Apple may have shipped 2.5 million Macs in spring thanks to Vista

[BilliShere]

what about all the switches to linux?

[tsupersonic]

what about all the switches to linux?

I don't think people would buy a Mac to use linux, but you can run it on a mac if you want.

[spenser.d]

This article doesn't seem to take into account the fact that there is a tremendous amount of people buying Macs so they can dual boot a Windows partition. I think buying a Mac is just the cool thing to do these days, and that's a lot of the reason it's selling so well - not because people particularly think it's superior. Nothing particularly wrong with that, as Macs are good systems, but I just feel that a lot of people getting Macs are pretty clueless about computing in general so they just get what seems cool.

-Spenser

[+Fahim S. MVC]

To my view there are 3 things which have proliferated the success of the Mac. I don't think that the perceived lack of success of Vista is one of them.

1) Brand credibility - brought about by the iPod, which although (in my opinion) is not the best in its class, does make people think if I like this (the iPod), I should seriously take a look at that (the Mac).

2) Brand recognition - with Apple making themselves known in every commercial they put out in quite a comprehensive campaign, they have sent the message that says 'we have a computer you need to look at'.

3) Style & Design - no-one can argue that Mac industrial design is top of the class in terms of computers. I know lots of people that have bought an iMac because it is something they can display in their lounge - the well thought out lines mean they don't look out of place when not in the office office.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Yes they all have their uses. I don't use Linux as I really don't have a need for it right now, maybe if I wanted to run an Apache webserver though I could just do that on my OS X machine, but yeah, definately different reasons to use whatever.

Yes I do like cleaner looking computers. I just finally got my desktop case replaced, was using a Thermaltake Shark which isn't as bad as some, but I picked up a very clean looking Lian Li case, I simply love the more clean look it has than my old. :) And yes I did pay a premium for the case for the looks, the V1010B, newegg sells it for $270. :)

Yeah that case is really nice.

I upgraded my case when I bought my new rig, so I didn't have much money to spare for the case.

However I went right down the middle and got a P180. Simple, clean and black.

I would one day though, like to pickup a Lian Li case.

[Cara Veteran]

Wow... Anyway...

About video cards on current Mac Pros. From what I was told, some cards will 'Just work' without editing. More will work with custom Mac BIOS flashes allowing the card to recognize and be recognized by EFI, and some just won't work.

I'm simplifying this, I just got a 30 minute lesson in it and frankly wasn't listening half the time so... ;)

Now, back to the topic at hand...

Just for grins I spent some time on Dell Retail and now Apple Retail... Everyone who says Dell is so much cheaper than Apple, guess what, I configured a Dell Optiplex 755 with Screen to match an iMac... It's below.

My System Details

Intel? Core? 2 Duo Processor E8200 (2.66GHz, 6M, VT, 1333MHz FSB)

Genuine Windows Vista? Ultimate Service Pack 1, with media, 32, ENG

3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site Service

ASF Basic Hardware Enabled Systems Management

2GB DDR2 Non-ECC SDRAM,667MHz, (2 DIMM)

320GB RAID 0 (2x160GB) SATA 3.0Gb/s and 8MB DataBurst Cache?

DVD+/-RW/16X DVD,SATA,Roxio Creator? CyberlinkPowerDVD?

256MB ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro, Single Monitor (1 DVI/1 TV-out), full height

Dell 20 inch E207FP Widescreen Flat Panel, Analog

Dell Energy Smart Enable

Dell 1505 Wireless-N PCIe Card, Full Height

NTFS File System for all Operating Systems

Shipping Material for System, Minitower

Resource CD and DVD contains Diagnostics and Driver for Dell OptiPlex Syste

My Accessories

No Floppy Drive

No Speaker, OptiPlex

Dell USB Keyboard, No Hot Keys

Dell USB 2-Button Entry Mouse with Scroll, Black

My Services & Warranties

No Onsite System Setup

Also Included

Vista Premium Sticker

Intel Core2 Duo DesktopSubtotal $1,350;1,350 (+Tax & Shipping)

---

iMac 20-inch 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Part Number: MB324LL/A

2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB

320GB Serial ATA Drive

Apple Mighty Mouse

Apple Keyboard (English) + User's Guide

Accessory kit

Gift message: Add

Remove $1,499.00 $1,499.00

Estimated Ship: Within 24 hours

AppleCare Protection Plan for iMac - Auto-enroll

Part Number: S3134LL/A

Remove $169.00 $169.00

Estimated Ship: WithinCart Subtotal: $1,668.00668.00

Free Shipping: $0.00

Closer than you might have thought huh? Is the All-In-One Enclosure worth it, is OS X worth it? That is up to the user to decide.

[tsupersonic]

^ The thing is Dell runs promotions, where as Apple really doesn't. Apple is so stringent on their price. If you shop around online, like at slickdeals or fatwallet or other deal sites, there are massive coupons you can use on Dell's site.

[Cara Veteran]

^ The thing is Dell runs promotions, where as Apple really doesn't. Apple is so stringent on their price. If you shop around online, like at slickdeals or fatwallet or other deal sites, there are massive coupons you can use on Dell's site.

That is retail to retail, what Joe Customer would most likely see and pay from both sites if they logged on today to buy a system.

[techbeck]

I dont like iMacs or all in one displays. We bought one at work just to save on space. But in order to get it repaired, you have to send the whole thing out for repair.

[Martog]

Wow... Anyway...

About video cards on current Mac Pros. From what I was told, some cards will 'Just work' without editing. More will work with custom Mac BIOS flashes allowing the card to recognize and be recognized by EFI, and some just won't work.

I'm simplifying this, I just got a 30 minute lesson in it and frankly wasn't listening half the time so... ;)

Now, back to the topic at hand...

That makes me wonder about the switch to EFI in pc world if the video cards will have to recongize EFI or not, surely could have been away around it, though I don't know, kind of sucks though.

[tsupersonic]

That is retail to retail, what Joe Customer would most likely see and pay from both sites if they logged on today to buy a system.

So, you're saying people don't shop around for the best prices. Come on, get real.

[Cara Veteran]

So, you're saying people don't shop around for the best prices. Come on, get real.

People do, however I'd be willing to bet that your average person looking for a Dell Computer will go to Google, type in 'Dell' and click on the first link. Same with Apple. Either that or they will go into your local Best Buy and buy their Dell / HP or even Apple there, paying sticker price.

Enthusiasts shop around, dig for coupons...your average consumer just buy.

[techbeck]

So, you're saying people don't shop around for the best prices. Come on, get real.

No, she means that if you go to Dell.com and Apple.com and spec out hte prices...thats what you would get. She didnt take in to account shopping around. This is buying direct...

[tsupersonic]

But you apple people are used to buying direct. I'm not, I shop around for everything, and this makes my purchases even cheaper.

[techbeck]

But you apple people are used to buying direct. I'm not, I shop around for everything, and this makes my purchases even cheaper.

Yea, you do..i do...lots do..but there are lots that dont know what they are buying and accept the prices they see in front of them.

[Denis W. Veteran]

Also Cara, you might have missed it, but do you know or if you can check, do the Mac Pro's need a video card with a special firmware to make them work on the Mac OS X side of things like the old Radeon 7000 and Geforce 3' for the tower computers? I am kind of curious why aside from drivers you can't pop any PCI Express card in, though maybe it is just drivers.

This might be of interest to you.

[tsupersonic]

Yea, you do..i do...lots do..but there are lots that dont know what they are buying and accept the prices they see in front of them.

:blink: people just throw their hearts out when it comes to defending their OS.

All I'm saying is there are coupons for Dell, that you can use to make your purchase cheaper. Can I do that with Apple? :shifty:

[Martog]

This might be of interest to you.

Unfortunately that flashing trick has only worked on a few cards in the past and still today because of the firmware Mac's use and how the video card comminucates with the firmware or BIOS depending on what the system has.

[Cara Veteran]

:blink: people just throw their hearts out when it comes to defending their OS.

All I'm saying is there are coupons for Dell, that you can use to make your purchase cheaper. Can I do that with Apple? :shifty:

I am not aware of any general coupon codes for Apple beyond using the Educational Discount Store.

That being said, I was also hard pressed to find any valid coupons for Dell that would apply to any machine that was similar to the configuration I posted...they are all for low level Inspiron or Refurbished machines...

Apple Refurb doesn't need coupons for 15-60% discounts.

[James123]

Just for grins I spent some time on Dell Retail and now Apple Retail... Everyone who says Dell is so much cheaper than Apple, guess what, I configured a Dell Optiplex 755 with Screen to match an iMac... It's below.

Sooo... how long did you search around the Dell site to find a system almost as expensive as the iMac?

"Just for laughs" I actually did a fair comparison with, as per your example, the first match you would find if you type "Dell" or "Apple" into google:

Dell Inspiron 530s

Intel? Core™2 Duo Processor E8300 (6MB L2 Cache,2.83GHz,1333 FSB)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista? Home Premium Service Pack 1

MONITOR 20 inch E207WFP Widescreen Digital Flat Panel

MEMORY 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz- 2DIMMs

HARD DRIVE 500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™

OPTICAL DRIVE 16X DVD+/-RW Drive

VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO 256MB

SOUND Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

KEYBOARD & MOUSE Dell USB Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse

SPEAKERS Dell A525 30 Watt 2.1 Stereo Speakers with Subwoofer

WARRANTY AND SERVICE 3Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor, 24x7 Phone Support edit

DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr

$989 Delivered

iMac 20"

2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB

320GB Serial ATA Drive

Apple Mighty Mouse

Apple Keyboard (English) + User's Guide

Accessory kit

AppleCare Protection Plan for iMac - Auto-enroll

Estimated Total: $1,668.00

-- Also, after typing Dell Coupon into google within minutes I have a $150 Dell Coupon.

So for a Dell, with a bigger HDD (500GB vs 320GB) & slightly better processor (2.83GHz vs 2.66GHz) it's:

Without Coupon - $989 ($679 cheaper)

With Coupon - $839 ($829 cheaper)

That being said, I was also hard pressed to find any valid coupons for Dell that would apply to any machine that was similar to the configuration I posted...they are all for low level Inspiron or Refurbished machines...

Why do you class Inspiron as "low level" - they're the same spec, just a lot cheaper.

[Linkinfamous]

I agree with you there. A large part of Vista's problems can be blamed on OEM's such as Dell and HP.

I absolutely agree with you. I got a tablet from HP recently, and it was virtually unusable out of the box. The amount of crap they had running on it was absolutely horrible! Performance was abysmal and stability was so-so.

I popped in an untouched Vista DVD, and haven't been happier with it since.

what about all the switches to linux?

While the percentage increase in Linux use is incredibly high, the actual numbers themselves are still incredibly low, even compared to Apple's market share.

Don't Apple machines use IPS screens anyhow? I am not sure if those cheaper LCD's you can get from newegg are IPS, which I think IPS screens could be generally more expensive I don't know, but that would be a factor.

IPS screens have noticable lag to them. I just bought a nice 24" FHD2400. While the viewing angle and color accuracy aren't as great, the lag is non-existant, which is more important to me anyway, since I don't do anything where I care about color accuracy, and I never sit at an angle to my monitor.

Edited July 9, 2008 by MioTheGreat

[tsupersonic]

I am not aware of any general coupon codes for Apple beyond using the Educational Discount Store.

That being said, I was also hard pressed to find any valid coupons for Dell that would apply to any machine that was similar to the configuration I posted...they are all for low level Inspiron or Refurbished machines...

Apple Refurb doesn't need coupons for 15-60% discounts.

Someone else below your post did a comparison. And there you have it. Just face it, you won't win the battle on price.

So, you want me to compare a Refurb'ed Apple against a new Dell? :laugh: No.

Also, if you don't like Dell, you can build your own computer comparatively cheaper than iMac's.

[Cara Veteran]

Sooo... how long did you search around the Dell site to find a system almost as expensive as the iMac?

"Just for laughs" I actually did a fair comparison with, as per your example, the first match you would find if you type "Dell" or "Apple" into google:

If you think an Inspiron is the same quality level as an iMac...

The Optiplex line uses similar components to the iMac, Intel Reference Logic Boards, Tier 2 or Tier 1 class processors from Intel...

The Inspiron line uses custom designed boards that do not pass Intel's reference requirements, Tier 3 or Tier 4 chips from Intel...

They don't compare even against each other, let alone the iMac.

[matt4pack]

:blink: people just throw their hearts out when it comes to defending their OS.

All I'm saying is there are coupons for Dell, that you can use to make your purchase cheaper. Can I do that with Apple? :shifty:

Actually that kind of crap is what ****ed me off about the PC world. Why should I have to go through the hassle of looking for coupons when I want to buy stuff. That's like stupid mail in rebates which everyone hates. There should be one price that everyone pays. That's also why Apple is succeeding right now because they offer simple choices for consumers whether it be the 1 version of OS X instead of the 10 versions of Vista, the different models that each appeal to a different market segment instead of having 10 different towers, and the standard non confusing prices.

[tsupersonic]

Wow, just wow. The things that Apple fanatics do to prove that Mac is better :laugh: You make me laugh so hard.

It's the same hardware, and don't tell me Mac hardware is superior in every way.