Originally Posted by FireDragoonX

lol I skimmed it.

But where is the proof about the prices and the specs?
I go to the apple website and it doesn't say anything about the processor other than that it is 2.xx GHz. There is much more than the speed, there is the FSB and the CPU cache.
Then there's the quality of the actual parts and the types of output the computer has.

The thinkpadx300 and the macbook air cost about the same. But the macbook air doesn't even have an ethernet port. A USB to Ethernet accesory costs $30 and it uses up a USB port and it takes up more space.

Macs are overpriced. Look at the cheapest mac, and the cheapest dell. Yes, their specs differ, but not by much.

I don't know why Apple doesn't make that stuff easy to find. They never have. I don't get it. But for that MacBook, its a 3 MB L2 Cache, and 800MHZ FSB. Again, I have no idea why, but the cache was reduced from 4 MB on the previous generation to 3 on that model.

Originally Posted by FireDragoonX

>high-end parts
>mackbook
>great smooth running machine
hahaha oh wow

it's all about branding. You're not paying for high-end parts, you're paying for the design.

It definitely is smooth running. You're completely blinded by your brand hatred.
I never said it was cheap, but for high end parts look at the mac pro. Since when was it so bad to pay for design?

Processing

• 8-core: Two 2.26GHz, 2.66GHz, or 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 series processors
• Quad-core: One 2.66GHz or 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500 series processor
• Next-generation Intel microarchitecture
  • 8MB of fully shared L3 cache per processor
  • Integrated memory controller
  • Turbo Boost dynamic performance (up to 3.33GHz on 8-core 2.93GHz system)
  • Hyper-Threading technology for up to 16 virtual cores
  • 128-bit SSE4 SIMD engine
  • 64-bit data paths and registers
  • Optimized for energy efficiency

Memory

• 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM
• 8-core: Eight memory slots (four per processor) supporting up to 32GB of main memory using 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB DIMMs
• Quad-core: Four memory slots supporting up to 8GB of main memory using 1GB or 2GB DIMMs

Graphics and displays

• Double-wide, 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot with one of the following graphics cards installed:
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB of GDDR3 memory, PCI Express 2.0, one Mini DisplayPort, and one dual-link DVI port
  • ATI Radeon HD 4870 with 512MB of GDDR5 memory, PCI Express 2.0, one Mini DisplayPort, and one dual-link DVI port
  
• Multiple graphics card configurations available with two, three, or four NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 cards
• Support for up to eight 30-inch displays 1
• Support for digital resolutions up to 2560 by 1600 pixels
• Support for analog resolutions up to 2048 by 1536 pixels
• Video adapters available for:
  • Additional DVI output using Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter (optional)
  • Additional dual-link DVI output using Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (optional)
  • VGA output using Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter or DVI to VGA Display Adapter (optional)

our 3.5-inch cable-free, direct-attach hard drive bays with built-in independent 3Gb/s Serial ATA channels; four internal hard drive carriers included Up to 4TB of internal storage3 in hard drive bays 1 through 4 using hard drives in the following capacities:

• 640GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache
• 1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 32MB cache
• Optional Mac Pro RAID Card with 512MB cache and 72-hour cache battery backup
• 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

Originally Posted by TTHX

It definitely is smooth running. You're completely blinded by your brand hatred.
I never said it was cheap, but for high end parts look at the mac pro. Since when was it so bad to pay for design?

Processing

• 8-core: Two 2.26GHz, 2.66GHz, or 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 series processors
• Quad-core: One 2.66GHz or 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500 series processor
• Next-generation Intel microarchitecture
  • 8MB of fully shared L3 cache per processor
  • Integrated memory controller
  • Turbo Boost dynamic performance (up to 3.33GHz on 8-core 2.93GHz system)
  • Hyper-Threading technology for up to 16 virtual cores
  • 128-bit SSE4 SIMD engine
  • 64-bit data paths and registers
  • Optimized for energy efficiency

Memory

• 1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM
• 8-core: Eight memory slots (four per processor) supporting up to 32GB of main memory using 1GB, 2GB, or 4GB DIMMs
• Quad-core: Four memory slots supporting up to 8GB of main memory using 1GB or 2GB DIMMs

Graphics and displays

• Double-wide, 16-lane PCI Express 2.0 graphics slot with one of the following graphics cards installed:
  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 512MB of GDDR3 memory, PCI Express 2.0, one Mini DisplayPort, and one dual-link DVI port
  • ATI Radeon HD 4870 with 512MB of GDDR5 memory, PCI Express 2.0, one Mini DisplayPort, and one dual-link DVI port
  
• Multiple graphics card configurations available with two, three, or four NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 cards
• Support for up to eight 30-inch displays 1
• Support for digital resolutions up to 2560 by 1600 pixels
• Support for analog resolutions up to 2048 by 1536 pixels
• Video adapters available for:
  • Additional DVI output using Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter (optional)
  • Additional dual-link DVI output using Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (optional)
  • VGA output using Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter or DVI to VGA Display Adapter (optional)

our 3.5-inch cable-free, direct-attach hard drive bays with built-in independent 3Gb/s Serial ATA channels; four internal hard drive carriers included Up to 4TB of internal storage3 in hard drive bays 1 through 4 using hard drives in the following capacities:

• 640GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache
• 1TB Serial ATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 32MB cache
• Optional Mac Pro RAID Card with 512MB cache and 72-hour cache battery backup
• 18x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

You fail to mention the price. Depending on what options you choose, the Mac Pro can cost up to $20 000. (the extra 0 is not a mistake). The Mac Pro is meant to be a workstation, not a consumer machine. If you were to buy a Mac Pro with consumer level specs, you would be wasting your money.

Originally Posted by Taunton

You fail to mention the price. Depending on what options you choose, the Mac Pro can cost up to $20 000. (the extra 0 is not a mistake).

I also didn't say it was cheap. My whole point is that they're fine computers and defending my original point that they DO have high end parts.

Originally Posted by TTHX

I also didn't say it was cheap. My whole point is that they're fine computers and defending my original point that they DO have high end parts.

Nobody said they didn't have high-end parts. The point that we are making is that the high-end parts don't add up to the cost that you pay for an Apple computer. It's the brand that costs that much. It's easy to buy or build a non-Apple computer with the same parts/specs for much cheaper.

Originally Posted by Taunton

Nobody said they didn't have high-end parts. The point that we are making is that the high-end parts don't add up to the cost that you pay for an Apple computer. It's the brand that costs that much. It's easy to buy or build a non-Apple computer with the same parts/specs for much cheaper.

Originally Posted by FireDragoonX

>high-end parts
>mackbook
>great smooth running machine
hahaha oh wow

it's all about branding. You're not paying for high-end parts, you're paying for the design.

I'm simply replying to replies to my original post.

Originally Posted by Taunton

My own little comparison... I added all the components to the PC to make it as even as possible to the Mac with what's available on the website (ie speakers, webcam, monitor, etc)

iMac 24 inch 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 4Gb 1066Mhz DDR3 RAM 2x2Gb
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 512 MB
- Standard Mouse, Keyboard etc.
- 1TB SATA drive

$2,599.00

Alienware Aurora
- AMD Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition 2.7GHz Dual Core (the fastest duo they have... going bigger would mean going quad)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 512MB "superclocked edition" (lowest line GPU available)
- 4Gb Dual channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz 2x1Gb
- 1TB SATA drive 3Gb/s, 32MB cache
- Standard optical drive (to match the iMac)
- Standard ethernet port (matches iMac)
- Standard Audio (matches iMac)
- 24'' monitor (matches iMac)
- standard keyboard, mouse
- added speakers (to match iMac all-in-one)
- Added webcam (to match iMac)

$1964.00

And that's going through a company... buying parts yourself and building the computer yourself is cheaper. And people say Apple isn't overpriced.

Just one thing I noticed... the iMac here has DDR3 RAM, whereas the Aurora only has DDR2. Also, you don't mention the Aurora having Bluetooth or a wireless card, both of which are in the iMac.

Add to that the difference in processors, and the software that comes with the iMac, and it evens things up a little.

Originally Posted by MarkA

Just one thing I noticed... the iMac here has DDR3 RAM, whereas the Aurora only has DDR2. Also, you don't mention the Aurora having Bluetooth or a wireless card, both of which are in the iMac.

Add to that the difference in processors, and the software that comes with the iMac, and it evens things up a little.

Sorry, I don't think the Aurora has bluetooth, but it does have wireless. The iMac didn't come with any extra software other than the operating system and pre-included apps (I made sure it wasn't selected when I filled out the online forms).

The processors aren't all that different, although the RAM is better in the mac

My MacBook is my life. I used it all the way through first and second year. Now I'm going into third year and everything is still working just fine. I was really scared to get an apple in the beginning because I'm horrible with technology so I thought it'd be way over my head, but it was exactly the opposite- It simplified and streamlined everything (which I guess might be considered negative for people who appreciate the complex intricacies of technology and value the ability to fix or upgrade their own laptop). Honestly, my mac was just supposed to be for school work and it is great for that, but I especially love imovie! My roommate in first year taught me how to use that and now I am constantly looking for excuses to make 'movies.' Mac may be expensive initially, but in my experience it has proved to be very reliable so it could end up being less expensive than having to constantly fix or even replace an originally cheaper laptop.

The only down side to having a mac, for me personally, has been the limited memory which doesn't allow me to run Sims3 (although I think the new apple laptops may have enough memory for it)

Originally Posted by emily

The only down side to having a mac, for me personally, has been the limited memory which doesn't allow me to run Sims3 (although I think the new apple laptops may have enough memory for it)

you can easily upgrade the ram yourself for rather cheap if you want to play sims3. i've been itching to get it myself

Step 1: Before you begin

1. Shut down your MacBook. Disconnect the power adapter, Ethernet cable, and any other cords connected to the MacBook, in order to prevent damaging the computer.
2. Turn the computer over.
3. Review and follow MacBook: How to remove or install the battery to remove the battery.

Step 2: Installing the new Memory

1. Using a Phillips size 00 screwdriver, unscrew the three captive screws that secure the L-bracket.
2. Pull out the long end of the bracket first to remove it from the battery bay of your computer. (Levers on the memory slot spring out when you remove the bracket.)
   
3. Touch a metal surface inside the computer to discharge any static electricity from your body.
4. If you need to remove a memory card, follow these instructions: In one swift motion, use your thumb or index finger to move the lever to the left and release it. This swift motion ejects the memory card, and the lever then springs back to the starting position. Pull out the memory module(s).
   Note: If any of the following issues occur, see an Apple-authorized service technician to complete the memory card installation:
   • lever wobbles
   • lever offers no resistance
   • lever is stuck
   • lever does not return to starting position
5. Insert the new memory modules into the slots.
   1. Insert the gold edge first, with the notch on the left side.
   2. Use two fingers with firm even pressure to push in the memory modules.
   3. If the levers don't return to the closed position, move them to the right to close them.
      
      Note: You may need to use increased firm pressure in order to ensure that the memory seats properly. If you do not seat the memory correctly, it could result in a "no power" situation, or the memory may not being recognized by the computer.
   
6. Replace the L-bracket by inserting the short end first and tightening the screws.

Alienware is so overpriced too. Your best bet is to research quality components, take your list to a store like filtechcomputer.com and they will order all your parts for very cheap and even assemble it for you. You can choose everything from the case to the type of RAM you want.

Originally Posted by Ownaginatios

WD-40?

It was a joint problem. =

Wow.... so much trouble for a computer that costs so damn much.

Another reason why I would never purchase an Apple.

I bought the macbook when it first came out, so you're bound to have problems. The battery issue was one that was shared by most computers (including PCs). The point was, the customer service is excellent. Which is more than I can say with my friends with Dells :|

Hey Everyone,

I have this link to get you the cheapest price available on Microsoft Software (ie. word, outlook, excel, power point 2007 etc.). It's an amazing deal, you're saving 91%! Check it out because if you're getting a new computer you'll have to buy software and Microsoft is the way to go!

www.theultimatesteal. ca/mcmaster

Cheers!

im goin ino first yr.. nd was looking into buying a laptop.. does anyone hav any suggestions.. i was leaning towards HP Pavilion dv4t series.. does anyone have ny advice on this particular laptop or any other laptops from dell or HP

jus out of curiosity again.. shud i get anti-virus when i buy my laptop or iz there a way i can get that chaper on campus??