Are Mac's worth the price premium?

[CCericola]

What's a Yugo?

 

[Josh66]

Is a BMW worth more than a Yugo? Computers are more than just the sum of their parts.

Does a BMW have the same parts in it as a Yugo?

 

[chuasam]

Yes, Macs are worth the premium over Windows machines. Just as Coca~Cola is worth the price premium over Shasta cola.

Cocacola isn't worth the price premium over Shasta. Both are just as rubbish. One merely tastes less vile.

In the photography industry, Macs are considered standard.

Apple is an innovator. If they had to deal with the same crappy profit margins as the horde, would they be able to produce such amazing works of electronic beauty?

 

[Ysarex]

My faithful 2005 Mac G5 was on the repair shop last year because the power supply went out after six years of nearly non-stop running.

Wow! You took your computer to the shop to get the power supply replaced! Dude, I so want to be your auto mechanic!

Joe

 

[Canuk]

Is a BMW worth more than a Yugo? Computers are more than just the sum of their parts.

Does a BMW have the same parts in it as a Yugo?

The problem w/ comparing parts is that a lot of PC's use parts that have not been tested for compatibly or are not entirely compatible w/ each other.

Mac on the other hand does test and ensure that X-montherboard works w/ Y-graphics card that works w/ Z-processor. The same can not be said for a lot of PC's.

 

[Josh66]

Well, if you use incompatible parts, it's your own fault when your **** doesn't work.

Since I run linux, I'm used to checking for compatibility before I buy anything (I wish that didn't have to be the case though...). I guess if you just buy crap without checking if it will work on your system first, Mac might be the best choice for you.

 

[Dao]

What's a Yugo?

A tiny little cheap car famous of ... problem. I have not seen them around here since early 90's

 

[Dao]

Are Mac's worth the price premium?

It depends on how much you like Apple product.

It seems like you'd like to buy a Mac, but just want others to support your claims. It is just a tool, if you like it a lot, it is going to be 100% worth it even if you need to eat raman noodle for few months.

Every systems or OS has pros and cons. Just choose the one that best fit for you. Macs is good, PC with Windows 7 is good and of course PC with Linux is good. Also, find out what applications you like to use. If a particular application only availible in one platform and you need to use that application often, staying with that platform make more sense.

 

[o hey tyler]

What's a Yugo?

A tiny little cheap car famous of ... problem. I have not seen them around here since early 90's

Q: Why does a Yugo have a rear windshield defroster?

A: So your hands stay warm while you're pushing it.

 

[Canuk]

Well, if you use incompatible parts, it's your own fault when your **** doesn't work.

Since I run linux, I'm used to checking for compatibility before I buy anything (I wish that didn't have to be the case though...). I guess if you just buy crap without checking if it will work on your system first, Mac might be the best choice for you.

I'm not talking about myself using parts that are not compatible, but major computer manufacturers. Most people, including myself, do not know enough about computers to build their own and thus rely on manufacturers to do what the are paid to do.

If you go to the dealership to buy a new car do you have to make sure the transmission and engine are compatible? No, that's just silly. Buying a laptop from a well know manufacturer should be the same then, right?

I am not a computer guru, nor do I play one on the internet, but as a consumer when I buy something I want it to work plain and simple. With Mac that's what happens, PC's not so much.

 

[bhop]

To me, yes. Mac user since the 90's, both personal and professionally. Dunno if you guys that are saying macs are way slower, or have inferior displays have used any modern ones or not.. doesn't seem like it. Also the prices these days aren't really that much different for comparable performing products.

 

[Josh66]

I don't think I have ever, in the last 15 or so years, bought a computer that had incompatible hardware in it...

 

[Dao]

What's a Yugo?

A tiny little cheap car famous of ... problem. I have not seen them around here since early 90's

Q: Why does a Yugo have a rear windshield defroster?

A: So your hands stay warm while you're pushing it.

Only if the rear defroster is working.

 

[theregoesjb]

3 pages deep but maybe i can add something. I build my own PC desktop and run windows 7 and i think its great.

I would say no, macs are not worth the premium. I think the biggest, and most justified, allure for macs though is the way everything is designed together, from the component choices to the OS. When you can have that much control over everything going into a design there must be some stability/ performance advantages, and compatibility becomes basically a non-issue. Many people love the lifespan a mac can offer, especially with the support apple provides. But i think the inherently short shelf life of any computer makes this a wash, since in 5 years (maybe less) you will probably want whatever the latest performance computers are offering.
I personally reformat my machine probably once a year and this alone i think keeps me running a 4 year old desktop relatively smooth. I plan to get another year at least out of it.
So you could pay about $2,000+ every 5 years (+/- 1 year) for a mac or pay half of that and get equal if not better raw specs. and still get the same lifespan out of it.
I know quite a few people with macbooks and macbook pros and i dont think there's any "pc/windows issue" that they haven't had; viruses, OS crashes, hard drive crashes.

 

[bhop]

I want to add, I built my own Mac (hackintosh) for half the price of the apple equivalent a couple years ago. I haven't had any issues with it, so yeah, you're mostly paying for the design and/or case build quality when you're buying a Mac. With my desktop, I didn't need anything fancy and ultra durable since it just sits underneath my desk anyway. If I didn't have a display already, I might've gone with an iMac though. That's what we use at work and it does everything we need it to and quickly.

Bought my Macbook Pro because I wanted some portability. The Macbook screen is pretty amazing compared to just about any pc laptop i've messed around with, which is a big deal since graphics is what I do for a living. Plus the Macbook isn't a thick brick like most comparable PC laptops, or were at the time.

I think ultimately what it boils down to is, what OS you want to use. I hate windows. Not that there's anything "wrong" with it, but it just feels weird to me and not user friendly at all. In order to use Mac OSX, I have to have a OSX compatible machine, so in that regard, it's worth the price.