On Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:00:38 -0400, Michael Coslo
wrote:

An Apple costs more than a Windows computer -
although not all that much when comparable performance is taken into
account,

I beg to differ. In 2009, I went through some effort to compare Dell
and Apple computahs selling just before Christmas time:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/crud/Mac-vs-PC.xls
Only the 13" MacBook was fairly competative with the equivalent Dell.
In all other cases, Apple was twice as expensive as Dell. I went
through considerable effort to get all the hardware as identical as
possible, but there are some discrepancies. The big one is that the
cost of the firewire port is not included in the PC pricing, because
few PC's actually use firewire. I plan to bring the spreadsheet up to
date sometime in November, when Christmas prices and goodies appear.

because the Apple mentality does not sell computers that are
ready to be obsolete, such as the horribly underpowered Vista basic
machines.

Interesting. My customers problems seem to revolve around hardware
and software that was insufficiently tested and is therefore infested
with bugs. The problem is not that either was obsolete. It was that
they were permaturely released. Since whomever makes it to market
first usually wins, it's understandable.

But I digress. The people who own Windows computers that I
work on manage to feel that they have gotten a better and cheaper deal,
when in fact, by the time they have paid me for a few fixes, they have
surpassed the cost of "That pricey Apple computer". They also tend to
quote the price of some half a$$ed cheap PC and something like the 27
inch i7 iMac when comparing prices. Check ot the high end Sony all in
one, then we can talk about prices in more of an apple to apple fashion
8^) (not that you've complained about Apple prices AFAIK.

Well, you're entitled to your opinion. I don't consider paying for
repairs in advance in the form of AppleCare as a great improvement.
I'll be sure to include the 27" iMac in my comparison, but it might
not be against an overpriced Sony. Nobody else has a 27" so I'll
compare the smaller screens. Very roughly, the Apple 21.5" iMac
starts at $1200. The Dell Inspiron 2320 all-in-one with a 23" screen
starts at $950.

In in the professional world, no one seems to add the labor cost of the
armies of support personnel needed to keep the Windows machines running.
Adds a tad to the price.

I don't have much contact with IT except when they get into trouble.
As far as I can determine, most of IT consists of supporting users,
not machines. As near as I can determine, the level of user support
is about equal, whether Windoze, Mac, or Linux.

- 73 de Mike N3LI -


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558