Comments on: iMac? $1601.37 reasons I will not switch anytime soon!

By: John

John — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:05:15 +0000

Yep. Of course it’s overpriced. You pay the brand as usual which means it’s overpriced. Apple’s products are (almost) all overpriced.

(I own a 27″ imac)

Peace

By: sohum

sohum — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:55:54 +0000

1. What’s the point? Why would you want to put a portable version video card into a desktop? Just so you can charge more?
2. I can’t bother to do the calculations now but the pixel density of the iMac is only a few pixels per inch better than a top-of-the-line SIPS display. You can dig around in the PCWorld forums if you want specifics. Also, Apple released a 27-inch model, which is the only one of its kind in the market, which suggests that it teamed up with the actual hardware manufacturer to get a custom display made. Once that manufacturer begins to (and is allowed to) sell that display to other monitor vendors, you will see the price drop significantly. Furthermore, the Apple iMac traditionally never has a price change through out its product lifecycle. That means towards the end of its life, Apple’s margins surprisingly grow even larger!
3. Are you beginning to nitpick on the costs of aesthetic details now? The statement “iMac so beautiful” is subjective and as such cannot be used in any sort of objective computation.
4. All my hardware purchases have limited lifetime warranty. You also forgot to mention that AppleCare protection costs another $169 before taxes to acquire. As for tech support, that is something I have never paid for and will never pay for.
5. I haven’t used it so I cannot comment. At the same time, if I bought 30″ IPS monitor (around $1000) that leaves me with a cap of around $600 to spend on the Magic Mouse and the “aluminium unibody backplate”. Again, I cannot justify spending that much money on a pointing device and an aesthetic piece that I will never see because its at the back of the computer.

By: Karthik Ramgopal

Karthik Ramgopal — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 07:49:00 +0000

1. The video card used in the iMacs is the mobility version and NOT the desktop version, so that’s bound to cost more, albeit while offering less performance than it’s desktop counterpart.
2. The LED backlit IPS display of the iMac is now among the best money can buy in the market. No Dell/Samsung/Viewsonic display even come near it’s contrast ratio, response time and viewing angles.
3. The aluminium unibody backplate that makes the iMac so beautiful and durable does not come cheap!
4. Apple support and warranty
5. The magic mouse is also one-of-it’s kind sporting a smooth capacitive surface for easy and intuitive gestures.

I agree any every product of Apple is grossly overpriced except for the Unibody plastic macbook, the iMac and the iPod Touch.

By: Spyware Blockers

Spyware Blockers — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:11:10 +0000

I have been reading your posts lately, just want to say thanks for all informative stuff i have found here, helped me learn alot lately.

Much Regards, Mark

By: tom

tom — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:53:07 +0000

Probably youre right. The same thing as India was in the country i originaly am from- Lithuania, some years ago. The apple computers used to be mystified because they were so much more expensive than PC (most people would buy custom build than branden ones) due to low demand and the demand was obviously low due to the price. Some sort of vicious circle. Now all prices in European Union are more or less the same.

By: sohum

sohum — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:53:16 +0000

That’s interesting that Apple seemingly subsidizes the European market. Of course, it may just be to capitalize on the bad rep that MS has got with Windows 7 and the EU, leading to the release of the “N” edition that allows users to select which browser they want to install.

It varies by place, though. For example, buying an iMac in India is extremely expensive, as is buying a branded PC (but that’s still going to cost less). Furthermore, buying an Apple in India is going to mean poor product support since there are so few service centers there. So it wouldn’t really be a good investment unless you really have the needs for that platform.

By: tom

tom — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:45:42 +0000

well you are lucky enough to pay american prices. Stuff is more expensive in Europe. Sometimes it seems that it would work out cheaper to go to USA and buy stuff if its something serious and you would get a free holiday.
couple years ago when the pound was stronger everything in USA seemed to be allmost half the British price….that’s a bitter reality here

By: sohum

sohum — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:21:20 +0000

Sorry to tell you, but that site is ripping you off.

Core i7-860: £228.85 = $380; retail price is $285
Gigabyte P55 UD5: £154.10 = $255; retail price is $210
Corsair Memory 4GB (2X2GB KIT) DDR3 1333MHZ 240PIN DIMM: £80.83 = $134; retail price is $102
Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS: £57.87 = $96; retail price is $85

Just on these four components you are already spending $183 more. That alone is the cost of picking up a copy of Windows 7 Pro Upgrade. If you take some time to look for deals, you can get them for even cheaper. For example, I got my WD Caviar Black 1TB hard-drive for $75 shipped–this is the “big brother” of the Caviar Green and runs at 7200rpm instead of variable. I’m sure their margins on graphics cards and the like are even higher.

It may just be that the market for computer components in the UK is not competitive. Keep in mind my blog was targeting the American market, where the computer components market is extremely competitive and miles cheaper than if you buy them from Apple.

By: tom

tom — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:49:09 +0000

the certainly aren’t booletproof. OK just did another build on dabs.com. £1540 quite similar system with no too fancy parts and no speakers(included windows pro and £300 monitor. imac for students with i7 Cost the same.

By: sohum

sohum — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:46:30 +0000

I definitely did not go with the cheapest PSU and cheap peripherals. I waited until the deals came out and then I purchased them. My case retails at $75… if I had waited a little longer I could have gotten it for $60. There are always deals if you are willing to wait. Your argument about “good quality hardware” has no basis whatsoever. After moving to Intel, it’s the same hardware inside the Apple and the conventional Windows PC. If you are building your own machine, you can actually guarantee that your hardware will actually be better. I guarantee you’ll still come out on top with regards to price.

I would really like to see a breakdown of your price since that seems way overpriced to me. This is proven by the fact that you can customize an OEM PC (from Dell, HP, etc.) and get it for less than a Mac with the same specs. Even the all-in-one editions.

Finally, I did not put any consideration of “value” into price because that is highly subjective. You may value Apple support as being worth $500 but as someone who has never called Tech Support for computer issues in his life, I would not be willing to part with that kind of money. Especially for a computer that is supposed to be bulletproof, if its media propaganda is to be believed. I am looking at pure, hard numbers and specifications. All my purchases have been made from reliable manufacturer’s–I have not made a punt on a component just because it was cheap.