][412-0787][420-5256] 37 (yay!)
Wireless Networking Solution:
Dell Wireless; 1450 WLAN (802.11a/b/g) USB 2.0 DT Adapter (Built-in on the iMac)
No Bluetooth option. No webcam built-in, both come with the iMac. And then there's Front Row...
The total from Dell: $1864.oo.
The 20" iMac, to the same specs? $1827.00, with Bluetooth, webcam and Front Row included, too.
And to address the "underpowered" issue, might I direct your attention over here.
And that, as they say, is that.
This entry was posted by Kevin Creighton, on
2.01.2006.
You can leave your response.
