Price Gouging OS 9 Users

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
For all those who are thanking their lucky stars that they bought a dual 867 when they could, here is one more reason: Apple charges $100 premium on the OS9 machine which does not even have FW 800 or Airport Extreme! Observe the following prices:



OS 9 Machine:

$2,499.00

Dual 1.25GHz PowerPC G4

2MB L3 cache/processor

512MB DDR333 SDRAM

120GB Ultra ATA drive

SuperDrive

ATI Radeon 9000 Pro

Mac OS 9 boot supported



New Machine:

$1,999.00

Dual 1.25GHz PowerPC G4

1MB L3 cache/processor

256MB DDR333 SDRAM

80GB Ultra ATA/100

Combo Drive

ATI Radeon 9000 Pro

64MB DDR video memory

FireWire 800

56K internal modem

Bluetooth Ready



BTO:

$2,399.00

Dual 1.25GHz PowerPC G4

1MB L3 cache/processor

512MB DDR333 SDRAM

120GB Ultra ATA/100

SuperDrive

ATI Radeon 9000 Pro

64MB DDR video memory

FireWire 800

56K internal modem

Bluetooth Ready



Talk amongst yourselves...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    You seem to be ignoring the cache difference, and that in itself can make a noticeable price diff (maybe not $100), but the "rip-off" isn't as bad as you make this sound.
  • Reply 2 of 12
    emaneman Posts: 7,204member
    OS 9 is dead. Be glad they still sell Macs that boot in OS 9. It's not like you can't use Classic on the other Macs.
  • Reply 3 of 12
    Fair enough. Is the increase in L3 from 1MB to 2MB enough to compensate for the absence of FW800, the absence of an airport extreme option, a noisier case, AND a $100 price premium?



    I think not.



    As for Classic, my experience is that Classic is an imperfect substitute.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    jlljll Posts: 2,713member
    [quote]Originally posted by joesph mother:

    <strong>Fair enough. Is the increase in L3 from 1MB to 2MB enough to compensate for the absence of FW800, the absence of an airport extreme option, a noisier case, AND a $100 price premium?



    I think not.



    As for Classic, my experience is that Classic is an imperfect substitute.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    How many Power Mac owners do you think are using AirPort?



    Furthermore the Mac OS 9 model has the same fans as the new Power Macs, which are less noisy.
  • Reply 5 of 12
    telomartelomar Posts: 1,804member
    [quote]Originally posted by joesph mother:

    <strong>the absence of FW800, the absence of an airport extreme option</strong><hr></blockquote>



    To make use of those additions they'd need to update the system itself. It has been obvious for quite some time that Apple wasn't updating OS 9 anymore and OS 9 users would be left behind on new hardware.
  • Reply 6 of 12
    If you need to run OS 9, buy a used Quicksilver from somewhere. Right now there is not a whole lot of difference between a 733/G4 and dual 1.4/G4 in Mac OS 9. Mac OS X is different since it's more SMP-savvy, but the fact remains, the current line of PowerMacs are not a very good value for Mac OS 9 users.
  • Reply 7 of 12
    serranoserrano Posts: 1,806member
    [quote]Originally posted by joesph mother:

    <strong>Fair enough. Is the increase in L3 from 1MB to 2MB enough to compensate for the absence of FW800, the absence of an airport extreme option, a noisier case, AND a $100 price premium?



    I think not.



    As for Classic, my experience is that Classic is an imperfect substitute.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    YES IT IS. Airport extreme is so essential to your wirless tower network? Get serious. You don't know what you're talking about if you'd trade an extra megabyte PER PROCESSOR of L3 for firewire 800. Tell me, how many firewire 400 peripherals do you own?



    All Apple is doing is continuing to sell the old machine. Be glad they're doing that. OS 9 is dead. Relax. And don't post <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=002044"; target="_blank">redundant</a>, <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=002020"; target="_blank">and doubly redundant</a> threads.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    I take issue with the claim that this is redundant. My point is that the pricing is high and that they are doing this because they have people who need OS 9 boot capabilities over a barrel.



    The pricing point I believe warranted a new thread.



    But the Ebay point is well taken.
  • Reply 9 of 12
    murbotmurbot Posts: 5,262member
    I don't believe it's redundant either. It was started a day before the first thread you compare it to serrano, and the second thread you mention is a general discussion of the fact that ALL of the current Macs on the market are the last ones that are going to boot OS9.



    While you might not agree with what he's saying, I think discussing the pricing of the only OS9 booting PowerMacs available is fine in it's own thread.
  • Reply 10 of 12
    You're also comparing machines at different price points. The OS9 dual was the former top end machine, which sold at the "fastest" price point. The new OS X model is in the mid-level range.



    It isn't being done to rip-off OS 9 users. This happens everytime there's an upgrade, where the mid-level approaches or meets the former high level machine in processor speed. Pricing on the old high-end machine drops by only a few hundred dollars, which makes the new mid-level machine look like a bargain.



    [ 01-30-2003: Message edited by: jesperas ]</p>
  • Reply 11 of 12
    squashsquash Posts: 332member
    I look at it this way...Apple doesn't want to support OS 9 anymore. So if you for some reason want to use 9 for quark?...I really can't imagine what else you'd use 9 for now with most, if not all important apps in OS X native now.



    Apple is going to stick it to you, and you know what, you deserve it. Bitch at quark, because we all know that they are the only reason or most of the reason 9 isn't totally dead now. Deal with it and move on.



    Apple has planned on killing 9 for some time now, feel lucky or unlucky if you ask me....that you still have an option of machines for 9
  • Reply 12 of 12
    Who needs a DP 1.25 Ghz for OS 9 anyhow. Buy an iMac, iBook, or eMac. OS 9 barely notices the second processor anyhow. If you really need the PCI, there's <a href="http://www.ebay.com"; target="_blank">eBay</a>.
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