When the media grabs on to something, even if it’s a false concept, you just know they’ll never let it go. Take those frequent claims that Macs are “premium priced” compared to the PC.

In recent years, I’ve said over and over again that the Mac and the PC are priced in roughly the same ballpark so long as both are identically equipped, as much as possible, in terms of hardware and software. On the high-end of the scale, moreover, a Mac Pro — in reality a workstation more than a personal computer — is usually priced far less than the equivalent product from a mainstream maker such as Dell.

I realize my claims have rules and exceptions, and so you might be able to find areas where Apple simply can’t or won’t compete. But let me nonetheless put my cards on the table so you know where I’m coming from before you voice the same old arguments.

When I say “identically equipped,” it doesn’t just mean having the same processor, RAM complement and hard drive capacity. We have to take the comparisons a whole lot further for them to be accurate. Moreover, I am not talking about a home-built PC, since there is no possible equivalent from Apple.

Story continued in this week’s Tech Night Owl Newsletter.

This article was posted on Sunday, March 8th, 2009 at 6:30 PM and is filed under News and tagged with: Apple, Cards On The Table, Computer, Dell, equivalent product, Exceptions, Hard Drive, Hardware, Mac, Mac Pro, Macs, mainstream, Personal Computer, premium, processor, RAM, software, Workstation.