In the midrange, where lower-cost 13-in. LCD MacBook models occupy price ranges from about $1,100 to $1,500, you may be equally surprised. Apple’s recently updated MacBooks (see the technical specs) more than hold their own on price/performance comparisons with other 12- and 13-in. LCD computers from Sony, Toshiba and HP.
The desktop landscape may also be an eye-opener. Even though the likes of Dell, HP, Sony and so on have machines priced from about $500 and up, those prices don’t include LCDs (in most cases), and they don’t start to get hardware-competitive with the processors in Apple’s iMac line until they hit about $1,000.
Because of the iMac’s built-in LCD, it’s actually less expensive, though some of the details (such as hard drive size and RAM amount) may be tilted in favor of the Windows desktops. If you know your way around PCs and want some extras, the Apple could in some instances be the clear value leader in this category.
For comparison’s sake, let’s look at Sony’s attempt to out-Apple Apple, the Vaio All-in-One Desktop PC VGC-LS25E. It comes with a 19-in. LCD, 2GB of RAM, a 7,200-rpm 250GB hard drive, and Vista Home Premium, but it has only a 1.83-GHz Core 2 Duo processor. The Circuit City price tag is $1,800.
So, how does that compare to Apple’s 20-in. LCD iMac, which sells for $1,500? The iMac comes with a 2.16-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 7,200-rpm 250GB drive, and 1GB of RAM. (See the technical specs.) You would need to upgrade the video memory and system RAM (bumping the price to about $1,750) to make the iMac comparable with the Sony in those areas. But the iMac has a bigger LCD and a better processor no matter what, and even with the RAM and video upgrade, it still costs less than the Sony.
Plus, Apple’s $175 RAM upgrade is costly. You can save money by buying the memory elsewhere and installing it yourself. Kingston memory is less expensive, offers excellent quality and is fully compatible with Macs. I’ve also had great luck on my Macs with the bargain-basement-priced memory from Data Memory Systems in Salem, N.H. (I just wish DMS would take PayPal.)
Bottom line: When you configure low-end and midrange notebooks and desktops, you’ll find that except at the very bottom of the heap, Windows machines are roughly comparable in price to Macs. There are fewer Mac models, so if your needs vary from what Apple has decided on, you may find a Windows model that costs less for you. But Apple’s choices make a lot of sense for most people, and when you do the point-by-point comparison, Apple is actually a better value for some needs.
Reality check
The comparisons I’ve drawn above are by no means exhaustive. For example, I didn’t address computers at the level of the Mac Pro, Apple’s stand-alone desktop workstation. Nor did I cover the Mac Mini, a computer that I don’t think is much of a bargain from a price/performance standpoint.
I also didn’t address the 15-in. MacBook Pro, and — full disclosure — I feel it’s of dubious value. It’s only $300 less than the 17-in. MacBook Pro but has lower resolution, a smaller hard drive (without an upgrade), a slightly lesser SuperDrive, fewer ports and so on. It’s nowhere near as good a value as the 17-in. model. The only time I wish I was using one is when I’m flying coach.
Anyone who performs a similar comparison will have to make his own subjective assessments about what’s important and what’s not. I happen to believe that many of the small details about Macs have a value that’s hard to put a price tag on. How much is the very best trackpad in the business worth to you? To me it’s worth a lot, but I know that some people couldn’t care less. So I chose to focus on objective speeds and feeds, such as CPUs, RAM, video memory and so forth as best I could.
And then there’s the software question, which comes up over and over again in any discussion of the cost of Macs. Long-term, entrenched Windows users (like me until last September) who are comparing prices tend to think in terms of the investment they have in software and peripherals.
I can’t factor in your particular context. If you need Microsoft Office for the Mac, you need it, and that will set you back a few hundred bucks. But you can amortize that cost over the lifetime of your computer use, and you’re going to have to pay for your next Windows Office upgrade anyway, right? What’s the difference?
The more interesting question — the question Mac people get really tired of — is what to do about all the software you’ve been using forever to solve problems. Will the Mac world have those solutions? You like to do things your way; can you still do that on the Mac?
The feedback I’ve gotten from Mac people on this point is that I should just do things the Mac way. I reject that piece of advice, even though I have come to understand it. I don’t agree that there’s just One True Mac Way of doing things. There’s the way that people using a computer are comfortable with doing things — and that’s a subjective determination made by each individual.
As Windows users consider what their costs might be in getting up to speed on the Mac, though, I would recommend this: Don’t sweat the small stuff. As with Windows, there are solutions to esoteric Mac problems. Chances are, even if your favorite program doesn’t exist for the Mac, something similar does. There are resources out there that will help you. There’s a ton of free software. There’s a ton of very low-cost software. In fact, there’s plenty of Mac software out there — much of it of surprisingly good quality. (For a personal tour of my A-list of Mac software, see The Great Mac Software Hunt.)
The release of OS X transformed the Mac marketplace. It’s a vibrant, growing community. There’s an excitement around Mac products, software and hardware that you just don’t feel in the Windows world any longer. I’d forgotten what that felt like.
Get involved with the cost analysis
I’m interested in what both Windows and Mac people have to say about comparing the value of these two types of computers. There are a lot of ways to look at this. I just want to ask the people who heavily disagree with me to do these two things: 1) Read what I’ve written carefully, and 2) do your own homework. Don’t make assumptions about pricing without doing a tech spec comparison of directly comparable Apple and PC equipment.
With that said, please send along your comments, suggestions and criticisms.
This article is adapted from the June 2007 issue of “Scot’s Newsletter” and is published by permission. Scot Finnie is Computerworld’s online editorial director.
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