🚀 go-pugleaf

Joe Ragosta (docjoe@interramp.com) wrote:

: That's the point. You can buy a 5200 with monitor and a few hundred
: dollars of software for a few hundred dollars less than your hand
: assembled system. You also get a CD-ROM and built in sound.

actually, by the time you spec that 5200 box to 16 megs + 1.2 gig drive,
etc. etc. to comparable configs, it'll cost more.

: Now, add in the value of your time.
: Add in the value of buying a name brand system.
: Add in the value of having a warranty if something goes wrong.
: Add in the value of efficiency from running MacOS (Arthur D. Little
: demonstrates a 50% higher productivity than Windows. No one's ever
: compared Linux because it's a hobbyist OS).

Building your system definitely isn't for everyone.  I do it just because
I get to choose the quality/price of the components that go into my
system.  you might have noticed that at times I chose more expensive
components because I wanted to be assured of the quality.  All the
components would be new, and warrented by their respective manufactuers.
The incentive to build your own to save money is disappearing fast.
Especially in light of all the recent prices cuts by top notch system
vendors.

You forget that MacOS isn't for everyone either, and that for some people
the omnipresent GUI gets in the way of actually getting work done.  

: Bottom line--Mac prices absolutely destroy name brand machines at equal
: performance levels. If you're example is accurate (I can't vouch for the
: price of a hand-built PC since our company would never consider it), the
: Macs even match your homemade system price.

Actually, you started to use Power Computing as an example, and PowerMac
prices are still high relative to most systems, and certainly don't
"destroy" name brand machines. Take this as an example.  In Aug 15th's
New York Times Science there is a company called Newtech that advertises
a Compaq Presario 972, 75 MHz pentium, 8 Meg of RAM, 725 Meg drive, 4X
cd-rom, 14.4 fax modem, 14 inch SVGA monitor  for $1748. 
That price is definitely not "destroyed" by anything from Apple's camp.
Also, Compaq just announced that across the board price cuts, so these
prices should drop as well.

Newtech's number   (212)695-9898
Compaq article @ http://www.zdnet.com/~pcweek/news/0814/compq.html

: -- 
: Regards, Joe Ragosta -- 100% Chemical and proud of it.
: [Microsoft blah..]