Cost of Apple repairs Vs PC

[mightymouse]

if you know someone who goes to the uni or in higher education you can get applecare for like £40 great savings

[arthurleung]

Just to add salt to the wound,

I just bought an Inspiron 1525 with exact same spec (T8300/2G/250G) as the Macbook
WITH 3-Year In-house warranty. And a nice cover (Spring Green)

For just £455! delivered
Oh, the same config would cost £1100 with Apple Care.

Well, I know its NOT 13" and its 0.4" Thicker, but £1100 vs £455. Even including the HE discount you're still looking at a VERY large price premium.

[GoNz0]

all the mac fanboys are too shocked to reply

good on ya

[Spud1]

Just to add salt to the wound,

I just bought an Inspiron 1525 with exact same spec (T8300/2G/250G) as the Macbook
WITH 3-Year In-house warranty. And a nice cover (Spring Green)

For just £455! delivered
Oh, the same config would cost £1100 with Apple Care.

Well, I know its NOT 13" and its 0.4" Thicker, but £1100 vs £455. Even including the HE discount you're still looking at a VERY large price premium.

Well no, its not the exact same spec.

1) No OSX/iLife
2) Bigger screen (increases size + weight)
3) Poorer Battery life
4) No MagSafe
5) No webcam (unless you custom order..so thats possible to add for £20)
6) No Wireless N networking (only b/g)
7) No Bluetooth

Sure its a good price I won't argue with that, and the specs are pretty similar - but there are also some big differences, AND that was on a special offer to get it for that price. Ultimately the macbook is smaller, lighter and (although this doesnt matter) better looking. They are different products aimed at different markets..if you just want a PC laptop then Dell will be cheapest 9/10 times (doesnt apply to workstations..dell's version of the mac pro is 2x the cost and the dell is still of lower spec)..but most people who buy apple kit want a mac with all the benefits that brings - mainly OSX.

[arthurleung]

Well no, its not the exact same spec.

1) No OSX/iLife
2) Bigger screen (increases size + weight)
3) Poorer Battery life
4) No MagSafe
5) No webcam (unless you custom order..so thats possible to add for £20)
6) No Wireless N networking (only b/g)
7) No Bluetooth

Sure its a good price I won't argue with that, and the specs are pretty similar - but there are also some big differences, AND that was on a special offer to get it for that price. Ultimately the macbook is smaller, lighter and (although this doesnt matter) better looking. They are different products aimed at different markets..if you just want a PC laptop then Dell will be cheapest 9/10 times (doesnt apply to workstations..dell's version of the mac pro is 2x the cost and the dell is still of lower spec)..but most people who buy apple kit want a mac with all the benefits that brings - mainly OSX.

Actually, it came with 2MP Webcam and Intel 802.11n, as well as Dell Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
Well, whether OSX, Megsafe and the small weight advantage worth more than twice the price is people's choice.

[Gordy]

The inspiron isn't in the same league quality wise either.

The Dell XPS range are a close match to the apple's and are very good little machines. I've bought several for clients and was very impressed with them. They are a lot better than the standard dell laptops.

When I was upgrading my macbook pro, I had a good look at the XPS M1530 and its was much cheaper, though at the time had a terrible screen. If OS X could have been run on it easily with updates I would have struggle not to get one.

[shiato storm]

dell are quite odd with their screens, the current resolutions on the 1530 are a joke, 1280x on a machine like that? not sure what they were thinking, perhaps they've changed it since I last checked but that was all they offerd on their top level of that model...
that said their tft screens have been highly regarded for some time. I've got the 2407 and its awesome

[Gordy]

dell are quite odd with their screens, the current resolutions on the 1530 are a joke, 1280x on a machine like that? not sure what they were thinking, perhaps they've changed it since I last checked but that was all they offerd on their top level of that model...
that said their tft screens have been highly regarded for some time. I've got the 2407 and its awesome

Yeah they now offer higher resolutions on them, which used to only be available in the US. You can now get these options:

15.4" Widescreen™ WXGA (1280x800)
15.4" Widescreen WXGA+ (1440x900)
15.4" Widescreen WUXGA (1920x1200)

So much better than before.

[shiato storm]

curious, looks like they skipped the 1600x res. step that you get with other 15" machines ...

[TheAnimus]

It is intresting that people say they buy cover for their laptops. I've never done.

I've only ever had one laptop die, and that was 7 years ago now!

I'm at my parents atm, so on my cheap-ass fujitusu siemens lapotp, loverly screen good built quality, striped raid for hdd performance. TPM enabled in ultimate for security etc.

Laptop cost £700 over half a year ago. If anything goes wrong within 12 months its easy to get it repaired, if its longer its still covered by expected product life.

I've just never had a failure with a laptop, but that i think is in part in how i use them. Good carry skin, inside a carry bag. If using the laptop in bed, put it on a magazine or something over the fan vent. Every 6 months vaccume the dust out.

Simple.

When things do go wrong often its because of abuse, i've a clevo chassis that this happened too, and two red lines appeared on the TFT. about 10 minuites on the hot air re-working station fixed that, at a cost of £30. Granted if i didn't live near london where someone had the station you could add £20 for P&P but still.

Enless you need a garenteed 24 hour swap out service, i just can't see the point for the home user. But if your buying an Apple i guess it does make some sense, even if you use 3rd party repair people (like macmend off of tottenham court road) their still damn expensive for parts, and curiously most people i know with apples have used this service. I don't know anyone who's said apple are using high grade components, but their is a hudge premium on buying them.

[Pirate Pete]

are you saying that you'd never buy a macbook because they cost so much to repair? if yes, then i agree that the price is high, but i've had the one i've got for over a year, and it was already a year old when i bought it and it's been fine (touch wood!)]
If you're a student, then you get 3 years apple care for about £66 anyway, so it's quite a good deal.

yeah, and if you are a student you also get 3 years repair coverage warranty anyway - all in all, a very good deal compared to what it would be

[Quack]

Suggesting mac hardware is expensive is lagely a myth - most macs are pretty decent value.

The cost of repairs on the other hand are a complete rip off - some of the prices are insane - and that's before the ridiculous labour costs.

Repairs costs are eaily the worst thing about macs.

[moogle]

Suggesting mac hardware is expensive is lagely a myth - most macs are pretty decent value.

Which ones? The iMac 20" is £141 more than it's more powerful (with more ram) equivalent Dell PC or £279 more than it's equivalent Scan collection of parts.

Performance-wise I wouldn't say it's decent value. Looks-wise yeah I suppose it is.