Apple brings back the PC jr keyboard to life (or the new iMac thread)

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Agathon
The "in a sense" in which you can use the word monopoly of any company is not a sense in which any sane person uses it. This is because it renders the term meaningless.

You are still doing it. No wonder people find you such easy trolling material.

[Ramo]

I don't know about Norway, or Mickey Mouse vendors, but the new iMac is pretty competitive on price when you compare it with what Dell is offering. Dell's XPS desktops are the equivalent of the iMac (the Inspirons aren't in the same league).

Dell always has coupon codes that you can find with a 5 minute search on google that take a significant chunk off the official price (i.e. there's a coupon for $350 off a desktop over $999).

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui

You are still doing it. No wonder people find you such easy trolling material.

If it hadn't been offered as a serious argument on this site numerous times before, I wouldn't have bothered with it.

And when people talk about "arguing semantics", that is a good sign that they are trying to avoid a substantive issue.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Ramo

I don't know about Norway, or Mickey Mouse vendors, but the new iMac is pretty competitive on price when you compare it with what Dell is offering. Dell's XPS desktops are the equivalent of the iMac (the Inspirons aren't in the same league).

Dell always has coupon codes that you can find with a 5 minute search on google that take a significant chunk off the official price (i.e. there's a coupon for $350 off a desktop over $999).

Gotcha!! Always read the fine print.

http://www.4computercoupons.com/dell-coupons.html

That coupon applies only to Inspiron models. Those are the ultra cheap ones. You would have to add quite a bit to an Inspiron to get it over $1000 in the first place.

The XPS desktops are much better quality, and the coupon I'm guessing you looked at (first Google hit) does not apply to them. Dell's coupons are much like other coupons. They look like a great deal, but...

[Ramo]

For instance, here's a Dell that's a lot cheaper and a lot better than the first Apple model:


Dell Inspiron 530 Qty 1
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E4400 (2MB L2 Cache,2.00GHz,800 FSB), Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Unit Price $1,149.00
Save $350 on all Inspiron desktop purchases over $999 !
Expires Thursday, August 16, 2007 View Details Remove Coupon
- $350.00
Catalog Number: 29 DDCWDA3
Module Description Show Details
Dell Inspiron 530 Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E4400 (2MB L2 Cache,2.00GHz,800 FSB)
Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
Memory 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs
Keyboard and Mouse Bundles Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
Monitor 20 inch E207WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel
Video Cards 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT-DDR3
Hard Drives 320GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included
Mouse Mouse included in Wireless, Laser or Bluetooth Package
Network Interface Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
Modem & Wireless 56K PCI Data Fax Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Optical Drive 16X DVD+/-RW Drive
Sound Cards Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
Security Software No Security Subscription (30-day trial)
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options 1Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor, 24x7 Phone Support
Internet Access Service 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support
Dell Digital Entertainment No Entertainment software pre-installed
Labels Windows Vista™ Premium
DataSafe Online Backup Free 3GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1 Year
TOTAL:$799.00

Additional Discounts and Coupons
FREE GROUND SHIPPING!

Limited time offer !
View Details




Total Price
Sub-total $799.00

[LordShiva]

Dell sends out coupon codes for anywhere between 5-20% off any purchase via e-mail quite often.

[Ramo]

The XPS desktops are much better quality, and the coupon I'm guessing you looked at (first Google hit) does not apply to them. Dell's coupons are much like other coupons. They look like a great deal, but...

Wait a week and there'll be one on XPSes. They shuffle around every week. Anyways, an Inspirion seems pretty decent, unless you want an amazingly souped-out machine.

[Ramo]

BTW, as for the computer above, you can downgrade some of the components (that I wouldn't) - like the video card and ram - to make it more comparable to the Apple, and you'd get it to nearly half the Apple's price...

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Ramo
BTW, as for the computer above, you can downgrade some of the components (that I wouldn't) - like the video card and ram - to make it more comparable to the Apple, and you'd get it to nearly half the Apple's price...

Except you cheated.

Honestly, how can you expect to be taken seriously?

You've taken Dell's cheapest and nastiest range of computer, which has the cheapest components (like the slower optical drive) and the worst form factor (see pic which is of a slightly better model). The Inspiron line is not comparable to the iMac. The XPS line is. It's Dell's "Premium Consumer" model. You could at least compare apples to Apples. I could spec an Inspiron that would seem to match an XPS, but would be cheaper, but what would be the point?

And you didn't bother to add the full grade OS, or any software, Firewire support, wireless (still the lame 802.11g on the Dell), a camera, or even any speakers or other peripherals that it needs (and they have to be good ones). Once you start adding those, the price starts to climb alarmingly. And you need security software (not just trialware), since it runs Windows.

Once you try to spec a comparable machine, the price difference is not that great. If you want to pretend a Skoda is the same as a BMW, that's your business.

[Q Classic]

Originally posted by Agathon


Not you as well.

So many people love those old keyboards you could thump. Is there a surfeit of closet sadists in the world?

The only reason why I like those keyboards is nostalgia. I grew up with them.

I'm also not as distracted or enthused by Apple's design language, so. *shrugs* For all of their elegance, there are some things that I don't care much for, like the Leno-chinned iMacs or the new keyboards.

I still like the look of the PowerMacs, though.

[Q Classic]

The one on the left is all-in-one, the one on the right is modular with easily accessible and replacable components.

I prefer the latter. While it may not be as aesthetically pleasing to most, I generally pick function over form.

[LordShiva]

I love how Aggie is touting 802.11n.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Q Cubed

I still like the look of the PowerMacs, though.

Do you? I think they look like giant cheese graters.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
The one on the left is all-in-one, the one on the right is modular with easily accessible and replacable components.

I prefer the latter. While it may not be as aesthetically pleasing to most, I generally pick function over form.

Indeed

So, later, if you wanted to, you could get a bigger monitor without scrapping the entire system.

And the place that Aggie ALWAYS gets bogged down in is that he thinks that since Apple likes to throw in crap that most users don't use or need, that he should add those into Dells as well. Sorry, but just because Apple throws in all sorts of crap into OSX doesn't mean that Windows users require Vista Ultimate.

That's where you get the overpriced meme from... because Apple's vertically integrated computers make you buy crap you don't need while with PCs, you can pare that away and not have to buy a webcam if you don't want to (and most people don't want to).

[Adrian Hon]

Argh, what's the point of these arguments, we just end up at exactly the same place, swapping costs and people saying 'Personally, I don't like X'.