The Mac Observer: AAPLTalk System Shootouts - US$1,200 Desktop System Shootout

DATES CONFIGURED: 8/12/02 - 8/14/02

Must include: 15.8"+ (viewable) display, CD-RW & DVD

READ THESE IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS & EXPLANATIONS BEFORE PROCEEDING!!!
All images and logos are copyright 2001 to the respective companies listed.

Company

Apple

Dell

Compaq

Hewlett Packard

Gateway

Sony

eMac

Dimension 8200

Presario 8000

Pavilion

300X

VAIO RX-600

Design/ Styling

White

Black Minitower

Beige Tower

Grey/Smoke Tower

White Tower

VAIO Styling

Mobility:

All-in-one design

50 lbs. total

(Numerous pieces; all PC systems listed weign appx. 60 - 70 lbs. total including tower + CRT + speakers)

Component Access?

Quick access to memory & wireless cards

Thumb screws for panel removal & component access

Screwdrivers required to remove paneling

Thumb screws for panel removal & component access

Screwdrivers required to remove paneling

Cords/Cables:

4 cables/cords

appx. 10 cables/cords (Tower, Display, Web, Speakers, Keyboard, Mouse, Microphone)

Deskspace Used:

270 sq. inches

(All PC systems listed take up appx. 330 - 400 square inches including tower + CRT + speakers)

Noise Volume:

Nearly silent
(ultraquiet fan)

Loud (full-size cooling fans)

Energy Use:
Energy Notes

170 Watts total

appx. $30 / year

(All PC systems listed use between appx. 300 - 380 watts total
including tower + CRT + speakers; appx. $50-$70/year)

Processor:
Rating Notes

1.1 GHz P4
700 MHz
PowerPC G4

2.0 GHz P4
2.0 GHz
Pentium 4

2.2 GHz P4
1.67 GHz
Athlon XP 2000+

1.26 GHz P4
1.8GHz Celeron

2.0 GHz P4
2.0 GHz
Pentium 4

L1 Cache:

64k

32k

128k

32k

L2 Cache:

256K on-chip

512K on-chip

256K on-chip

128K on-chip

512K on-chip

L3 Cache:

Memory Type:

SDRAM PC100

RDRAM PC800

DDR PC2100

Frontside Bus:

100 MHz bus

400 MHz bus

266 MHz bus

400 MHz bus

Memory Amount:

256 MB (1 x 256)

Max RAM:

1.0 GB (2 slots)

2.0 GB (4 slots)

1.0 GB (2 slots)

512 MB (2 slots)

1.0 GB (2 slots)

Hard Drive Capacity:

40 GB

80 GB

40 GB

80 GB

40 GB

60 GB

Hard Drive Type:

Ultra ATA 66

Ultra ATA 100

Ultra DMA 66

Ultra DMA 100

Ultra ATA 100

Hard Drive Speed:

5400 rpm

7200 rpm

5400 rpm

7200 rpm

CD-Rom:

32x CD

40x CD

CD-RW:

12x8x CD-RW

24x10x CD-RW

40x10x CD-RW

24x10x CD-RW

32x10x CD-RW

24x10x CD-RW

DVD-Rom:

8x DVD

16x DVD

8x DVD

16x DVD

DVD-/+RW:

Floppy Drive:

Yes

Zip/Other Drive:

Memory stick

PCI/AGP Slots:
Available / Total

0 / 1

2 / 5

3 / 6

2 / 4

Internal Bays:
Available / Total

0 / 1

1 / 2

1 / 2 (?)

1 / 2

External Bays:
Available / Total

0 / 1

2 / 4

0 / 3

1 / 3

0 / 3

Mouse Included:

Kensington

USB Optical
2-button scrollwheel

PS/2 2-button
scrollwheel

PS/2 Optical
2-button scrollwheel

PS/2 2-button
scrollwheel

USB Optical
2-button scrollwheel

PS/2 2-button
scrollwheel mouse

USB Ports:
available = after keyboard & mouse

3 available
5 total
(2 on keyboard)

4 available
4 total
(2 in front)

5 available
6 total
(2 in front, 4 are USB2)

4 available
4 total
(2 in front)

Firewire Ports:

2 On-board

1 (front)

2 on-board

Available Legacy Ports:

1 serial
1 parallel
(2 PS/2 used by keyboard & mouse)

2 serial
1 parallel
(2 PS/2 used by keyboard & mouse)

1 serial
1 parallel
(2 PS/2; 1 used by keyboard)

1 serial
1 parallel
(2 PS/2 used by keyboard & mouse)

Graphics Card:
Rating Notes

nVIDIA
GeForce2 MX 440

nVIDIA
GeForce4 MX 420

nVIDIA
GeForce2 MX 200

Integrated Intel graphics

nVIDIA
TNT2

Video RAM:

32 MB DDR

64 MB DDR

32 MB (shared)

"up to" 64 MB (shared)

32 MB (shared)

VGA Out:

Yes

DVI/ADC Out:

TV Out:

Yes

S-Video Out:

Dual-Monitor Support?

(Mirroring)

Display:

16" viewable

flat-panel CRT
(integrated)

16.0" viewable CRT

16" viewable

flat-panel CRT

15.8" viewable CRT

16" viewable

flat-panel CRT

16" viewable

flat-panel CRT

Max. display resolution:

1280x960

1280x1024

1600x1200

1280x1024

1600x1200

Microphone/
Line in:

Built-in microphone
Line-in jack

Line-in jack

Headphone/
Line out:

Headphone jack
Line-out jack

Digital-audio ready

Headphone jack
Line-out jack

headphone jack
Line-out jack

Speakers:

Harmon-Kardon
stereo speakers
(integrated)

Harmon-Kardon
HK-395 speakers w/Subwoofer

Creative Inspire Slim 2600 speakers

w/Subwoofer

Polk stereo speakers

Boston Acoustics
stereo speakers
w/Subwoofer

Stereo speakers

10/100 Ethernet?

Yes

Yes (via PCI)

Yes

56k Modem:

Yes

Yes (via PCI)

802.11b Wireless Card?

Integrated 802.11b Antennae?

Yes

Hardware Extras Included:

Epson Stylus
C40UX Printer

Included OS:

Mac OS X 10.2;
Mac OS 9.2;
BSD Unix;
Apache Web Server

Windows XP
Home Edition

Windows/DOS Support:

DOS/95/98/ME/
2000/XP
(via Virtual PC)

DOS/95/98/ME/2000/NT/XP

(Native)

Mac OS Support:

Mac OS 8,9,X

(Native)

Mac OS 8 only (via emulation)

Linux OS Support:

Various flavors (Native)

Unix OS Support:

Various flavors (Native)

Java 2 Support:

Native

(must be downloaded)

Word Processor Included:

AppleWorks 6.2
(Word compatible)

MSFT Word XP
MSFT Works 6.0

MSFT Works 6.0

MSFT Word XP
MSFT Works 6.0

Corel WordPerfect 10
(Word compatible)

Save-as PDF Support:

Native (any file)

(requires 3rd-party app.)

Spreadsheet Software Included:

AppleWorks 6.2
(Excel compatible)

MSFT Works 6.0

Quattro Pro 10
(Excel compatible)

Presentation Software Included:

AppleWorks 6.2

Corel Presentations
(PowerPoint compatible)

Database Software Included:

AppleWorks 6.2

MSFT Works 6.0

Drawing/Painting Software Included:

AppleWorks 6.2

Calendar/PIM Software Included:

MSFT Works 6.0

CorelCentral 10

Planning/Project Software Included:

Web Browser Included:

Internet Explorer 5.2
Netscape 4.7

Internet Explorer 6

E-Mail/Address Book Included:

OS X Mail
Outlook Express 5

Outlook Express 6

CorelCentral 10
Outlook Express 6

Media Player Included:

Quicktime 6
DVD Player
Media Player 7 avail.
RealOne Player avail.

Media Player 8
DVD Player
Quicktime 6 avail.
RealOne Player avail.

Quicktime 6
Media Player 8
DVD Player
RealOne Player avail.

Financial Software Included:

Quicken 2002 Deluxe

Money 2002
Quicken 2002

Money 2002

Quicken NewUsers

Money 2002

Quicken 2002

Reference Software Included:

World Book OS X

Encarta 2001 Std.
Streets & Trips 2002

Encarta 2002

Encarta 2002
Streets & Trips 2002

Digital Photo Management:

iPhoto 1.1

Image Expert 2000
PictureIt! 2002

Unknown (?)

ArcSoft My Photo Center

Picture it!

Photoshop Elements

Picture Gear
DigitalPrin

Digital Video Editing:

iMovie 2

MovieMaker 2

Studio DV

Pinnacle Studio 7

MovieMaker 2

DVgate
MovieShaker

Music Software/
CD Burning Software:

iTunes 3
Disc Burner

MusicMatch 6.0

EasyCD 5.0

Unknown (?)

MusicMatch 7
HP RecordNow

(Unknown ?)

SonicStage

Games Included:

Chess

Otto Matic
Deimos Rising

Mine Sweeper, Asstd. classic games

Additional Software Included

FaxSTF
Palm Desktop
Asstd. system software

Asstd. system software

Smart Capture
Asstd. system software

Free ISP/
Other Services

1 month EarthLink

6 months MSN

1 yr. AOL

Virus Susceptibility/
Security Issues

45 known viruses

50,000+ known viruses (see FBI warning)

Built-in Firewall?

Yes

Warranty:

1 yr. ltd./mail-in
90 days phone

1 yr. ltd./at-home
1 yr. phone

1 yr. ltd./at-home
90 days phone

1 yr. ltd./mail-in
1 yr. phone

2 yr. ltd./at-home
2 yr. phone
1 yr. dmg. protection

1 yr. ltd./mail-in
90 days phone

Quality of Products & Service:
Consumer Affairs

"Good Guys"

"Rogues Gallery"

Navigation?

Easy

Terrible

Easy

Customization Allowed?

Some

Full

Some

Full

Little

Subotal:
(includes rebates, add-ons, etc.)

$1,214

$1,127

$1,200

$1,201

$1,112

$1,178

+ Ground Shipping:

No Charge

$99

Free (ltd. time)

$99

$25

Total Price
as configured:

$1,214
tax not included

$1,226
tax not included

$1,200
tax not included

$1,201
tax not included

$1,211
tax not included

$1,210
tax not included

The information above is as accurate as I could make it based on a reasonable time studying the respective companies' Web sites. There is no guarantee that these configurations, prices, and features are the best that one could come up with; assorted bundles, free internet access, free extra memory, and so on can most likely be found for any of the above systems. The point of this chart is to demonstrate that Apple's lineup holds its own against any brand-name computer, even in areas in which it has traditionally had resistance. In short, do not base your purchasing decisions solely on this chart or information. Neither I, nor The Mac Observer will be held responsible or liable for any purchase decisions you make based on this presentation.

Charles Gaba started the AAPLTalk System Shootouts at AAPLTalk.com, and has brought them to TMO. Charles is the creative talent behind Brainwrap Web Design.

AAPLTalk System Shootouts Archives

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