firstly ignore component specs, consider the overall experience. THAT is what macs are all about.

secondly if you factor into the mac's cost what the included software that macs come with would cost, if bought separately you would realise that macs are good value.

thirdly, if you bear in mind the incredible way mac's hold their value, even old powerPC macs, macs are in fact much, much cheaper than PCs. for instance my pc which cost me 2 thousand quid 2 years ago is now worth probably 2 or 3 hundred pounds. A mac which cost the same 2 years ago is probably now worth 12 hundred pounds!

Macs are way cheaper and better value than PCs.

Graphics Card –> Used for things that require a lot of Graphics processing and memory.

Ram & CPU –> Used in combination with a CPU. Low ram but strong CPU means your computer will work like crap however, a good amount of Ram & a great CPU will mean they can run at there full power.

Mother Board –> A good motherboard is required to have a Good Ram, a Good Graphics Card and a great CPU.

Hard Drive –> Having a large hard drive and a good hard drive will increase the overall speed of your PC even if it has a lot of crap on there, because you have enough room and a fast Hard Drive as well as a great system. Having a lower end CPU or low ram can drastically effect the speed of Hard Drive.

for around 650-750 dollars i was able to get a Core 2 Quad Intel CPU, a 1GB DDR2 Nvidia Graphics Card, 4 GB of Ram, a Motherboard that support Core 2 Quad and can also support 16GB of Ram total.
I also have a 250 GB Hard Drive that is very fast. My system also has a Flat Screen LED Monitor for $50 bucks.

so my system comes around to about $583 + Taxes.

I can play games like DMC 4 & Far Cry on Fullest Setting using Vista 64 bit or XP 32 bit.

I can use 3D Graphics Modeling Programs using Vista 64 bit or XP 32 bit.

I can also have multiple programs running simultaneously such as games, graphics programs , video editing, watching movies etc.

Heres something to digest. PC Mechanic was built on, and is in service for PC machines. Arent you compromising the very thing that brought you to the dance Dave. We are your audience and you are dis-ing us. Macs are great, but your whole audience and your site’s major reason for being is to service PC users and techies.

Something to think about – your audience and uh, customers.

-Detrieux

All of those for the same 2K price. Thats something worth paying for.

But yes apple’s are more money, and I agree that sucks. And if you convert to an apple you may haft to sacrifice some programs to go along with it. I just use the regular stuff on mine- so no-big-deal. And have learned to live without. If you are a big gamer, than don’t get a mac, because it is to hard to figure out how to get windows games to work with a mac. But if you are looking for simplicity and understanding along with the added security features- than a mac is probably for you. If you are a computer wiz, well then get whatever-you-want.

And lastly, why so much bickering…. Really- you guys.

Macs are like the consoles of computers, they are unable to upgrade and therefore become outdated the second they are released. The best PC available on the market will always be better than the best mac on the market because of this. Also all the flaws you have stated about the PC are flaws that would be apparent with Mac as well if they had the same open-ended capabilities. The best test would be to buy a computer of the same price immediately upon release and to see which one runs stress testing programs better. I have already done some similar testing where I used a less expensive PC and actually saw it outpace the Mac in many categories.

It seems like your biggest complaint is that because a PC can do more and run a lot of programs that you Mac can’t, that you get the problems that come with it, like viruses, and errors. That if you adjust your settings wrong then your computer will crash? A price I’d gladly pay to be able to adjust them.