Ripcord
Senior Lurker
Trying to retain my title as "gripiest user on macosx.com"...
What's up with Apple system prices?
How, for example, is a 1.25Ghz G4 STILL $1300, sans monitor?
It was a tiny bit more reasonable a year ago, but today I can buy a 3Ghz P4 with 17" flat panel from Dell for $900. Granted, it's *still* a Dell and runs either Linux or Windows, but even with the slight G5 price restructuring, the price gap (chasm) is becoming uncrossable. I nearly had my dad convinced he could switch until he realized what he could get for the price of an eMac, or for the $2000 that Apple is charging for the high-end of the low-end systems (I consider the 1.6ghz G5 as the "mid-range". $2000 is 1.25ghz G4+monitor).
And yes, I do feel my 1.25ghz home system is a bit too slow for general home use. Even my dual 2gig G5 at work is beginning to feel performance pressure - our new batch of 1.4ghz pentium Ms runs the number-crunching apps we run over 80% as fast as the G5s.
...And $700 for a 17" monitor is ridiculous nowadays. I LOVE my dual 20"/17" setup at work, but I need to replace an aging 20" CRT at home and there's NO WAY I can justify the monitor prices, as nice as they are.
I know I'm whining here, but while the rest of the world has been seeing a steady downward shift in prices, things seem to have been standing still at Apple for what, 9+ months now? What gives? Isn't this killing their sales?
They may be making a killing, margin-wise, but eventually the buying flood begins to die off. I've said before, 3% market share is unsustainable, and Apple needs to be focused on growing that, not gouging its existing customer base...
What's going on at Apple? It's just too quiet, maybe they're waiting to unleash a surprise round of hardware, price cuts, etc? Of course, that's what we said a couple of months ago...
What's up with Apple system prices?
How, for example, is a 1.25Ghz G4 STILL $1300, sans monitor?
It was a tiny bit more reasonable a year ago, but today I can buy a 3Ghz P4 with 17" flat panel from Dell for $900. Granted, it's *still* a Dell and runs either Linux or Windows, but even with the slight G5 price restructuring, the price gap (chasm) is becoming uncrossable. I nearly had my dad convinced he could switch until he realized what he could get for the price of an eMac, or for the $2000 that Apple is charging for the high-end of the low-end systems (I consider the 1.6ghz G5 as the "mid-range". $2000 is 1.25ghz G4+monitor).
And yes, I do feel my 1.25ghz home system is a bit too slow for general home use. Even my dual 2gig G5 at work is beginning to feel performance pressure - our new batch of 1.4ghz pentium Ms runs the number-crunching apps we run over 80% as fast as the G5s.
...And $700 for a 17" monitor is ridiculous nowadays. I LOVE my dual 20"/17" setup at work, but I need to replace an aging 20" CRT at home and there's NO WAY I can justify the monitor prices, as nice as they are.
I know I'm whining here, but while the rest of the world has been seeing a steady downward shift in prices, things seem to have been standing still at Apple for what, 9+ months now? What gives? Isn't this killing their sales?
They may be making a killing, margin-wise, but eventually the buying flood begins to die off. I've said before, 3% market share is unsustainable, and Apple needs to be focused on growing that, not gouging its existing customer base...
What's going on at Apple? It's just too quiet, maybe they're waiting to unleash a surprise round of hardware, price cuts, etc? Of course, that's what we said a couple of months ago...