Apple Tax: Mac Pro (-24.53%)
Last month I mentioned the next Apple workstation. I also mentioned that arstechnica had estimated the price at around $3,269.44. Today Apple announced the Mac Pro, which they're selling for $2499, $770 cheaper.
arstechnica's guesses were a little off, so here's my totals if you're inclined to build your own dual-processor Woodcrest system without being subjected to the dreaded "Apple Tax".
2x Woodcrest 2.66 Ghz $1,521.98
SUPERMICRO X7DAE motherboard $479.99
Cooler Master Stacker 830 Case $259.99
1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 667 FB-DIMM $209.98
Windows XP Pro SP2 $137.99
COOLMAX CW-650T EPS12V 650W $129.99
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT $95.00
2x Thermaltake Big Typhoon CL-P0114 $91.98
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm HD $83.00
Apple Keboard and Mighty Mouse $70.00
Pioneer DVR-111D DVD Burner $32.00
Total $3,111.90
Apple Tax -24.53%
If you'd like to spend over $600 extra you can build your own PC that won't run OSX, or you can buy a Mac Pro that'll also run Windows and Linux.
Seriously, the new Mac Pro it's an excellent deal. I'd buy one if I needed a MacBook that I couldn't carry around.
Update: The Dell Precision 690 supposedly costs $3,637 for a similar configuration but there's a lot of debate about what configurations are "similar".
Update: Macworld says that a comparable Dell is $1347 more expensive. (Thanks, haineux.)
arstechnica's guesses were a little off, so here's my totals if you're inclined to build your own dual-processor Woodcrest system without being subjected to the dreaded "Apple Tax".
2x Woodcrest 2.66 Ghz $1,521.98
SUPERMICRO X7DAE motherboard $479.99
Cooler Master Stacker 830 Case $259.99
1GB (2 x 512MB) DDR2 667 FB-DIMM $209.98
Windows XP Pro SP2 $137.99
COOLMAX CW-650T EPS12V 650W $129.99
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT $95.00
2x Thermaltake Big Typhoon CL-P0114 $91.98
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7200-rpm HD $83.00
Apple Keboard and Mighty Mouse $70.00
Pioneer DVR-111D DVD Burner $32.00
Total $3,111.90
Apple Tax -24.53%
If you'd like to spend over $600 extra you can build your own PC that won't run OSX, or you can buy a Mac Pro that'll also run Windows and Linux.
Seriously, the new Mac Pro it's an excellent deal. I'd buy one if I needed a MacBook that I couldn't carry around.
Update: The Dell Precision 690 supposedly costs $3,637 for a similar configuration but there's a lot of debate about what configurations are "similar".
Update: Macworld says that a comparable Dell is $1347 more expensive. (Thanks, haineux.)