Apple Announces $899 20" iMac for Schools
For those of you thinking all this sounds a little familiar, that’s because it was widely reported a few weeks ago. While we didn’t believe the company’s educational site when it said “the iMac line also includes a 17-inch model starting at $899,” under the “The New iMac Line” header, we were still hopeful.
It seemed some of us may have gotten excited over nothing, though. While not offered at retail, Apple still makes a 17-inch polycarbonate iMac for K12 and Higher Education priced at exactly $899. The rumor put to rest, we forgot about the possibility of Apple offering anyone anything under a thousand bucks. Lost cause.
Perhaps not. For a company so careful with announcements and launches, Apple sure did mess this one up. The company always tries to play its hand as close to the chest as possible, which is one of the reasons we didn’t believe last month’s rumor in the first place. However, last week the company updated education pricelists, discontinuing the aforementioned 17 inch and replacing it with the new 20 inch iMac for the same money.
All boiled down? Educational institutions get the 20 inch iMac (2GHz Core 2 Duo, GeForce 9400, 1GB DDR3, 160GB hard drive, 802.11n, Ethernet, four USB ports, a FireWire port and a slot-loading SuperDrive.) for a hundred bucks less. Check out the PDF here.
Only the extremely uninformed buyer would ever consider these boxes.
Any company that wants to make more profit will increase profits by eliminating parts that the consumer wouldn't really need
Of course, they will have to stick with Micro$oft and hire a good IT to fight with all the potential viruses that were out there.
CPU: Well I can't even find an intel C2D 2ghz CPU anywhere, so forced to go with the T8100 at 2.1GHz instead. Not available for resale, but on e-bay under $150. And since we know that ebay is now more expensive then NewEgg, we can assume that this is overpriced. More like $125ish would be right.
GeForce 9400: Assuming this is the 512MB model, not 1GB. Non the less, price is $50 for 512MB, and about $60 for the 1GB.
160GB HD (lol at this btw). Assume a quality company, so lets take Seagate 7200.12. $40. If you prefer another manufacturer, $45 tops.
802.11n card. At best, $25. At worst, $75 for some of the highest end model. Can safely assume highest end is NOT in the iMac. So approximat about $45.
DDR3 1066. LOl at this too. 1GB eh? Couldn't find any 512MBx2 kits, so assume 1 stick, tops at $18.99. 2GB kits top at $38.99 btw, just for comparison's sake.
DVDRW - looking at only the 'slim' models, this still tops out at $70, and goes as low as $39. Apples Superdrive retails for $100 just for comparison.
OS - XP Pro for OEMs - $140
20"LCDs retail for approx $150. Lets be conservative and say a laptop LCD costs the same amount.
Laptop Camera: best options will run about $80-$100. Mainstream is
They could buy these units by the pallet from Dell.
A M$ fanboy would have just noted the lowest possible prices and summed them up. Keep in mind that wouldn't be the worst idea however because apple does not buy retail and the lowest retail prices wouldn't be too far off the mark of production costs.
Also the PCs at my school are ancient, but have the following parts (I might have broken a few rules looking up there system specs):
Basic:
P4 2.2 Ghz
1GB DDR 333 Mhz
graphics unknown
20GB HDD
For teachers:
AMD Athlon XP 2200+ 1.8 Ghz
1GB DDR 333 Mhz
ATI Xpress 200m
40 GB HDD
Both of which have 1GB OF RAM!!!
And for a fun comparison.
The principle's PC built by your truly:
Q9450 @ 3.6 Ghz w/ swiftech H120 (large heatsinks would not fit)
MSI P45
8GB DDR2 1000 Mhz 4-4-4-15 Mushkin Redline
9600 GT low profile
Silverstone HTPC case.
iLearn
Yeah and then there is Apple who charges an extra 30-60% the price for a PC with an OS that has just as many problems as Windows, sorry try again.
MS Windows: Friendly, not with everyone that put finger in it's ass!
Linux: Angry, Not kind with anyone exept Hardcore users
and about this hardware apple selling, like always, they are charging FAR more than the normal price!