Have an account? Log in to leave your comments!
journal: mac
iMac vs. The World: Round Deux
It looks like my last article struck a nerve with our readers! First, I’ll start by addressing some concerns raised by some readers:
“It’s not really a very good comparison, because nobody’s caring to buy those items compared to the traditional tower/flat panel combo”
The first piece was created with the intent of showing how all-in-ones compare from different manufacturers. Also, I don’t think it’s so much that consumers don’t care to buy all-in-ones as much as it is that they don’t know about them. I feel that the all-in-one has a place in the consumer marketplace and can take a fairly large chunk of the market if they were given some promotion. Instead, only one company seems to make all-in-ones a priority: Apple.
This article will focus on a more typical tower PC configuration.
“And what about the Antivirus and Firewall software you have to subscribe to on the Gateway?”
I guess one could make a snide remark about .mac and yearly iLife updates. I choose not to go that route.
“What is the OP really trying to say? That Macs are truly competitive in prices? Can’t anyone see how he factored in the discounted Macs and choose any other PC?”
Yes, actually. Or at least some Macs are. And the iMac’s $1299 price tag is indeed the regular price and not a discount. If there is a rebate or discount, I will note both the regular and discounted price. Please note that the prices listed are in United States dollars and is based on United States pricing for the respective machines (simply because I happen to live in the US); your mileage may vary depending on your geographical location. If you would like to do a comparison for where you live, let me know by leaving a comment.
Just as a general note, my whole motive behind creating this type of article is to dispel some misconceptions and maybe open a few eyes to the fact that maybe the Mac isn’t such a bad choice for some people, not that the Mac is the end-all be-all of computing. Oh, and to satisfy my own curiosity. That’s part of it too.
Anyway, my thanks to everyone who decided to comment on the first article. Now on with Round two!
This time I chose an HP Pavilion d4100y desktop for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it fills the same mid-range category as the iMac, and is also a dual-core machine. Also, like the iMac, it fits into the “Media Center” category. Thirdly, it gives an idea of how the iMac stacks up compared to more typical tower+display setups. Just as an aside, PC companies really need to streamline the alphabet soup of model numbers into a better naming scheme. It tends to be a bit confusing. On the flip side, Apple’s naming scheme may be a little too simplistic. That’s another article, though.
Keep in mind that this is an overview of the specifications and does not take into account personal preference issues or whether one really needs gigabit ethernet, a built-in camera, or a card reader.
| HP Pavilion d4100y | iMac Core Duo 17” |
|---|---|
| 2.8 GHz Pentium D (dual core) | 1.83 GHz Core Duo (dual core) |
| 160 GB 7200 RPM SATA hard drive | 160 GB 7200 RPM SATA hard drive |
| 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz | 512 MB DDR2 SDRAM, 667 MHz |
| 17” LCD display, 1280x1024 resolution | 17” LCD display, 1440x900 resolution |
| DVD+/-RW CD-RW drive | Dual-layer DVD+/-RW CD-RW drive |
| NVIDIA GeForce 6200se, 64 MB VRAM | ATI Radeon X1600, 128 MB GDDR3 VRAM |
| 10/100-base-T ethernet, built-in 802.11 a/b/g, no Bluetooth | gigabit ethernet, built-in 802.11 a/b/g, built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR |
| 9-in-1 media card reader, six USB 2,0, two Firewire 400, one headphone port, two microphone ports, two line-in, one line-out, one VGA, one parallel, two PS/2 | two Firewire 400, thee USB 2.0, mini DVI |
| 1-year hardware warranty | 1-year hardware warranty |
| no camera, remote included | iSight built in, remote included |
| Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 | Mac OS X 10.4.4 |
| $1403.99; $1304.00 after rebates and discounts | $1299.00 |
*configuration as of Feb 14, 2005
Before rebates and discounts, the HP is roughly $100 more than the iMac. After the rebates and discounts, however, things get interesting and the HP and iMac are virtually tied in the price category. I have no idea how the Pentium D compares to the Core Duo, so I left it at the standard 2.8 GHz variety of the chip. As I said before, there’s no such thing as a slow computer in 2006. Both machines are fairly solid for home use, though the iMac does have a slight edge overall. However, the Pavilion can be configured to include a TV tuner; the iMac has no such option, unfortunately (note that the Pavilion configured above does not include a tuner card). Front Row is pretty slick, but is still missing a number of things compared to Windows XP Media Center Edition, so if you’re looking for a full media center PC, the Pavilion is the way to go as it stands. I would expect that Front Row will gain such features in the future; it would be its natural evolution.
Oh, and the Pavilion completely owns the iMac in terms of I/O. Yikes!
HP came much closer to the iMac in terms of raw specs, but the iMac still retains an edge overall. Stay tuned for Round 3, where I will pit the iMac against a do-it-yourself PC configuration. In other words, I’ll be spending plenty of time on NewEgg and TigerDirect over the next few days. It should be fun.
More in this series:
 |
8 | 2364 |
| Nick | comments | views |
thinkback
And I will say this: indeed, the Intel iMac is a much, much better competitor than was the G4 or G5, in terms of price/performance.
Kudos to Apple!
My “magic bullet� comment is taken WAAAAY out of context. I was speaking to another poster in the comments, not toward your shootout.
I wanted to use it to make a general point that I agree with such a position and this is not an attempt at Mac-biased evangelism. I’ll remove it though, since you’re right, it is out of context.
And I will say this: indeed, the Intel iMac is a much, much better competitor than was the G4 or G5, in terms of price/performance.
That’s exactly the reason why I’m only doing this type of article with the iMac for now and not, say, the Mac mini.
| Nick | Feb. 16, 2006 | |
| 12:17 am |
Media card readers are $20, right?
From Apple’s site:
Peripheral connections
Two FireWire 400 ports; 8 watts shared
Total of five USB ports: three USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps) on computer, two USB 1.1 ports on keyboardAudio
Built-in stereo speakers
Internal 12-watt digital amplifier
Headphone/optical digital audio output
Audio line input
Built-in microphone
I’m surprised Apple doesn’t throw in iWork for free (it only comes with a 30 day trial).
| Feb. 16, 2006 | ||
| 11:43 am |
Just so you know, Apple’s AirPort is a b/g solution, no support for a, as you’ve claimed in both of these comparisons.
Not that it matters in the slightest, a is a hyped idea(never made a standard) that failed and is never discovered in the real world.
Yes, 802.11a support is included, according to Ars Technica:
“AirPort reception is excellent. That means it works as well as the iMac G5 and it utterly blows away my Aluminum PowerBook G4. The iMac Core Duo uses an 802.11a/b/g Mini-PCIe card, and as such is the first Mac to support 802.11a. The only indication of this is a brief note on page 108 of the iMac Users Guide. I don’t have access to an 802.11a WAP, so I wasn’t able to test 802.11a support.”
| Nick | Feb. 17, 2006 | |
| 12:18 am |
1.
Nick,
My “magic bullet” comment is taken WAAAAY out of context. I was speaking to another poster in the comments, not toward your shootout.