[opendtv] Re: Value Proposition
- From: Kon Wilms <kon@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 10:38:08 -0800
On Thu, 2005-01-13 at 12:00 -0500, Craig Birkmaier wrote:
> A PC that might match the capabilities of the $499 Mac Mini?
Match an inferior product? Well...
> Does your cheap PCs have Firewire?
The HP I looked at did. For $15 more or such. But most had USB 2.0.
Firewire isn't such a big thing on PCs, remember. I thought of how many
usb2.0 devices I have, versus firewire, and nixed it. The dell had 6 USB
2.0 ports - you don't even need a hub.
> Does it have the equivalent of an ATI Radion 9200 with 32 MB of graphics ram?
A radeon 9200SE is nothing to write home about. Most have Intel Extreme
chipsets, which clip 160fps on games like wolfenstein. Good enough for
bargain basement gaming. The whole system ram for GPU ram is a point
apple harps on (and its valid) - but they then compare against a
low-balled 9200 chipset, which makes no sense.
> Does it have a DVI output?
You want a cheap system, but you require DVI? Thats nonsensical. I can't
see a person who has a $188 PC forking out for a DVI monitor that costs
more than the PC. Thats why they have no DVI.
Anyhow, to please you I found a GeForce MX4000 with DVI and 64Mb ram for
$32 on Pricewatch. Integrated motherboard DVI is much cheaper.
> Does it include a modem?
Some do. But thats irrelevant. I found a new 56k PCI modem online for...
$5. If you sign up with a internet provider, many throw in a modem
gratis.
> Does it include 10/100Mbps Ethernet?
Ofcourse.
> How much does it cost to add Bluetooth or an 802.11G Wifi card?
802.11abg is around 40 bucks extra across the board. Half the price of
the mac counterpart.
> Sorry Kon, but you are not comparing Apples and PCs.
Sure I am. I even upped the features on the PCs (like the dual layer
burner). For the price of a superdrive @ $100 you could add a dual layer
dvd burner, modem, and a/b/g card to your bargain PC. Hows that?!
> And even if you can buy a PC with the same capabilities (including
> iLife wannabees) for the same price or slightly less what do you have?
iLife is nothing more than a bundled suite of media utilities. How many
people use all of these? And as I said before, any PC component comes
with a glut of these (DVD burners come with nero, powerdvd for free).
The only thing I they have that the PC does not is garageband - but I
don't have much need for a guitar tuner, nor does the vast public out
there.
> A cheap PC.
And thats the bottom line. Or is this Mac Mini not trying to compete in
that market?
Note that PC users looking for a budget system usually build their own
or buy something cheap and add the extra parts to it after the fact.
More here
http://shopper.cnet.com/Desktops/4007-3118_9-0.html?tag=sh.pfprice&minPrice=0&maxPrice=500
And we haven't touched Overstock, Outpost, and eBay.
Also note that your warranty on your Mac Mini is void if you upgrade the
RAM yourself. A gig of ram COSTS MORE than any of the PC systems I have
listed. RAM for the Mini.... or the base Mac Mini and a full PC....
hmmmmm.. you could own both! :)
Still, I do like the Mini. In fact I'm tempted to buy one. But your
zealotry may well prevent me.. :)
Cheers
Kon
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
