iMac or Dell XPS 720

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Shrimp

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Afternoon everyone. I know this is pretty much down to whether you prefer PCs or Macs, but if you had a choice between these two machines, bearing in mind the price difference, which would you go for: (1) iMac - E2,500 (not sure what will happen the price when Leopard comes out in a fortnight??) - 24-inch monitor, 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme, SuperDrive 8x, 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB, 750GB Serial ATA Drive, 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme. (2) Dell XPS 720 – E1,900 - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 processor (2.66GHz, 1333MHz, 4MB cache), Dell 22" Black Wide Flat Panel (E228WFP), 1024MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x512], 320GB (7200rpm) Serial ATA/100 Hard Drive with 16MB DataBurst cache, 16x DVD +/- RW Drive, 256MB nVidia™ GeForce 8600GTS graphics card, 128MB Ageia™ PhysX™ physics accelerator PCI card
 
Why are you spending so much on a PC? I presume it's not for games as you suggested an iMac.

If I were you I wouldn't go for an Apple.

However, I wouldn't go for that Dell either. Go over to the Dell Desktops Thread over at Bargain Alerts on Boards.ie and look/wait for a system there. Then upgrade the system yourself. You can get a Samsung 225bw for about €270 on eBay which is a much better monitor than the E228WFP. Also 1GB of RAM isn't really much these days, you can pick some up for good prices on eBay as well. And the GeForce 8600 GTS is like something you'd get in a Laptop. If fact, apart from the monitor, you can pick up a better laptop for about €750, ie this Dell Vostro:
Intel Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7250 2.00GHz
2GB RAM
160GB HD
256MB nVidia® GeForce® 8600M GT
 
Thanks for the reply anseo, good advice. I know it's a lot of money, too much, but I'm so fed up with my computers running out of memory and disk space I decided to buy the biggest baddest monster on the market so I'd be set up for life!! I know, very daft. No, I'm not in to games, apart from the usual (word processor, email, internet, other basic applications) I'm mainly in to photo and video editing, etc. Just tempted to switch to a Mac, fell in love with my pal's iMac, seems like a beautiful machine - and amazingly powerful. Will have a look at that boards.ie link, thanks again for the advice.
 
This strategy won't really future proof you as you'll really just be spending loads of money on technology you don't need. The reason these high end system are so much more expensive is that they are utilising new (expensive) technology that is suitable for high end users....but you won't get much, if any, use from. Dell would only expect these PC's to account for less than 5% of their overall Dimension sales.
You would be better served by a more basic PC with a good processor, loads of memory & plently of hard drive.....and it will cost about half the price.
I know nothing about iMac's.
 
For what it's worth I vote for the 24" iMac. The spec you quote is actually €2,369. I'd get the same spec with the basic 500GB drive instead for €2,219. That's the one I'm going to get when Leopard is released at the end of the month. The user friendliness and style of the Mac is more than worth the cost difference. I think Windows Vista is worse than XP if that's possible.
 
PC with XP. macs are overpriced and their only advantage is on virus front. I use both and If I was spending my own money it's a no brainer.
 
GeneralZod said:
For what it's worth I vote for the 24" iMac. The spec you quote is actually €2,369. I'd get the same spec with the basic 500GB drive instead for €2,219. That's the one I'm going to get when Leopard is released at the end of the month. The user friendliness and style of the Mac is more than worth the cost difference. I think Windows Vista is worse than XP if that's possible.
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Took the plunge in the end and went for the 24" iMac, as you suggested, and it's the most magnificent piece of kit I have ever seen or worked with in my life :) Expensive, yes, and it's very limited on the upgradable front, but it's just a sheer joy to work with. Cheerio Windows! Thanks GeneralZod.
 
Computers devalue so fast they are pretty much disposable. So the cost of the machine should be spread across its useful life and then considered worth nothing at the end.
 
Shrimp said:
it's the most magnificent piece of kit I have ever seen or worked with in my life :) Cheerio Windows! Thanks GeneralZod.
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Shrimp, glad you're pleased with it. I've got the 20" at present so I can only imagine how much nicer the 24" screen is. Did it have Leopard installed on it? Another Mac convertee showed it to me last week after upgrading their MacBook and it looks like a great update.
 
GeneralZod said:
Shrimp, glad you're pleased with it. I've got the 20" at present so I can only imagine how much nicer the 24" screen is. Did it have Leopard installed on it? Another Mac convertee showed it to me last week after upgrading their MacBook and it looks like a great update.
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Hi GeneralZod, much to my embarrassment I didn't have the patience to wait long enough to ensure Leopard would be pre-installed but I got the upgrade disk for about E7 from Apple and it installed perfectly. I've been very lucky, I know lots of people seem to be having screen and freezing problems, but so far so good. To be honest I think it's worth every penny, it's just a pleasure to work with. The 20 inch screen really would have done me fine, the 24 inch is HUGE, but I never had much sense. Any way, would recommend the iMac to any one, it's a joy - and thanks again for the advice!
 
I couldn't go back to PCs now after having a Mac. Not to mention the last two people I knew to own a new Dell were reading to throw them out with the rubbish!
 
There's really no reason not to consider a mac these days. All the intel macs can run windows, if that's what you want, and Macs are NOT overpriced if you compare them feature for feature with any PC.
 
extopia said:
There's really no reason not to own a mac these days. All the intel macs can run windows, if that's what you want, and Macs are NOT overpriced if you compare them feature for feature with any PC.
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Only if you compare the list prices. You can pick up bargain Dells from ebay and the outlet store for much reduced prices. The Apple Outlet isn't as good on bargains. IMO. Also if you buy a Mac you need to buy a XP licence which adds to the cost. So factor that in aswell. The specs can vary a lot too, as the Dell and Apple products lines don't always match up. 15" high res vs 15" low res etc. Apple are also not immune from quality controls issues and bugs that can take a class action to resolve. Apple are also not immune to shafting their cutomers to make a buck. But once you are aware of all that, and not blinded by the marketing. Apples are lovely machines and are better now than they've ever been in the past.

Basically this is good time to buy an Apple.
 
Definately the mac. Yes you can get a Dell for cheaper than a mac but is the time you spend, installing+maintaining ainti-virus/spyware/driver confilicts worth it? And the usability of the iMac out of the box is in a different league from the Dell. iPhoto vs trial version of PSP? iMovie vs ?, Garageband vs ? etc.... I switched 2 years ago and definately the best move in computing that I have made.
 
What time? Once the software/driver is installed I have no need to reinstall it. I haven't seen a conflict in many years. So not an issue for me, or my users tbh. It depends if you'd use those apps. Only some users would, so it would depend on what you use it for. I work in IT and rarely see the problems you are talking about, even with Vista, and I don't like Vista.

Its not like Mac's are immune to problems either.


I like macs but they are not perfect machines the marketing would have you believe. But then I'm jaded, having used PC's and Macs for many years.
 
aircobra19 said:
Basically this is good time to buy an Apple.
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Well I agree with you, obviously, although I think it's always been a good time to buy Macintosh.

Based on what you said above, why exactly do you think now's the time?

I disagree with your analysis of Dell vs Apple prices, by the way. Why would it ever be cheaper to buy a Dell from eBay than from Dell itself? The kit that gets sold off on eBay is not the latest and greatest, and at worst is obsolete. You can buy cheap macs (used) on eBay too.

I've used both macs and pcs too, for many years. Nowadays I use my mac to run the windows I can't do without. It's the most stable environment I've ever had for the OS. :)
 
Well I've just taken the plunge again and bought another one. The 24" iMac this time. This one has 15,625 times more RAM and 25,000 times more disk space than the Mac+ I was given by Apple when in college in 1991. :D Great for playing tetris.

I agree with aircobra's comment that Macs have never been better than they are now.
 
extopia said:
Well I agree with you, obviously, although I think it's always been a good time to buy Macintosh.

Based on what you said above, why exactly do you think now's the time?
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The hardware is the same as the PC more or less. Big problem in the past was Apple used to make older hardware obsolete by changing the hardware platform.

extopia said:
I disagree with your analysis of Dell vs Apple prices, by the way. Why would it ever be cheaper to buy a Dell from eBay than from Dell itself? The kit that gets sold off on eBay is not the latest and greatest, and at worst is obsolete. You can buy cheap macs (used) on eBay too.
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Because Dell have an ebay outlet, aswell as their outlet store on their website. The machines are as new, with 1yr warranty and are the latest machines. For example theres been quad core machines going for the last while on both outlets. Big savings from the regular store.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055169363

extopia said:
I've used both macs and pcs too, for many years. Nowadays I use my mac to run the windows I can't do without. It's the most stable environment I've ever had for the OS. :)
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You do realise that the hardware is the same in PC's and Mac's now?
 
Shrimp said:
but I'm so fed up with my computers running out of memory and disk space
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why not just add more memory and a bigger hard disk to your existing desktop ? I d only buy a model like whats being suggested if it was a laptop I was after

what are the specs of your existing machine(s) ?
 
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