While browsing for computers, I have discovered that for like for like specs, Macbook/iMac are now cheaper than Windows laptop/desktops!
When I spec up a Windows computer for 4K display, SSD etc. the price is same or even more than corresponding Apple products.
Even base model iPad is now cheaper than Samsung Galaxy tab!
Did other manufacturers became greedy or Apple trying to get more market share?
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No your numbers are wrong, I can spec a windows machine, 800 quid, same as a MacBook Pro 1,300 quid.
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I agree with Z, for 1300 quid you can get a PC of a much higher spec than any MacBook Pro.
Though I'd rather an iPad than a Galaxy tablet, the latter being very over priced whereas an iPad 32GB at around £300 is not bad value.
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Dell XPS or similar spec Windows ultrabooks are not cheaper than Macbook Pros.
For desktops, I could not find any iMac (with retina display) equivalent at all. If you have discovered any, please let me know.
In my nearest PC World, the only one equivalent (still somewhat poorer display than iMac retina) Windows 10 desktop I could find costs £1600.
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>> Though I'd rather an iPad than a Galaxy tablet, the latter being very over priced
>> whereas an iPad 32GB at around £300 is not bad value.
What a lot of people don't realise is there are different grades/levels of Galaxy Tab
The standard Tab (currently called the Tab A) undercuts the iPad significantly. you can pick up the 10.1" version for around the £200 mark vs £320 for the 32GB 9.7" iPad. It does lack a bit of snap against the iPad, but given the significant price difference, you might expect that.
The Tab S3 on the other hand is widely regarded as the best Android tablet on the market at present, but is priced to compete with the iPad Pro. It's aimed at a completely different audience.
We have a Tab S from 2015, and it's a great alternative to the iPad if you don't want iOS. The AMOLED display is stunning as well.
The other important consideration when comparing any Android tablet with an iPad is that the former can be expanded with extra storage for less than a tenner by simply adding a MicroSD card.
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I generally prefer Android to IoS personally though we have four iPhones and the iPads in the house plus my Sony Xperia which I find to so much more flexible than the iPhones.
However I have generally found Samsung products to be overrated and over priced, particularly in respect of the phones versus Xperias.
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I definitely agree with that. We all four had Samsung phones but I was increasingly getting hacked off with their expense and some of the changes Samsung made to Android.
I finally changed to a Huawei P9 and now a P10. Better functionality, more open implementation and cheaper.
No. 1 daughter recently changed to a Motorola G5 S Plus and that is also a really good phone and 1/3 of the price of a Samsung. I wish I'd changed earlier.
Having said that both girls have Samsung tablets and love them.
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P.s. I find iPhones restrictive. You have to do everything the way that Apple want you to do it, and if you want to do something that Apple haven't foreseen, tough.
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I'm currently using eldest daughter's hand-me-down iPhone 5c. I find iOS brilliant and frustrating in equal measure. The quality of the apps is a cut above Android. They work more consistently, are generally more stable and better featured. But the OS itself can be very restrictive.
I think Samsung make fantastic TVs and phones. The rest of their stuff, particularly the domestic appliances, is pretty lousy.
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>> The quality of the apps is a cut above Android. They work more consistently, >>
There are no doubt some rubbish Android apps though there are also some brilliant ones, it's a result of the openness of the system.
>> I think Samsung make fantastic TVs and phones. >>
Though Sony are generally better and now days often at better prices too.
>> The rest of their stuff, particularly the domestic appliances, is pretty lousy. >>
I've no experience though from what I've heard I wouldn't totally rule out a Samsung washing machine, though I don't see myself buying a Samsung TV or phone etc in the foreseeable future.
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For me migrating to Apple ecosystem will be a massive undertaking after years of work portfolio built in Microsoft platform.
Many applications I work with have no Mac equivalent. This means running Windows on virtualization - which kind of defeats the purpose.
It is strange that even now Apple couldn't make a decent Office software!
Even Microsoft doesn't make Access/Visio for Mac.
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>> Many applications I work with have no Mac equivalent. This means running Windows on >> virtualization - which kind of defeats the purpose.
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>> It is strange that even now Apple couldn't make a decent Office software!
>>
There are some IT roles for which Mac is suitable and some for which it is not.
It works for me, by and large without virtualisation as I do not need the technical tools such as Visio and my DB access is solved by using a Citrix connection to the DB server.
Even MS Office has limitations on Mac, especially Excel, I have to use some very large spreadsheets, often over 500,000 rows and the Mac really struggles with these.
The problem is at least partly because both Apple and Microsoft blame the other for shortcomings of using a key Microsoft product on an Apple environment. I often feel like banging their corporate heads together.
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>> Even MS Office has limitations on Mac, especially Excel, I have to use some very large spreadsheets, often over 500,000 rows and the Mac really struggles with these.
I think MS Office on Mac uses only single core of the CPU where as in Windows it can use all cores.
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>> I think MS Office on Mac uses only single core of the CPU where as
>> in Windows it can use all cores.
>>
That is part of the issue, yes.
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Office on Mac was only made available to prevent anti competion claims and fines, no one ever said it had to work as well as the proper one
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>> Though Sony are generally better and now days often at better prices too.
I have no experience of Sony phones, so I cannot comment, but I very much disagree on the TVs. Samsung and Sony set up S-LCD in 2004 as a joint venture for R&D and manufacture of LCD panels and the associated image processing technology. Sony had a restructure of their loss-making TV business in 2011, and sold their entire stake in S-LCD to Samsung, making S-LCD, together with all of its IP, a fully owned part of Samsung. This makes Samsung one of the few vendors to actually design and manufacture their own panels. Not only that, but with the semiconductor business being bigger than the electronics business, they even manufacture the boards and the components. This gives them very tight control over the entire supply chain.
Sony are now buying the panels from Samsung as a customer, but it stands to reason that when you own the technology, you will always keep the best stuff for yourself. I have a 3 year old Series 8 Smart TV at home. It's bog standard 1080p (not even 4k) and I still get positive comments on picture quality from visitors, even now.
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>> >> The rest of their stuff, particularly the domestic appliances, is pretty lousy. >>
>>
>> I've no experience though from what I've heard I wouldn't totally rule out a Samsung
>> washing machine, though I don't see myself buying a Samsung TV or phone etc in
>> the foreseeable future.
The washing machines look good and have some clever innovation, but are generally hopeless as are all their white goods. Mine died in 2 years, and couldn't be economically repaired. A friend's managed 16 months. My parents dishwasher lasted 14 months. They are poor quality, and the repair costs ensure they are written off when they do go wrong, although when they do work, they are pretty good.
Last edited by: DP on Wed 18 Oct 17 at 13:45
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>>it stands to reason that when you own the technology, you will always keep the best stuff for yourself.
There is no link.
You may keep the 'best' or you may sell it. It depends on various things, mostly either Business or Sales & Marketing Strategy.
It doesn't depend on ownership.
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If you are making and selling a product that depends on the technology in a cut-throat market, you are going to do whatever you can to give yourself an advantage. If you own the IP, you would be a fool to enable a competitor to use it to beat you.
I will confess to working for Samsung for several years, so I have some insider insight here.
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I too have consulted for Samsung, though not in the UK. I suspect that we worked in different areas.
It is entirely up to you which you believe, but I assure you that I am correct.
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>> I too have consulted for Samsung, though not in the UK. I suspect that we
>> worked in different areas.
>>
>> It is entirely up to you which you believe, but I assure you that I
>> am correct.
>>
And I have consulted for Sony, hence I have mentioned on here before about working in Basingstoke.
I don't think it gives me any real loyalty to Sony, I liked their products before doing any work for them, I had some respect for Samsung when they were, in effect, the new kids on the block though now rather than offering competitive quality at a competitive price they are at best comparable quality though at a premium price.
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>>
>> It doesn't depend on ownership.
>>
I agree totally.
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>> Sony are now buying the panels from Samsung as a customer, but it stands to
>> reason that when you own the technology, you will always keep the best stuff for
>> yourself.
Sony are sourcing panels from LG though it's not only the panel that affects the quality, it's the electronics.
www.whathifi.com/sony/kd-65a1/review?
Though I totally disagree that you would always keep the best for yourself, if you can sell more because they are better, and you don't have all of the supply chain and marketing costs then being a component vendor can be more profitable than owning the route to market.
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I respectfully disagree gents, and cannot argue my case any further without discussing things in the public domain that I perhaps shouldn't, so happy to leave it there. Have a good day.
Last edited by: DP on Wed 18 Oct 17 at 14:57
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>> I respectfully disagree gents, and cannot argue my case any further without discussing things in the public domain that I perhaps shouldn't, so happy to leave it there. Have a good day.>>
Fair enough, don't want you to say any more and then have to shoot us ;-)
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Apple cheaper than competitors? - Zero
