Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

OWC: Mercury On-The-Go FW800+USB2 up to 1.0TB. Bus Powered, no external power supply needed. Macworld ‘Editor’s Choice’, CNET ‘Very Good’ Starting from $99.97, 500GB $159.99. Click here

Poker Mac Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Kitchens Sync

iMac Beats Dell XPS One on Price and Features

- 2008.08.06 - Tip Jar

Popularity: LEMLEMLEMLEM

del.icio.us Bookmark in del.icio.us

In the past, Apple's mainstream desktop model, the iMac, has been denigrated by the PC community as more expensive than models from companies such as Dell with comparable specs. However, none of these comparisons were really fair, as only Apple offered a model that combined the LCD panel with the computer, a design that Apple has used since the inception of the iMac G5.

Now one of the top desktop vendors worldwide, Dell, offers an all-in-one similar in design and specifications to the iMac. After analyzing the product selection, I have reached an interesting conclusion: Apple offers more value and a more diverse line up than Dell if you compare (no pun intended) apples to apples.

Dude, You're Overpaying for a Dell!

Dell's all-in-one desktop is known as the XPS One. The base model costs $1,299, $100 more than the base iMac, and it lacks in several areas. For instance, Dell, oddly enough, has chosen not to reveal the speed of the processors in this line up. Some people might be fine with this lack of information, but many users are not willing to play Russian roulette with their hardware specs.

A quick search reveals that the E4500 used in the base model runs at 2.2 GHz on an 800 MHz system bus with a 667 MHz memory bus. Since the memory bus speed is the same in all the models, I would conjecture that the E6550 is just a faster version of the E4500. Also, these bus speeds fall short, since they are the same as the previous iMac revision, which was discontinued in April.

The graphics systems also fall short compared to the iMac's. The lower two models come with vampire graphics, the same chipset used on the MacBook. The upper two selections almost match the base iMac's graphics, but they are the slower non-XT model (the iMac's Mobility Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics are equivalent to the desktop HD 2400). The only way to lose the speed-suckers is to pay at least $1,439 (after $300 of instant discounts).

Semi-related to the graphics is the screen size. No matter how much you pay, you get a 20" screen.

I must give the advantage to the XPS One in a few areas though. All selections come with a wireless keyboard and mouse, an integrated analog/digital TV tuner, and 2 GB of RAM. Also, the most expensive model includes a Blu-ray drive, something that no Mac currently offers.

One area that I believe matters almost as much as the specifications of the computer is the purchase process. Dell requires you to click through several pages of "customization", most of which have one choice that can't be changed. The pages that can be changed have large numbers of extra products that you can opt to tack on to your order.

Also, the operating system offerings are chosen quite strangely. The cheapest and the two more expensive models are stuck with Vista Home Premium. The second most expensive model is the only one that comes with Vista Ultimate, a strange omission for the higher-ups. It seems to be related to the fact that it is also the only (PRODUCT) RED branded model.

Simplicity and Selection Beat Confusion

Apple's iMac line not only starts at a lower price, but it offers powerful features that are only found on the more expensive of Dell's offerings.

But the one thing a price and features analysis completely ignores - and that completely tips the scale in the iMac's favor - is Apple itself. By buying a Mac, the user gets a much more secure, stable, and user-friendly operating system. Additionally, when problems crop up, the user can rely on the Genius Bar, Apple's online support database, and telephone support people who speak with an accent you can actually understand. (I once had a Dell support person with a heavy accent try to tell me his name was John Smith. When I expressed my doubt as to the veracity of this statement, he admitted I had caught him in a lie.) Macs also depreciate more slowly due to their longer life span, and when parts do break, it is usually easy to find a replacement. LEM

If you find Kevin's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

Recent Columns by Kev Kitchens

Links for the Day

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
  Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
  Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.

Custom Search

Amazon.com

Navigation

Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists

Favorite Sites

MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
   Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System 6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
   Mac FAQ
Abandonware
   Petition
Mac vs. PC Info

Affiliates

The Apple Store
Mac Connection
B&H
MacMall
TechRestore
ExperCom
Crucial Memory
batteries.com

Advertise

All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For price quotes and advertising information, please contact at BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.

Open Link

Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer 5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We recommend Firefox for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox than any other browser.