Copyright ©1997-2008 Glenn Fleishman except as noted otherwise. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint, contact Glenn Fleishman at glenn at glennf.com. Photo © 2008 Laurence Chen; used with permission.
Copyright ©1997-2008 Glenn Fleishman except as noted otherwise. All rights reserved. For permission to reprint, contact Glenn Fleishman at glenn at glennf.com. Photo © 2008 Laurence Chen; used with permission.
Turning technology from mumbo-jumbo into rich tasty gumbo
� Apple Slash DDR | Main | Levy on Blogging �Based on the feedback received over the last few days, I decided to go back and rethink starting points. Instead of the more robust Dell workstation, I chose a lower-end machine with a slower bus and processor. Instead of the base-level PowerMac, I chose a dual 1 GHz unit. Other features are now closer I believe, such as the graphics card, and I was able to add FireWire/IEEE 1394 to the Dell configuration and remove the modem cards from both. The Apple is pushing 2 GHz versus a single processor running 1.8 GHz on the Dell, but many comments indicate that the Pentium architecture allows faster bus speeds and memory access, which offsets the better raw performance of the G4, cycle for cycle. More feedback welcome.
Price with these options | $1,823 (includes $250 mail-in rebate, but excludes $100 small business purchase discount which you must qualify for) | $2,519 |
Processors | Single Intel Pentium Processors, 2.20 GHz, 512K Full Speed Cache | Power Mac G4 Dual 1 GHz w/167 MHz system bus: 256K Level 2 Cache, 1MB DDR SRAM Level cache per processor |
Memory | 256MB PC800 ECC RDRAM (2 RIMMS) | 256 Mb PC2700 DDR SDRAM |
Keyboard | Entry Level Quietkey Keyboard, PS/2, (No Hot Keys) | Apple Pro Keyboard |
Graphics Card | ATI Radeon VE, 32 Mb VGA (dual monitor capable) | ATI Radeon 9000 Pro dual-display w/64Mb DDR |
1st Hard Drive | 80GB ATA-100 IDE 1-inch (7200 rpm) | 80GB Ultra ATA drive |
Floppy Drive | 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive | None |
Operating System | Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional | Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar), OS 9.2 |
Mouse | Dell, PS/2 (2-button, no scroll) | Standard optical mouse |
| Additional Network Card
| Intel PRO/1000 XT, Gigabit PCI NIC | Built-in gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000) |
Modem | none | none |
CD ROM, DVD, and Read-Write Drives | "32X" DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo Drive | 8x DVD-ROM/16x CD-R/10x CD-RW/32x CD-ROM (Combo Drive) |
Sound card | Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! Value | Front headphone minijack and speaker, rear Apple speaker minijack, audio line in, audio line out |
Hardware Support Services | Promotional support deal: 3Yr Same Day 4Hr Response Parts + Onsite Labor (M-F 8am-6pm) and Gold Technical Support by phone (no details as to limits) | 3-year AppleCare warranty (carry-in, onsite w/in 50 of service center, prepaid express mail in) which includes both hardware and unlimited phone support for software and hardware |
Extras | IEEE 1394 controller card | Two FireWire ports |
Posted by Glennf at August 17, 2002 4:56 PM
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This seems about right. If you don't count the intangibles, there's about a 25-30% price differential in favor of the Wintel platform. Of course, the Wintel vs. Mac debate is all about the intangibles!
Posted by: alkali at September 2, 2002 3:31 PM
I only wish our stuff, ie Activewords ran on the Mac. Back to the comparison, it is too bad that the Firewire/USB 2.0 ports aren't standard on the Dell. I just installed the Adaptec Duo card which has both, and it works great.
I plan to buy the Windows iPod when it comes out, load all my CD's on, and then either give them away to a a libray, and take one more step to simplify my life.
Posted by: Buzz Bruggeman at August 23, 2002 3:26 AM
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