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Apple Announces New iBooks
vasqzr writes "Apple has announced new iBooks. New features include G4 processor up to 1.33GHz, built-in wireless networking capability, a DVD-burning SuperDrive and up to 1.25GB of memory. G5 PowerBooks can only be closer...They also show a single processor 1.8GHz G5 PowerMac desktop for $1,499"
Screw Walt Mossberg! I'm looking at the web sites right now, and the prices aren't even *close*! For the same price as a Mac, I can get a kick ass PC, with interchangeable parts, no vendor lock in, tons and tons of supported applications (more importantly, business applications). They'd be great for say, my grandmother, who would never need to upgrade, and who would never really need to install any apps, but in a business setting, unless you're in the graphics industry, they're pretty, very expensive doorstops.
I don't respond to AC's.
The WSJ is full of it. I think they do a great job of reporting business but they are not techies. Here are some facts they forgot: 1) Apple's ship time is 2-3 weeks, Dell is 24 hours on most boxes, about 5-7 days on custom orders. if your company needs a machine you are not going to wait. Lost time = lost money. 2) Who cares about ugly or bulky? It's under the desk or in a rack somewhere. I don't see it. All I have on the desk is the keyboard, mouse and monitor. 3) Why does the average user need XP Pro? That just increases the price. 4) A totally tricked out 4600 is right at $1500 and you get a FREE printer. A middle of the road 4600 is about 1100. LESS than the base G5, and equal performance. You can also now get Dell to ship the box with Linux. Add wireless and 512MB of memory to the G5 and you hit $1500. 5) The base 4600 has 512MB memory the G5 has 256MB 6) Wireless comes with the 4600, it's an upgrade to the Apple G5. 7) With Linux the 4600 will run rings around the G5. The 1.8 Ghz PPC is a good chip but its not going to beat a 2.8Ghz P4. For $27 I can up my p4 to 3.0 Ghz, I can't up the G5 CPU speed w/o spending $200. For that $200 I can get the 3.4Ghz P4 and have money left over! If you really want to compare "bang for the buck" the Dell wins. If you want coolness factor and being different the Apple wins. Frankly being cool and different is NOT important to the business user and also is not to the average home user.
ow if you actually started to configure that 469 deal with "firewire" and other features the mac includes and a decent gfx card to match, it ends up costing more. This is known as reeling people in with "bait". That monitor they include is a piece of crap and nobody in their right mind would used that on a daily basis with it's low refresh rates that make even the Emac monitor look bad.
I've *never* even seen a Firewire device, so that's useless to us. Graphics aren't really necessary at work. VGA 800x600 is just fine. I'd have to spend MORE money to get parallel and serial ports installed in a Mac (if they even exist). And no I didn't even look at the iBooks because I know that they don't have parallel or serial ports or PS2 ports, making them useless for us.
I don't respond to AC's.
Go into an Apple store during the Christmas season, after Apple releases one of their new products, and ask "Are you going to get these things in?" They'll say, "I don't know, Apple doesn't tell us and we don't find out until the shipment arrives at the store." And this is an Apple store, not some random reseller!
I love some of my Apple products. But screw Apple for burning its customers so often (like the time I bought QuickTime 5.2 nine days before QuickTime 6 came out, and Apple wouldn't upgrade me.) That's how Apple makes money on upgrades. A poor sap buys an iBook and then two weeks later, a new one comes out. Said sap thinks "man, this thing is already behind the curve and I'll definitely have to upgrade again next year!". Screw Apple for pulling this shit.
Whenever I recommend an Apple product to someone, I always warn them about this shit that Apple pulls. Since most Apple customers have sworn fealty to Apple since birth, they don't care if Apple pulls this shit.
I recommend that people don't buy an Apple product unless it's just been released. Otherwise, it's going to be obsoleted within a very short time, and you're going to feel screwed.
What's the difference between Apple and a prostitute? When you get screwed for money by Apple, it doesn't feel good.
For that I got an AMD64 laptop, DVD-RW, Wireless, Firewire, 3xUSB, widescreen display.
Sorry, Apple still have a lot of catching up to do.
G4s are suckingly slow (The 2.8Ghz P4 you mention is a lot faster, and not just in benchmarks either - I've used both).