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VAN HLN CA
08-24-2006, 12:55 AM
Review: Mac Pro beats Dell on price
By ROBERT WESTON, Associated Press Writer Wed Aug 23, 3:57 PM ET
For years, Macintosh computers have been praised for their cool looks and elegant simplicity while being knocked for often carrying a hefty price premium over Windows-based machines sold by Dell Inc. and others. It's time to think different — again.

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The recently released Mac Pro maintains the Apple shine in design, usability and software but also does something unexpected: It turns the old Mac versus Windows PC price equation on its head.

A low-end Mac Pro will cost you $2,124 compared with $3,071 for a nearly identically configured Dell Precision Workstation 490. The Mac is about $947 cheaper — and the gap widens when you start piling on options such as more memory, faster processors and bigger hard drives.

Like all other Macs introduced this year, the Mac Pro uses microprocessors from Intel Corp. rather than Apple's previous suppliers, IBM Corp. and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. It's also capable of running Windows if you've got a copy of the Microsoft Corp. operating system and supporting software from Apple or others.

The new Macs — targeted at professional users such as graphics professionals, researchers and businesses — run Intel Xeon processors. These chips, designed for servers and workstations, were launched by Intel earlier this summer.

I borrowed a higher-end Mac Pro that included two processors running at 3 gigahertz, an Nvidia Quadro FX 4500 graphics card with 512 megabytes of video memory, four 500 gigabyte hard drives and 4 gigabytes of system memory. In this configuration, it sells for $7,449.

A similarly configured Dell Precision 690 (the 490 doesn't offer as many hard drives) with the same hardware costs $8,534 — or $1,085 more than the Mac. (Both systems were configured on the companies' Web sites Wednesday. Prices are subject to change.)

The Mac Pro workstation is not only competitively priced, it's fast, too.

I took a 30-minute snippet of raw video and converted it into Apple's QuickTime format — a time-consuming challenge for most computers. I used Apple's Final Cut Pro video-editing software, which is designed to work on both new and older Macs.

The conversion took just over 4 minutes on the Mac Pro. On a Power Mac G5 — the model it replaced — the process took more than 10 minutes.

And the latest Macs are cool, literally. In fact, they run so much cooler that Apple was able to remove about half the fans used on the older machines. It frees up room for more features and makes for a considerably quieter system.

The Mac Pro also is expandable. It comes with two optical drive bays, four PCI Express expansion slots and four hard drive bays. The computer also can handle up to 16 gigabytes of system memory.

But the biggest change is the use of Xeon processors, each with two computing engines per chip. Plus, Mac Pros come with two Xeons each, giving the equivalent of four computing engines in each system.

On the back of the computer, Apple provides two digital video ports. The base system can support a single 30-inch display or two 23-inch displays. (Systems with higher-end graphics cards can support two 30-inch displays.)

In the rear, it's got ports galore, supporting USB 2, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 as well as optical digital audio input and output. It also has two ports for Ethernet connections. (And the front was not forgotten: There, it sports two USB 2 ports, one Firewire 800 port, one Firewire 400 port and a mini headphone jack.)

Like most of the other offerings from Apple, the systems are elegant and offer features that make you wonder why other PC companies have not adopted them.

Replacing or upgrading the memory, for instance, is easier than any computer I've ever used. Just slide one of two riser cards from the system, plug your RAM into the card and put it back in the case.

Adding or upgrading hard drives is equally simple: Just pull one of four trays from the computer, change or add the drive to the tray and slide it back inside. There are no cables to plug in.

Once again, Apple has produced a computer that really shines. With its ability to run Windows software too, it's an attractive system for any Mac or Windows-based business or high end consumer who needs a powerful machine at a competitive price.

The difference in price — and that it was in Apple's favor — was so surprising that I contacted Dell to confirm that I had not made a mistake in configuring its workstation.

Dell spokesman Marco Pena suggested that the numbers might be closer after configuring the Mac to include a three-year warranty similar to the Dell offering. "But I think we're still going to end up a little higher than the Mac," he said.

"The results were a bit surprising to me too," he said. "But it is what it is."

Not surprising to me or my Floridian friend.

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Nitro Express
08-29-2006, 02:09 PM
My MacBook turned out to be cheaper than a Windows laptop because it came with a lot more software. I have had zero problems and it does not overheat either.

I bought iMacs for my busineess and now run my office with OSX Tiger. I couldn't be happier.

DrMaddVibe
08-29-2006, 02:42 PM
I just bought an iMac 20" w/ all the bells and whistles.

I've been a part of some beta testing for M$'s "Vista"...I refuse to give Bill any more of my money. It took black/white hats less that 4 hours to hack into XP when it was still in beta mode. Recently it took less than 4 minutes for Vista! Yeah, sure tools have gotten better, but don't expect this to be the be all end all that M$ is touting.

Nitro Express
08-29-2006, 11:35 PM
Sevral software developers who where hired by Microsoft to develop parts of Vista quite because they said the project was a disorganized clusterfuck.

Microsoft deffinately never meant quality. What have they ever really developed? MS-DOS was purchased and resold. Windows has always been a piece of shit interface based on what Apple developped. MS Word was stollen from Wordperfect and Excell was stollen from Lotus 123.

Bill Gates is no software developer, he's a cunning negotiator that buys or reverse engineers other people's products and sells them.

Even the highly touted X-Box was a dissapointment last christmas because the wireless remotes didn't work and the fan in the thing sounded like a Fridgedaire refrigerator on it's last leg. I get that damn fan was so loud you couldn't hear the game over it. Yeah, that's quality.

VAN HLN CA
08-30-2006, 05:33 AM
The Unix O/S of X has proven flawless in every version thus far, my PC is only used when im opening files native to Windows.

The longer you guys delve into X the more sure youll never go backwards again. Now with the Intel chips its pure reliance 24/7.

DrMaddVibe
08-30-2006, 12:38 PM
Originally posted by van hln CA
The Unix O/S of X has proven flawless in every version thus far, my PC is only used when im opening files native to Windows.

The longer you guys delve into X the more sure youll never go backwards again. Now with the Intel chips its pure reliance 24/7.


Parallels Desktop for Mac

FORD
08-30-2006, 12:51 PM
The proposed $399 price tag that Micro$oft announced for the full version of Windows Vista probably isn't going to help matters much.

If I were Steve Jobs, I'd take that story and run with it during the Christmas shopping season, selling the Mac mini for $399, which is about $150 below its current price.

The tagline? "For the price of Windows Vista, you can get a whole new computer!! (better operating system included at no extra charge)"

He could always drop the price on the other Mac models while he's at it......

DrMaddVibe
08-30-2006, 02:06 PM
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