Well if you shop around dells site you can get a better deal. For instance,
Dell Precision 450 $1385
? Xeon Processor, 2.00GHz
? 256MB PC2100 ECC DDR - 2 DIMMS
? 80GB ATA-100 IDE, 1 inch (7200 rpm)
? NVIDIA Quadro2 NVS 280 64MB, VGA & DVI
? 48X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
? Windows® XP Professional
? Audigy 2 w/ 1394
? logitech optical 2btn+scroll
? removed modem & anti-virus
Apple Spec for low end Workstation: - $2058
? 1.6GHz PowerPC G5
? 256MB DDR333 SDRAM (PC2700) - 2x128
? 80GB Serial ATA - 7200 rpm
? NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
? Combo Drive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM)
? Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English
? Mac OS X - U.S. English
? Took Modem out and downgraded to Combo drive.
? applecare
? kensington optical 2btn+scroll
Differences include firewire 800 on powermac, floppy on the dell, pc2700 vs pc2100, SATA vs ATA100, quadro vs geforce fx, of course xeon vs 970, and the dell can add a 2nd processor I don't know if the 1.6Gig powermac can.
I couldn't figure out how to cut the dell support down to apple's so adding applecare meets the default dell support option(3yr, next day onsite). The dell ps/2 keyboard has no special buttons like the apple keybd so I left it. Most people use multi button + scroll mice and it matches the dell so I added it to the mac.
You could probably find a better combination on dell's site if you hunt enough, this is the first system I tried.
Your title to the thread is misleading then. I dont even think that this computer would be a minimum in the publishing industry anymore.....
We do lot of commercial color works, that needs the power, so that is the minimum business machines for us, I should have said, Minimum Workstation Configuration.
Well if you shop around dells site you can get a better deal. For instance,
Dell Precision 450 $1385
? Xeon Processor, 2.00GHz
? 256MB PC2100 ECC DDR - 2 DIMMS
? 80GB ATA-100 IDE, 1 inch (7200 rpm)
? NVIDIA Quadro2 NVS 280 64MB, VGA & DVI
? 48X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
? Windows® XP Professional
? Audigy 2 w/ 1394
? logitech optical 2btn+scroll
? removed modem & anti-virus
$1642 is the best I could get from Dell. You got special deal with Dell of something, I know we do, but not $200+ off the machine. !0% is the best discount we can get.
I even took out the Audigy and replaced it with regular FW card, but still could not get it lower then that.
As far as Warranty goes, I am willing to take the risk and hope that Apple's quality and that I will not need same day 4 Hrs service, I think I can do without that. Although It's great thing but I have yet to have this happen to us here. I can always drive it down to Apple Store in SoHo and get it fixed. And going do the SoHo isn't too bad for sight seeing, especially during Summer, if you guys know what I mean
$1642 is the best I could get from Dell. You got special deal with Dell of something, I know we do, but not $200+ off the machine. !0% is the best discount we can get.
I even took out the Audigy and replaced it with regular FW card, but still could not get it lower then that.
As far as Warranty goes, I am willing to take the risk and hope that Apple's quality and that I will not need same day 4 Hrs service, I think I can do without that. Although It's great thing but I have yet to have this happen to us here. I can always drive it down to Apple Store in SoHo and get it fixed. And going do the SoHo isn't too bad for sight seeing, especially during Summer, if you guys know what I mean
That $1385 price is still available on the plain, public, small business page. I don't have any corporate or edu discount. My point was that you won't get a good comparison if you start with a base of that old precision 340. The 450 has half the parts upgraded and is a few hundred less. Occassionally their rebates and specials will overlap and you can pickup systems or lcd panels real cheap. I almost picked up a 2Ghz p4 system a few months ago for ~$65.
I just went to Dell and looked at their desktops and notebooks. They are a joke. Their notebooks are "desktop replacements." One weighed almost 8 pounds. And they're just as or more expensive than PowerBooks. Their desktops don't touch G5s. I'm confident to say Apple is back in the value game.
Aquatic, you are right. I also went on Dell.com, and specced a Dual 3Ghz Xeon system. I gave it the most accurate and equivalent features as possible compared to those found on the 2Ghz PowerMac G5.
The Dell was more expensive. This is in England, btw, and the top of the range P4 chips are very expensive here, about £350 for one.
Comments
Dell Precision 450 $1385
? Xeon Processor, 2.00GHz
? 256MB PC2100 ECC DDR - 2 DIMMS
? 80GB ATA-100 IDE, 1 inch (7200 rpm)
? NVIDIA Quadro2 NVS 280 64MB, VGA & DVI
? 48X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
? Windows® XP Professional
? Audigy 2 w/ 1394
? logitech optical 2btn+scroll
? removed modem & anti-virus
Apple Spec for low end Workstation: - $2058
? 1.6GHz PowerPC G5
? 256MB DDR333 SDRAM (PC2700) - 2x128
? 80GB Serial ATA - 7200 rpm
? NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra
? Combo Drive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM)
? Apple Keyboard & Apple Mouse - U.S. English
? Mac OS X - U.S. English
? Took Modem out and downgraded to Combo drive.
? applecare
? kensington optical 2btn+scroll
Differences include firewire 800 on powermac, floppy on the dell, pc2700 vs pc2100, SATA vs ATA100, quadro vs geforce fx, of course xeon vs 970, and the dell can add a 2nd processor I don't know if the 1.6Gig powermac can.
I couldn't figure out how to cut the dell support down to apple's so adding applecare meets the default dell support option(3yr, next day onsite). The dell ps/2 keyboard has no special buttons like the apple keybd so I left it. Most people use multi button + scroll mice and it matches the dell so I added it to the mac.
You could probably find a better combination on dell's site if you hunt enough, this is the first system I tried.
Originally posted by @homenow
Your title to the thread is misleading then. I dont even think that this computer would be a minimum in the publishing industry anymore.....
We do lot of commercial color works, that needs the power, so that is the minimum business machines for us, I should have said, Minimum Workstation Configuration.
Originally posted by xmoger
Well if you shop around dells site you can get a better deal. For instance,
Dell Precision 450 $1385
? Xeon Processor, 2.00GHz
? 256MB PC2100 ECC DDR - 2 DIMMS
? 80GB ATA-100 IDE, 1 inch (7200 rpm)
? NVIDIA Quadro2 NVS 280 64MB, VGA & DVI
? 48X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
? Windows® XP Professional
? Audigy 2 w/ 1394
? logitech optical 2btn+scroll
? removed modem & anti-virus
$1642 is the best I could get from Dell. You got special deal with Dell of something, I know we do, but not $200+ off the machine. !0% is the best discount we can get.
I even took out the Audigy and replaced it with regular FW card, but still could not get it lower then that.
As far as Warranty goes, I am willing to take the risk and hope that Apple's quality and that I will not need same day 4 Hrs service, I think I can do without that. Although It's great thing but I have yet to have this happen to us here. I can always drive it down to Apple Store in SoHo and get it fixed. And going do the SoHo isn't too bad for sight seeing, especially during Summer, if you guys know what I mean
Originally posted by I.P.Freely
$1642 is the best I could get from Dell. You got special deal with Dell of something, I know we do, but not $200+ off the machine. !0% is the best discount we can get.
I even took out the Audigy and replaced it with regular FW card, but still could not get it lower then that.
As far as Warranty goes, I am willing to take the risk and hope that Apple's quality and that I will not need same day 4 Hrs service, I think I can do without that. Although It's great thing but I have yet to have this happen to us here. I can always drive it down to Apple Store in SoHo and get it fixed. And going do the SoHo isn't too bad for sight seeing, especially during Summer, if you guys know what I mean
That $1385 price is still available on the plain, public, small business page. I don't have any corporate or edu discount. My point was that you won't get a good comparison if you start with a base of that old precision 340. The 450 has half the parts upgraded and is a few hundred less. Occassionally their rebates and specials will overlap and you can pickup systems or lcd panels real cheap. I almost picked up a 2Ghz p4 system a few months ago for ~$65.
The Dell was more expensive. This is in England, btw, and the top of the range P4 chips are very expensive here, about £350 for one.