To be honest she wants to get a mac, we want her to get a mac, and she can afford a mac... but...
She only wants to pay $700 Canadian for a new computer and she will need to get a new monitor... ain't happening cause the bottom of the line Mac Mini Costs 639.00 cad and it doesn't include a Monitor.
Sooo... I want to compare, apples to apples, what a PC of the same power would cost... I found this package at a "local" computer store.
http://pccyber.com/scrItem.asp?product_ ... t_id=12149
Now I'd need to add XP (100) and buy the monitor(150-200) so add $250-300 to the price and we get out around $600-650 cadPC Cyber Intel Value Package
CPU Intel - C2D E4400
Motherboard Biostar P4M900-M7
Memory Generic 1GB DDR2 800
Hard Drive WD 160GB IDE (WD1600JB)
Optical Drive LG - 18X DVD -/+ RW GSA-H54N (beige)
Video VGA (Integrated)
Audio 6 Channel Audio (Integrated)
Network Ethernet 10/100 LAN (Integrated)
Case Beige Case Tower w/PSU
$ 347.00 CAD
* Get a Canon IP1700 Printer for only $9.77 more (regular $40)!
* Get a Mercury Office Keyboard for only $10 more (regular $19.99)!
* Get a FREE Optical Mouse (regular $7.77)!
* Get a 19" E197FP LCD Monitor for only $172 (regular $184)!
* Get a 22" E228WP LCD Monitor for only $260 (regular $277)!
* Get a Brother DCP-7020 Printer for only $137 (regular $146)!
* Get Microsoft XP Home Edition in either French or English for only $94 (regular $99)!
* Get Microsoft XP Professional Edition in either French or English for only $162 (regular $167)!
* Get Microsoft Vista Premium Edition in either French or English for only $130 (regular $139)!
Comparing this to baseline Mac Mini:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/W ... KHb/6.?p=0
To this one we only need to add a monitor for $150-200 so we get out at $790-840... already over the target price...Mac Mini Starting @ $599.00
* 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
* 1GB memory
* 80GB hard drive
Ships: Within 24 hours
Free Shipping
$599.00 - $ 639.00 CAD
or as low as $15 a month
Doesn't Include Display, Mouse or Keyboard.
My problem is that the extra money might be worth it if the packages we're looking at are really comparable..
So is the Mac Mini Processor-
1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
comparable to the
Intel - C2D E4400
Are there other factors I'm leaving out of the comparison that need to be addressed?
Is the above system going to be good enough for someone who seriousely only uses the computer for email and word processing going to be good enough?