My lean towards the Apple side is quite obvious. With today's announcement of Core 2 Duos in the MacBook Pros, I decided to again look at the cost difference between Macs and Dells. The Apple Tax of the past is all but gone in most categories and in fact, a Dell Tax is emerging.
I compared a stock 15" MacBook Pro to a Dell Precision M65 that I configured up to match the MacBook. There might be a better Dell model to start at that requires less upgrades, but that's the one I found under the Mobile Workstation heading, so it seems like a competitor to the MacBook Pro.
Specs include
- 15" screen
- 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo
- 1GB RAM
- 120GB HDD
- DVD Burner
The Dell tax is in effect. I didn't capture screenshots of the entire configs, but the prices seem to change by the minute at Dell anyway, so go configure one yourself to see the current price.
This comparison doesn't account for added value on the Apple side. The value of the MagSafe connector, iSight camera, lighted keyboard, Front Row, iLife, OS X, etc. I was amazed that Dell still requires you to choose to add Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to a notebook computer. Sure, the cost differential was minimum, but these seem like must haves if you ask me. They charge $9 for Bluetooth. Man, just put it in. There has to be diminishing returns from choosing every last component that goes in the thing. Can I leave the Windows key off and save a $1?
No comments:
Post a Comment