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Understanding FCPX under the hood.
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Dell: $2700
Can’t config Promax online
Bolddata: My iDevice hates this website
Puget: $3k (and this is with no 27″ monitor)All of these are core i7 at the fastest clock speed.
32GB of ram
2GBs of nividia 600 class GPU
3 year service warranty or closest AppleCare equivalent
If you start pricing “all in ones” they get even closer in price, and of course there’s no thunderbolt and the 27″ monitors don’t have the overall resolution that the iMac has.
What I have learned today is that the amount of money that I would save getting a PC isn’t going to allow me to retire early.
It’s fine if someone wants to build their own, I’m just trying to really see what’s gong on out there. I do not find pcs to be significantly cheaper but perhaps I’m looking at it incorrectly.
It’s going to be around 3 grand for a core i7 and necessary ram/perhipherals/warranty.
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I don’t think you’re wrong.
This conversation always reminds me of those “Laptop hunter” ads from a few years ago. The woman walks in and out of an Apple store, saying she can’t get a Mac for under $1000, then walks into a BestBuy or something and finds a 17″ laptop for about $600. But there’s no real evaluation of what she’s getting at that price (of course).
The myth of the Mac is sort of backwards to my mind- it’s not that Macs are really expensive… it’s just that you can’t buy a cheap and shitty one.
PCs with REALLY comparable specs are in the same range, and maybe a bit cheaper, but only if you don’t assign any value to the MacOS, build quality, bundled apps, or resale value.
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[Jeremy Garchow] “What I have learned today is that the amount of money that I would save getting a PC isn’t going to allow me to retire early.”
No, defintely not. 🙂
[Jeremy Garchow] “It’s fine if someone wants to build their own, I’m just trying to really see what’s gong on out there. I do not find pcs to be significantly cheaper but perhaps I’m looking at it incorrectly.”
I think you’re right, Jeremy. The price difference between comparable Macs and PC’s in that all-in-one form factor isn’t that great. I think where you’ll see HP, Dell and others edging out the Mac in price/performance, is in Xeon based workstations. And that’s only because of the availability of newer processors and a wider range of graphics cards. But that’s just for now, we’ll see what happens later in the year with the new MacPro.
Shawn
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[Shawn Miller] “I think where you’ll see HP, Dell and others edging out the Mac in price/performance, is in Xeon based workstations. And that’s only because of the availability of newer processors and a wider range of graphics cards. But that’s just for now, we’ll see what happens later in the year with the new MacPro.”
No question. Xeons are in a different league, and PC manufacturers can blow the doors off of a MacPro in price to performance.
But what I was trying to point out is the when people say the get a “way cheaper” PC, it’s in the i7 range which is why I started to look comparatively.
When you step up to Xeons, two processors can cost as much as the whole i7 computer and necessary upgrades.
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[Jeremy Garchow] “But what I was trying to point out is the when people say the get a “way cheaper” PC, it’s in the i7 range which is why I started to look comparatively.”
I see, I must have missed that. No argument here. I think the only way you will get a much cheaper i7 PC with high quality components, is if you build it yourself. Not a big deal if you’ve done it before, but I can see why others might not want to go through the trouble.
Shawn
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[Shawn Miller] “Not a big deal if you’ve done it before, but I can see why others might not want to go through the trouble.”
I’d really like to know how much cheaper that’d be.
And a hackintosh vs MacPro.
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[Marcus Moore] “The myth of the Mac is sort of backwards to my mind- it’s not that Macs are really expensive… it’s just that you can’t buy a cheap and shitty one.”
Well said!
[Marcus Moore] “PCs with REALLY comparable specs are in the same range, and maybe a bit cheaper, but only if you don’t assign any value to the MacOS, build quality, bundled apps, or resale value.”
Build quality on PCs can be quite good, too. I think part of the Legend is that no PCs are built to the same standard as Macs (though I’m the first to agree that Apple laptops are hard to beat).
I wonder if Apple’s legendary resale value will change as the systems do. Craig has talked about Apple trying to shorten the duty cycle on their machines to encourage more frequent purchases, and things like integrated batteries and RAM may hurt resale value.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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[Walter Soyka] “Build quality on PCs can be quite good, too. I think part of the Legend is that no PCs are built to the same standard as Macs (though I’m the first to agree that Apple laptops are hard to beat). “
Agreed. There are some nicely built PCs out there, even if you remove the shameless rip-offs.
I think the most obvious debunking of this myth is the MacBookAir. Since sales of those things took off with the second generation, PC makers have been chasing it’s form factor- with Intel eventually coining the Ultrabook name. And they’ve found just how difficult it is to build that machine at that price.
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[Jeremy Garchow] ”
I’d really like to know how much cheaper that’d be.”It’s not too difficult to suss out. Components are pretty easy to price… might be fun to visit newegg.com, frys.com or your local PC hardware shop to price out a new system.
Shawn
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[Jeremy Garchow] “But what I was trying to point out is the when people say the get a “way cheaper” PC, it’s in the i7 range which is why I started to look comparatively.”
What it is is that its cheeper for the non-discerning, plus there are far more turn-over deals available on last generation equipment with far greater mark-downs than are available for Macs. My dad just got a nice little Windows 8 machine based on an i5 for under 500 bucks. Its zippy enough for all of the things he likes to do, and has a solid build. He wouldn’t see the difference with an i7. It a replaces a 5 year old whatever-the-heck-it-was processor and seems in comparison like a race car from another planet.
The majority of computer users in this world are probably in my dad’s camp, hence the widely held belief that Macs are currently overpriced.
As a side note–I really enjoyed playing around with Windows8. Maybe its because I’ve been told by so many people (mostly Mac people) that I’d hate it, but I found it quite a bit of fun. I’d be quite interested in playing with the full Windows 8 version of the Surface when it ships. Not that I need anymore toys.
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