Apple needs a cheaper Mac!!!

res

My sister, someone who has only owned Apple computers (Apple IIgs up through her dual g4 tower and iBook), just bought her 5 year old daughter a Compaq for $400 (including the monitor). She would have preferred to get her Mac, but did not want to spend the extra $400 it would take to get the 800MHz eMac.



I don't think that Apple needs to match the lowest priced PCs, they just need to get close enough so they can compete. If Apple had a $599.00 Mac in the lineup, my niece would probably not be stuck with a Compaq.



I'm firmly in the 'more power' camp (no personal computer is anywhere near fast enough to quench my undying thirst for speed ) so I'm usually much more interested in power than price, but seeing that nasty PC in my niece's room shocked me --something must be done to keep this horror form happening to other children.



Can Apple make a $599.00 Mac and still have a large enough margin?

pensieve

You get what you pay for. At $400, that's not much. The $799 eMac is a real computer. (And it's $749 if you've got an Ed. discount.)

ipeon

Quote:

Originally posted by Res

My sister, someone who has only owned Apple computers (Apple IIgs up through her dual g4 tower and iBook), just bought her 5 year old daughter a Compaq for $400 (including the monitor).

There's just no excuse for that. Specially coming from a Mac user. What's wrong with a used iMac for her 5 year old daughter?

nofeer

Quote:

Originally posted by iPeon





There's just no excuse for that. Specially coming from a Mac user. What's wrong with a used iMac for her 5 year old daughter?

exactly...my thoughts exactly...used macs keep good value and most stuff for that age is dual platform, get the child used to the best. you can get an iMac dv400 like mine for 400 and it's good for years. great quality and the child could get a cool color and airport

chrome14

Quote:

Originally posted by NOFEER

exactly...my thoughts exactly...used macs keep good value and most stuff for that age is dual platform, get the child used to the best. you can get an iMac dv400 like mine for 400 and it's good for years. great quality and the child could get a cool color and airport

Nofeer,



Where did you get your iMac dv400 for $400?? Online or locally?

nofeer

Quote:

Originally posted by Chrome14

Nofeer,



Where did you get your iMac dv400 for $400?? Online or locally?

i didn't buy one, i have one for some time, did a search for hard drives to find out what the original speed was since i am upgrading to a 100gb 7200rpm, and in my search had some listed for this amount, don't remember the site...sorry but i added ram, airport and now new HD so it's done me well and it looks cool in our study. i liked the colors, and macs make sense,(i have owned macs since 84 and only one time to take it for tech work which was due to my error--very reliable--people need to know this) to get a cheapo pc when you are already a mac person is just yuck, i'm trying to get rid of the dell and get a new laptop i would luv to have all macs all the time. but one program for teleradiology requires windows so i am trying to get it to work with vpc that will be an experiment, some on macfixit have helped to try with there vpc but not able yet.....yet

my wife wants a new laptop but not if it's some plain ol black box laptop from dell or even sony. apple makes the most stylish sooooooo

pensieve

If you look hard enough I'm sure you could find a classic iMac for $400. I bought an iMac DV 400 from Sears 2.5 YEARS ago for $500. It was an open box model, but I didn't need anything other than the keyboard and mouse. It's been going constantly as my family's primary computer since that time. (It serves their wifi network and printer. It's been great.)

pensieve

Smalldog. $400. It's a 2 year old computer, but it's a good one.

dmband0026

I've said it before (and so have many others) and I'll say it again. PeeCees cost less because they aren't built as well. I pay extra (not that much) for a Mac because I believe it to be a far superior product in almost every way. You don't want cheep, PeeCees are cheap. And who wants a PeeCee?

hmurchison

I tend to think about it like this.



When you buy a computer you're purchasing a Platform of Hardware Software and Accesories.



Those with miniscule budgets should really not be catered to by Apple. Apples resources are best utilized at a level in which they can make a profit and ensure that the owner supports the platform.



$400 compaqs sound nice but hell if price is the main consideration Wallmart probably still sells the $200 linux jobby.



If Apple could get the emac to 699 that would be nice but I don't expect Apple to offer any full fledged computer for any less than that. At least anytime soon.

res

My niece had been using her mothers old tangerine iBook (300MHz G3), but it was not running some of the newer software very well, so when it developed a problem with its track pad my sister decided it was time for a new computer. Getting a used one was never a consideration,



If Apple is going to increase market share it should not totally ignore the lower end of the market. As I said before, Apple should not try to match the razor thin margins of the $300-$400 systems, but I do think that they can sell a $600 Mac and still make large profit on it.



The price of all components have been going down, and the eMac has already dropped $200 since it was introduced last year. I think the trend will continue and Apple will come out with a $600 Mac sometime in the next year of so.

splinemodel

wishful thinking, but a basic knowledge of economics (and/or manufacturing) is enough to let one realize that Apple cannot make a $400 mac. generic PC's can be so cheap because they use shoddy components manufactured in ridiculous bulk. The motherboard, for example, of that compaq was probably $50 at the most. Since Apple does it's own hardware, it can't build so many iMac motherboards (or Emac mobos) to get the cost down so low. Nor, for that matter, is Motorola making so many G4's that they can sell em for $50 a piece.



The generic PC industry is entering a stage of near perfect competition. The prices are very low, but on the other hand, very few PC vendors are generating anything more than accounting profits at best. But they are price-takers and at the mercy of the market. Apple has some command over its specialized market, and as I think we'll start to see (and as Steve predicts) this will be good for Apple in the long term.



So, if you want a cheap, POS computer, that's what Compaq is there for. You may as well utilize them.

new

Refurbished emac, from apple, 549$

nofeer

porche would push it's "refurbished" as an entry level then they come up with the boxter, "cheaper" entry into porche but a totally different experience and such is porche people want the 911 and a group swears by boxter. when people look at a home computer most want value and that means not the cheapest but combo of things. my sister in law bought one of those cheap compaq pc and it was nothing but problems. apple doens't need to compete in this functionally minimal levels, give people some meat. so if apple can get a very functional emac ibook or imac (whichever price point that fits) in the under 800 range it will sell. give them panther, appleworks, expandble ram and airport and that's what 80%of people need. how much speed is needed, i'm on a dell 1.2gz 256 and dell wireless card, hey that works, most corps need much less, since they use internet and word. so what avenue can apple put an apple in your house, is it an emac, 12iBook i don't think it is the iMac. give them quality and sell security.

though refurbished is a way to get a cheaper mac, those are i feel left to those in the know, and are experienced mac people, how many homes buy used pc. they need a new with warranty out of the box 700-800- something with expandable ram and airport. what's cheaper a 17in crt or 12in lcd??? that's the big question, perhaps we could know component prices so see which can match that price point. I think apple will address this with the new emac and ibook renditions.



do you think emac will get a smaller crt or a totally cool allin one lcd with a 12lcd. make the 12 ibook in a fixed desktop design, put the cd player vertical behind the lcd thats cool

new

Quote:

Originally posted by NOFEER

porche would push it's "refurbished" as an entry level then they come up with the boxter, "cheaper" entry into porche but a totally different experience and such is porche people want the 911 and a group swears by boxter. when people look at a home computer most want value and that means not the cheapest but combo of things. my sister in law bought one of those cheap compaq pc and it was nothing but problems. apple doens't need to compete in this functionally minimal levels, give people some meat. so if apple can get a very functional emac ibook or imac (whichever price point that fits) in the under 800 range it will sell. give them panther, appleworks, expandble ram and airport and that's what 80%of people need. how much speed is needed, i'm on a dell 1.2gz 256 and dell wireless card, hey that works, most corps need much less, since they use internet and word. so what avenue can apple put an apple in your house, is it an emac, 12iBook i don't think it is the iMac. give them quality and sell security.

though refurbished is a way to get a cheaper mac, those are i feel left to those in the know, and are experienced mac people, how many homes buy used pc. they need a new with warranty out of the box 700-800- something with expandable ram and airport. what's cheaper a 17in crt or 12in lcd??? that's the big question, perhaps we could know component prices so see which can match that price point. I think apple will address this with the new emac and ibook renditions.

I don't see how this mac does not answer the needs of the original poster. Its got a 1 year warranty and the sister obviously knows how to work a mac.



Sure, there should be a cheaper mac, but there isn't. In The Real World© this is the cheapest mac you can get from Apple. And really not a bad deal.

matsu

The eMac is well overpriced for what you get. The same money from any major PC brand manufacturer gets you at least an LCD equipped machine. Solidly built, quiet and reliable at that.

majormatt

I got a G3/266 of eBay for $56. Yes, it works.

ipeon

Quote:

Originally posted by tonton

It's Porsche. And please capitalize, especially when you're prone to spelling and gramattical errors. Your post is almost unreadable.

This is the era of laziness... or is it lack of a good educational system?



By the way, "gramattical" is spelled grammatical.

res

Quote:

Originally posted by Splinemodel

wishful thinking, but a basic knowledge of economics (and/or manufacturing) is enough to let one realize that Apple cannot make a $400 mac. generic PC's can be so cheap because they use shoddy components manufactured in ridiculous bulk. The motherboard, for example, of that compaq was probably $50 at the most. Since Apple does it's own hardware, it can't build so many iMac motherboards (or Emac mobos) to get the cost down so low. Nor, for that matter, is Motorola making so many G4's that they can sell em for $50 a piece.

-Snip-

I agree with you that Apple can't make a $400 Mac now -- that's why I've been talking about a $600 Mac, which I think they can produce and still maintain decent profit.

res

Quote:

Originally posted by New

Refurbished emac, from apple, 549$

That probably would have done it, but it is out of stock.

beige_g3

Apple is not, nor should it be in the buisness of making cheap machines. Over time the Mac is the "real" deal anyway.