Mac-PC Pricewatch

Mac - PC PriceWatch 2005

2005 retail prices of new computers in Australia (taxes included)
prices in Australian dollars - updated 11 November 2005 (updated costings of PC software)

March 2005 prices
January 2005 prices

Pricewatch in Previous Years	Costing the FREE Apple software bundle - approximate prices
New Prices in 2004 Prices in 2003 Prices in 2002 Prices in 2001 Prices in 2000	Second hand April 2003 January 2003 June 2002 January 2002	Consumer	Prosumer DVD Burning and music making
iMovie Total = $ 0	Pinnacle Studio 500 $150-200	Garageband iMovie iDVD Total = $ 0	FruityLoops 4 $249.00 Vegas® Movie StudioTM+DVD Software or Pinnacle Studio 500 $150-200 Total = $ 450	ACID® Music Studio 6 $137 Vegas® Movie Studio+DVD Software or Pinnacle Studio 500 $150-200 Total = $ 350
More costings here: Mac vs. PC System Shootouts (US site)

Pricewatch in Previous Years

Costing the FREE Apple software bundle - approximate prices

New

Prices in 2004
Prices in 2003
Prices in 2002
Prices in 2001
Prices in 2000

Second hand

April 2003
January 2003
June 2002
January 2002

Consumer

Prosumer
DVD Burning and music making

iMovie
Total = $ 0

Pinnacle Studio 500
$150-200

Garageband

iMovie
iDVD
Total = $ 0

FruityLoops 4 $249.00

Vegas® Movie StudioTM+DVD Software
or Pinnacle Studio 500
$150-200

Total = $ 450

ACID® Music Studio 6 $137

Vegas® Movie Studio+DVD Software
or Pinnacle Studio 500
$150-200

Total = $ 350

More costings here: Mac vs. PC System Shootouts (US site)

July 2005	Entry level Desktop with 15" LCD Monitor and Combo Drive (DVD-R/CD+-RW)
	see this site for US prices of exact same computers
	Dell Australia online configuration 31 July 2005	AppleStore Australia online configuration 31 July 2005
	Dell Dimension 3000 Celeron D 325 Desktop E-VALUE CODE : M210807	Mac mini
Processor	Celeron D 375 (2.53GHz, 533MHz FSB)	1.42GHz PowerPC
Memory	512MB 400mhz DDR2 SDRAM	512MB 333mhz DDR SDRAM Mac mini has 1 dimm slot only
Hard disk drive	80 GB SATA 7200rpm	80GB ATA 4200rpm
Graphics	Integrated Intel Extreme graphics 15" Flat Panel LCD Monitor	ATI Radeon 9200 32MB DDR video memory
Optical drive	Combo drive (DVD - CD-RW)	Combo drive (DVD - CD-RW)
USB and FireWire	1 firewire ??xUSB 2.0 ports	2 USB2.0 ports 1 Firewire400 port
Ethernet and Wireless networking	Integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet	Built in 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)
Modem	none	none
System Software	Windows XP Pro SP2	Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger
Bundled Software etc ie FREE	Works 7	Mac OS X, Classic environment, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Sherlock, Address Book, QuickTime, iLife (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand), AppleWorks, World Book 2004 Edition, Nanosaur 2, Marble Blast Gold, Apple Hardware Test
notes	• delivery included • 1 year warranty included • no speaker	• delivery included • no speaker base price $949, includes Bluetooth and Airport Extreme wireless network card (802.11g - 54MBs) add •Third party 15" LCD monitor=$255 •Third party mouse=$25 •Apple wired keyboard=$50
comparable price	$1,247.40 cost of antivirus software not included	$1,279 includes free software worth around $400

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March 2005	17" LCD screen
	Small Form Factor Desktop LCD Monitor and Combo Drive (DVD-R/CD+-RW)		Professional level Desktop with DVD burner
	Dell Australia online configuration 13 March 2005	AppleStore Australia online configuration 13 March 2005	Dell Australia online configuration 13 March 2005	AppleStore Australia online configuration 13 March 2005
	Dell OptiPlex SX280 Ultra Small Form Factor E-VALUE CODE : M320312	17" iMac G5	Dell Precision 470 DT E-VALUE CODE : M620324	PowerMac G5 Dual Processor
Processor	Intel P4 530 (3.0GHz, 1 MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)	1.6GHz PowerPC G5 533mhz FSB	Intel P4 470 DT Xeon 3.4 gHz, 1 MB L2 cache, 800mhz FSB	Dual 1.8GHz PowerPC G5 512Mb cache, 900mhz FSB
Memory	256MB 400mhz DDR2 SDRAM SX280 has 2 Dimm Slots Only.	256MB 400mhz DDR SDRAM iMac has 2 dimm slots only	512MB DDR2 533Mhz SDRAM	512MB 400mhz DDR SDRAM
Hard disk drive	80 GB SATA 7200rpm	80GB S ATA	80GB SATA 7200rpm	80 GB S ATA
Graphics	Intgegrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 17" UltraSharp Flat Panel LCD Monitor (with SX chassis stand)	Built-in 17" lcd (1280x854) colour TFT NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics processor with AGP 4X support and 64MB of DDR SDRAM video memory with AGP 8x support up to 1440 by 900 pixels	128Mb PCIe ATI FireGL V3100 17" Flat Panel LCD Monitor 1280 x 1024 max resolution	Built-8X AGP Pro graphics NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64MB DDR SDRAM, DVI and ADC ports
Optical drive	Combo drive	Combo drive	16x DVD+/-RW	8xSlot-loading Superdrive (DVD+/-R/CD-RW)
USB and FireWire	1 firewire ?? ??xUSB 2.0 ports	2 USB2.0 ports 2 USB1 ports 2 Firewire400 port	2x firewire 6pin 6+xUSB 2.0 ports	One FireWire 800 port, two FireWire 400 ports (one on front); three USB 2.0 ports (one on front), two USB 1.1 ports (on keyboard); AGP 8X Pro slot with graphics card installed
Ethernet and Wireless networking	Integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet	Built in 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)	Integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet	Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet
Modem	not stated	Internal 56K V.92 fax/modem (RJ-11 connector)	nil	nil
System Software	Windows XP Pro SP2 PowerDVD Software	Mac OS X 10.3	Windows XP Pro SP2	Mac OS X 10.3
Bundled Software etc ie FREE	nil	Mac OS X, Classic environment, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Sherlock, Address Book, QuickTime, iLife (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand), AppleWorks, World Book 2004 Edition, Nanosaur 2, Marble Blast Gold, Apple Hardware Test	nil	Mac OS X v 10.3 "Panther", iLife (includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand), GraphicConverter, OmniGraffle, OmniOutliner, Zinio Reader, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Sherlock, Address Book, QuickTime, iSync, iCal, DVD Player, Classic environment, Xcode Developer Tools
notes	• delivery included • 3 year warranty included • free USB memory key (not sure if has a modem)	• delivery included base price $1,999 plus 3 year Applecare Warranty $269	• delivery included • 3 year warranty included • free USB memory key	• delivery included Base Price $3,331 plus 3 year Applecare Warranty $419 plus 17" LCD monitor $450
comparable price	$2,175 cost of antivirus software not included	$2,268 includes free software worth over $500	$4,313 cost of antivirus software not included	$4,190 includes free software worth over $500

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January 2005	Consumer Desktop - entry level - no monitor
	one year warranty return to base
	*Dell Australia's cheapest desktop*	*Apple Australia's second most affordable desktop*
	Dell Australia online configuration 12 January 2005	AppleStore Australia online configuration 12 January 2005	Harris Technology (Sydney Morning Herald, 1st February 2005, p.8)
	Dimension 3000 Pentium 4 520	Mac mini	IBM A50 small from factor
Processor	Intel P4 520 2.8 gHz 533mhz FSB	1.42GHz PowerPC G4 167mhz FSB	Celeron 330 2.66ghz
Memory	256MB 400mhz SDRAM	256MB 333mhz DDR SDRAM	256 DDR (max 4 gb)
Hard disk drive	80 GB ATA 7200rpm	80GB ATA 5400rpm	40 gig
Graphics	Intgegrated Intel Extreme Graphics (not AGP)	ATI Radeon 9200 with AGP 4X support and 32MB of DDR SDRAM video memory up to 1920 by 1200 pixels resolution	not stated
Optical drive	48x DVD /CD-RW	Slot-loading Combo ( DVD /CD-RW)	48x CD-ROM
USB and FireWire	1 firewire ?? 6+xUSB 2.0 ports	2 USB2.0 ports 1 Firewire400 port	not stated
Ethernet and Wireless networking	Integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet	Built in 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet (RJ-45 connector)	10/100 Ethernet
Modem	56K telephony modem	Internal 56K V.92 fax/modem (RJ-11 connector)	not stated
System Software	Windows XP Pro	Mac OS X 10.3	Windows XP Pro
Bundled Software etc ie FREE	Works 7	Mac OS X, Classic environment, Mail, iChat AV, Safari, Sherlock, Address Book, iLife 05(includes iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and GarageBand), AppleWorks, World Book 2004 Edition, Nanosaur 2, Marble Blast Gold, Apple Hardware Test	not stated
notes	• keyboard and mouse included • delivery included • no monitor	• delivery included • no monitor Base Price $949 add $25 for mouse add $25 for keyboard	no other details
comparable price	$1,122 cost of antivirus software not included	$999 includes free software worth about $500	$ 950

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Price watch 2000 - Prices in 2001 - Prices in 2002 - Prices in 2003 - Prices in 2004 - Pricewatch 2006
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