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Is the Dell XPS One Better than the Apple iMac?
An anonymous reader writes "The Apple iMac is probably the standard all-in-one desktop computer. Great operating system, built-in software and design around solid, but pretty normal, hardware guts. According to Walter Mossberg, there's a new kid in town that not only matches it but is 'sightly ahead': the Dell XPS One. His latest review is already causing the usual suspects to weigh in. Mossberg says it is a better machine, but Vista and its built-in software make it inferior than Apple iMac's Leopard and iLife suite. Would you choose the better hardware of the Dell XPS One -which is more expensive- or the elegant design and software of the Apple iMac?"
I don't quite understand why they rate the XPS one higher than the iMac.
First off, let's compare tech specs.
iMac (Low-end) $1199
20" wsxga+ screen
1GB Ram
250GB HDD
Dual Layer DVD burner
ATI Radeon HD 2400XT (128MB)
802.11n Wireless
XPS ONE (Low-End) $1399
20" wsxga+ screen
2GB Ram
250GB HDD
DVD burner Integrated Video
"WiFi" (doesn't say which)
Now notice that the only thing the dell beats the mac in is memory. However, for $150 you can upgrade to the same amount when you order an iMac (or get a stick on newegg for half that), and have a machine that still is $50 LESS (and with a real video card, a dual layer burner, and guaranteed 802.11n). Gizmodo also already agreed that Leopard was the better operating system (see the link in the article below the video). So this begs me to ask, why do they consider the more expensive, less equipped, and weaker operating system computer better than the other?
Yes but if you don't build fences, houses, or furniture but you do do case modes, build models, or other small craft style jobs then the Dremel tool is a better tool for you!
It probably includes Photoshop Elements and not full Photoshop.
My wife is really into digital scrapbooking. She has both Photoshop Elements and Gimp. She actually likes Gimp more than Elements.
From what I have seen iLife is a good tool for the average user.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
The imac was not designed for price, it was designed for all-in-one ergonomics, fitting into a lounge setting and all of that. As in, if it isn't all-in-one it really isn't in the running.
Before you jump on the specs, find out what actually comes in the box. The Dell has a faster CPU; 2.2GHz vs 2.0 in the Mac, as well as a tv tuner, more RAM, and A/B/G/N wireless. The video card? The 2400XT 128MB is something of a joke card and not really worth bringing into this argument. Integrated video will stand up just fine comparatively. The rest of the specs are the same, and yet you are here insisting the Mac has better hardware? Try again.
Sounds to me like both you and your dad need to spend five minutes downloading some free programs. With AVG, ZoneAlarm, Spybot, and Firefox, I haven't gotten a single virus or piece of spyware in over three years...except for hardware and software updates, haven't needed to reboot in nearly 8 months, either.
It's extremely easy to secure (and keep secure) a Windows box... While I agree that you shouldn't NEED to, it's still very easy to do...and the best part is, none of the software will cost you a penny. Legally.
Living With a Nerd
Actually, the 24" iMac is a great deal if you're looking for a professional LCD.
It uses a H-IPS panel, which provides great color accuracy, contrast, and brightness from almost any viewing angle. There are only a couple other 24" H-IPS displays on the market, and they cost $1250-$1500. Yes, just for the screen.
So, in effect, you're getting the rest of the iMac for $300-$550.
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
What I would do, of course, is wait a couple of weeks to see what they release at MacWorld before considering buying any Mac this time of year.
-30-
Yes, but "good" LCDs have gotten extremely inexpensive these days. The display on the iMac is just about as good as you're going to get, and the glass surface is a huge plus -- I just got done deploying a couple hundred of the new aluminium iMacs in a school district, and I've got to say that All-in-one design is AMAZING for our purposes, with the indestructible glass screens as icing on the cake.
Likewise, I predict that extremely-high-resolution displays are just over the horizon. It's almost 2008 -- we should be able to make a display that can at least come *close* to the resolution of a laser printer. Take a look at the financial section of your newspaper, hold it up next to your computer screen, and you'll realize just how poor our current display technology is. In 4 years time, when it's time to replace your Dell or iMac, I imagine that you'll want a better monitor.
Either way, I'm sticking with Apple. The Dell doesn't have any compelling features over Apple, and the price frankly isn't that good either. Being able to run Mac OS *or* any version of Windows (simultaneously if you want) on the iMac is the dealbreaker, considering that just about every other aspect of the machine is the same.
-- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
"Good" LCDs are not inexpensive, only "lame/good enough" LCDs are. The cheap LCDs you find today are all TN panels guaranteed to have horrible viewing angles and 18bit (262,144) color, if not additional gotchas like backlight bleeding and few OSD options like scaling modes. Good panels are still expensive, and are in practice going out of production. The only panels you're going to find that are genuinely "good" are IPS panels, which offer true 24bit (16,777,216) color with excellent color accuracy and a viewing angle that comes extremely close to the entire range of the LCD. Unfortunately these cost more to make resulting in everyone ceasing to make them for the consumer/prosumer segment; NEC is retiring its prosumer IPS-based LCDs and they were the last holdout.
Your choices these days are lame TN-based LCDs, or slightly better but still inferior MVA/PVA-based LCDs. The consumer market decided it wanted cheap LCDs, not good LCDs.
The original Macintosh, from 1984 was an all-in-one. It's been their mantra under Steve, and will continue to be. Having an easy to use computer that you can also move at will by just unplugging one power cord, moving it, and then just plugging it back in is nice, and always has been. The question is why have all other attempts at duplicating this idea sucked so much, for so long?
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
or something like that?
According to the Fool Apple's market share is 6.3% slice of the domestic PC market, twice what you say. However that's still a small share of the market. However it looks as if Apple Macintosh Computers Likely To Gain Market Share. And a Wharton Prof Debunks Market Share Myth.
FalconShould there be a Law?
"Flex fuel" is bullshit. All it means is that they use slightly better rubber hoses and have extra programming in the ECU. It doesn't actually help anything (at least not until ethanol from sources other than corn is widely available); it's just a way for US auto makers (in collusion with the corn lobby) to weasel out of real improvements!
Yea, corn gets all the publicity while sugar cane is a better feed source than corn and Switchgrass is even better than sugar. Corn gets it because the corn lobby is big and they get a lot of subsidies.
FalconShould there be a Law?
From Wikipedia on Industrial Design: "Industrial Design (ID) is the professional service of creating and developing concepts and specifications that optimize the function, value and appearance of products and systems for the mutual benefit of both user and manufacturer."
Virtualization isn't really a joke, but I've had nothing but bad luck with Parallels. It has corrupted my Windows startup partition three times, and caused my first ever kernel panic in OSX (I've been using since 10.0). It even broke booting up in Bootcamp mode because of whatever it did to Windows.
The 2007WFP hasn't been an IPS panel in a while. Dell introduces new panels using IPS for good reviews, then switches to a panel lottery where they use whatever panel they want to. These days you won't find an IPS 2007WFP, they're all PVA/MVA. Dell would use TNs if they could get away with it.