Normally I don’t bother to reply to posts by people who wear their biases so overtly on their sleeves, but this particular article is so full of half truths and inaccuracies, stated as unequivocal facts, that it bears examination.
Leaving alone for the moment the fact that your “comparable systems” are not comparable by spec, the fact that you choose to compare a BYO component system to a brand name system is bogus from the start. It is not an indictment of Apple, per se, that their system cost would be higher than your custom built system, but of ready-made systems in general. You could make a similar complaint about brand name Windows boxes from any PC manufacturer, HP Dell, Gateway, whatever. The issue is not mac vs. winPC, and is thus not even remotely germane.
That said, let’s examine the “comparable system” you listed anyway. First, you compare a mail order retailer vs the OEM brand name manufacturer. As with the point above, this is another bogus comparison. But that aside, if you are going to pick a cheap mail order firm like New Egg, then it is only fair to shop around for the mac. A very cursory search turns up that several sites, such as macmall, sell the system for as little as $1,144, $55 less than your quote. In addition, this system comes with additional items conveniently not included in your comparison. First, there is the Apple remote. Using New Egg again, that requires that you add about $30 to your home built system, and take up a PC slot or USB port for the infrared receiver. The imac includes firewire 400/800 ports, adding another $50 to your system cost, and taking up another PC slot. In addition, the mac comes with a free $100 printer. Then there is the built in iSight. Adding a camera of equivalent quality would add significantly to your system cost, but we’ll allow for a little leeway, and just add a cheap video camera, say for $30. As others have noted, you would also have to add in a WiFi/Bluetooth card, taking yet another one or two PC slots/USB ports, and adding more to your quoted cost. Being generous again, let’s say $45. Adding some cheap speakers and a microphone adds another $20 bucks plus shipping to your system.
All this leaves aside the fact that your “comparable” system actually ships for $882, not $867 as you cite. It is telling that you choose not to really configure a comparable system, and speaks to your obvious agenda.
So where does that leave us? Your “comparable” system comes in at $1157, at a bare minimum (and realistically more) slightly more than the imac. This does not even take into account such things as the difference between slot loading DVD drives (which are a necessity on an all-in-one, such as the imac) and the tray loader you chose. This would add $43 to your cost, and reduce your write speed down to 8x, equivalent to the imac. Likewise, it also does not take into account that the imac has the USB ports on separate busses, instead of on the same bus. Nor does it take into account that the imac is available with free shipping. Shipping your components to my house would run me over $32 additional. It also does not take into account intangibles like footprint, resale value, iLife, and other things that are the standard response to all the rants (yours is hardly original) of this kind. It is not necessary to even address these intangibles, since a cost comparison of tangibles alone puts the imac on a par with your ready made system. The fact that a brand-name system can compete in this regard against a BYO machine, far from confirming your original thesis, serves to highlight how baseless your charges are, and how ill-informed your arguments are.

And just like that, you $299 price premium evaporated into vapour.

Now let’s look at your total lack of knowledge about Apple hardware. It has already been pointed out that all macs have been shipping with a five button mouse standard for YEARS now. Your failure not only to know this, but to criticize Apple in this regard highlights the legitimacy of your claims,
You further state:

“You are confined to the 20″ display that you purchased with the computer. As LCD prices continue to fall, you might want to ad a larger main display in the future. With the iMac, you’re SOL. (that’s ’shit out of luck’, apple fans!)”

Do you bother to check your facts (or your lack thereof) before you post? Seriously, do you? All imacs come with a built in Mini-DVI port, offering not only the ability to connect an additional digital monitor in either mirror or extended desktop mode (either of which void your above complaint) but also offers VGA, S-video, and analog video ports. In fact, the imac can accommodate analogue resolutions up to 2048 x 1536.
You then write:

” I see absolutely no point to the ‘all-in-one’ design other than someone who thinks paying a premium for a computer that will depreciate faster than their new car and in a few years be a useless household decoration is somehow cool. If that’s you – you’re an idiot. I’m sorry, but…you are one big gigantic freakin’ idiot.”

Um… ahem. Let’s look at this. If you had bothered to do even a few minutes of research, as opposed to just pulling BS out of your ass, you would know that mac of all kinds hold their resale value an order of magnitude better than ANY wintel machine of any brand. Macs of five years ago still sell for at least 50%, if not more, of their original sales price. This is most certainly NOT the case for commodity PCs. I know this empirically, since I get my Windows/Linux boxes from the best source for such things, from the curb on trash day when people throuw out their commodity hardware, since it has essentially ZERO resale value.

And of course, the Stupid Mac User Comment of the Week just wouldnt be complete without the ACSMB Response Of The Week, now would it?

DeusEx, I’ll just take your little spiel apart paragraph by paragraph rather than try to write a lofty retort that makes it sound like Ive been sipping my afternoon tea with a 10lb cockroach up my ass for the past 20 years:

Normally I don’t bother to reply to posts by people who wear their biases so overtly on their sleeves, but this particular article is so full of half truths and inaccuracies, stated as unequivocal facts, that it bears examination.
Leaving alone for the moment the fact that your “comparable systems” are not comparable by spec, the fact that you choose to compare a BYO component system to a brand name system is bogus from the start. It is not an indictment of Apple, per se, that their system cost would be higher than your custom built system, but of ready-made systems in general. You could make a similar complaint about brand name Windows boxes from any PC manufacturer, HP Dell, Gateway, whatever. The issue is not mac vs. winPC, and is thus not even remotely germane.

Actually, I do make similar complaints about other OEM manufacturers – if you actually read the whole article you’d have realized that. But – this site isnt called Dell Can Suck My Balls now is it? It is actually an indictment of Apple, per se, that their system cost is higher than the custom built system – because it’s higher than most brand name manufactuers that spec out the same as well. In my humble opinion, they all suck – but Apple sucks the most, and that’s why I feel compelled to bring truth to the masses, and set them free from the Cupertino BS Machine. I’ll give you credit though – germane is a pretty cool word.

That said, let’s examine the “comparable system” you listed anyway. First, you compare a mail order retailer vs the OEM brand name manufacturer. As with the point above, this is another bogus comparison. But that aside, if you are going to pick a cheap mail order firm like New Egg, then it is only fair to shop around for the mac. A very cursory search turns up that several sites, such as macmall, sell the system for as little as $1,144, $55 less than your quote. In

Well – I could comb through www.pricewatch.com and nail the absolute rock bottom price for each component in the BYO system as well, knocking off at least another $50 – $100. Going through all that would have made the article unnecessarily obsfucated – kind of like your post. Because capitalism is such a great thing , you can shop around for the best price on anything. Macs AND PC components. Had you known anything about building a PC, or – read the article – you probably would have realized that and not claimed the crown of Captain Obvious there bud.

In addition, this system comes with additional items conveniently not included in your comparison. First, there is the Apple remote. Using New Egg again, that requires that you add about $30 to your home built system, and take up a PC slot or USB port for the infrared receiver. The imac includes firewire 400/800 ports, adding another $50 to your system cost, and taking up another PC slot. In addition, the mac comes with a free $100 printer. Then there is the built in iSight. Adding a camera of equivalent quality would add significantly to your system cost, but we’ll allow for a little leeway, and just add a cheap video camera, say for $30. As others have noted, you would also have to add in a WiFi/Bluetooth card, taking yet another one or two PC slots/USB ports, and adding more to your quoted cost. Being generous again, let’s say $45. Adding some cheap speakers and a microphone adds another $20 bucks plus shipping to your system.

I hate to keep repeating myself – but did you even read the article? I specifically recognize the iMac’s firewire ports and explain that any number of features can be had with careful motherboard selection and/or expansion cards for the PC. Like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128067

That’s a $154 motherboard. There’s your 2 IEE1394 ports…and also 8 SATA2 3.0GB ports (That means expansion for up to 8 hard drives for those who don’t know), 2 PCI Express x16 slots, 3 PCI Express x1 slots, 2 PCI slots, room for up to 8GB of system RAM, 6 USB Ports, and an onboard Intel Matrix RAID controller. How much would all that cost to get on your iMac? If you actually could get those features on an iMac!

And since when did an add-on card for Firewire ports cost $50? Did you even research your statements before you decided to form your pathetically weak argument? Look at this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124003

12 bucks son. And it’s got THREE IEE1394 ports. Add that to the motherboard listed above and you could have 5. Can you do that with the iMac?

So that leaves us with the iSight and the Remote – which I admit I did not talk about. I figured, that anyone who actually read the article would realize that the intention was to impress upon people that by designing your own PC – you have the choice of what components you want to ad to your system. The iSight is far from being anything spectacular – there’s a myriad of webcams available that would more than surpass it an a nominal cost, like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826105033

And the wi-fi/bluetooth – which can also be inclusive with the right motherboard selection. Or installed via expansion options, as you mentioned…for $12, not $45:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&Description=bluetooth&bop=And&Order=PRICE

You’ve also made it sound as if taking up an expansion port with a wi-fi card is some how a detractor from a BYO PC-uh…that’s what expansion ports are there for bud. At least a tower-based computer HAS expansion ports.

All this leaves aside the fact that your “comparable” system actually ships for $882, not $867 as you cite. It is telling that you choose not to really configure a comparable system, and speaks to your obvious agenda.

Price quotes on PC hardware are never fixed – they rise and fall based on current market demand and the release of new technology. Again, if you had ever even attempted to look beyond your Apple-colored glasses you might have realized that. When the article was written, one of those components may have been a few dollars cheaper. Why don’t you try checking that NewEgg wishlist in a month when the prices on harddrives, RAM, and the CPU drop some more…I can guarantee the system will be a few dollars cheaper. That iMac is still going to run you $1199 though…Apple doesnt pass its savings onto its customers.

So where does that leave us? Your “comparable” system comes in at $1157, at a bare minimum (and realistically more) slightly more than the imac. This does not even take into account such things as the difference between slot loading DVD drives (which are a necessity on an all-in-one, such as the imac) and the tray loader you chose. This would add $43 to your cost, and reduce your write speed down to 8x, equivalent to the imac. Likewise, it also does not take into account that the imac has the USB ports on separate busses, instead of on the same bus. Nor does it take into account that the imac is available with free shipping. Shipping your components to my house would run me over $32 additional. It also does not take into account intangibles like footprint, resale value, iLife, and other things that are the standard response to all the rants (yours is hardly original) of this kind. It is not necessary to even address these intangibles, since a cost comparison of tangibles alone puts the imac on a par with your ready made system. The fact that a brand-name system can compete in this regard against a BYO machine, far from confirming your original thesis, serves to highlight how baseless your charges are, and how ill-informed your arguments are.

I’ll keep it simple for ya:

Now let’s look at your total lack of knowledge about Apple hardware. It has already been pointed out that all macs have been shipping with a five button mouse standard for YEARS now. Your failure not only to know this, but to criticize Apple in this regard highlights the legitimacy of your claims,

Did you read the comments? If you had, you’d have realized that the one button mouse bit was just a ploy to aggrevate Mac crazies like you. Considering the amount of hate mail Ive received this week – it worked perfectly.

Do you bother to check your facts (or your lack thereof) before you post?

Yes, i do!

Seriously, do you?

I said yes!! Geez!! Are you deaf too?

All imacs come with a built in Mini-DVI port, offering not only the ability to connect an additional digital monitor in either mirror or extended desktop mode (either of which void your above complaint) but also offers VGA, S-video, and analog video ports. In fact, the imac can accommodate analogue resolutions up to 2048 x 1536.

Did you READ my initial complaint, Mr. Smarty Pants? You CAN’T change the main monitor on the iMac, because its an ALL-IN-ONE design. You can add and additional one, sure…but what if you want to REPLACE the main display as larger and better displays become affordable? What are you going to do – just turn off the main iMac display and push the whole unit off to the side? Would that make sense? That would not only shitcan the iMac small footprint benefit, but it would look absolutely retarded.

Not to mention that mini-DVI port is a video output for the lame duck POS ATI HD2400 video card…which you again CAN’T UPGRADE, but I digress…

Um… ahem. Let’s look at this. If you had bothered to do even a few minutes of research, as opposed to just pulling BS out of your ass, you would know that mac of all kinds hold their resale value an order of magnitude better than ANY wintel machine of any brand. Macs of five years ago still sell for at least 50%, if not more, of their original sales price. This is most certainly NOT the case for commodity PCs. I know this empirically, since I get my Windows/Linux boxes from the best source for such things, from the curb on trash day when people throuw out their commodity hardware, since it has essentially ZERO resale value.

Dude…did you really think ‘Um…ahem’ before you typed it? Do you realize this paragraph reads like you are a pretentious mac user? Oh wait…you ARE a pretentious mac user. Plenty of other Mac fans have made very valid points on this website without sounding like they were sipping espresso with their pinky in the air and a wearing powdered wig.

Listen chuckles, Ill say it again: If you are buying a computer with resale value in mind, you are an idiot. If you buy a used mac, and pay all that money for an equally spec’d PC you could ‘find in the trash’, you are an idiot. Do you realize that with this extreemly lengthy, poorly researched, and pompously written drivel you have essentialy insulted all of your Mac using friends?

I believe that it is you sir, who have failed to research and understand the technology that you so vehemently support. It is you sir, who have failed to read the article and realize that true gravity of what I was saying. It is you sir, who have degraded the world’s perception of your Mac using community with your pretentious prating and it is YOU SIR, who can suck my balls!

And just like that, you $299 price premium evaporated into vapour.

And just like that – You’ve become the ACSMB Stupid Mac User Commentor of the Week! Congratulations, DeusExMachina! For this weeks prize, feel free to choose any merchandise item from the ACSMB Store!! . Just shoot me your address and choice of merchandise (may I suggest one of those sweet mugs?) to :

And we’ll get your item right out to ya via USPS Priority mail!