Desktop Mac 3/4 years old 500 gb

thescouselander

fred246 wrote: »

Soldering in RAM may prevent people upgrading using normal price RAM. I suppose Apple RAM is so expensive because it is superior?

This might come as a surprise but a lot of people won't care about upgrading the RAM. As devices get smaller fully soldered components will become more common. It's not like everyone is up in arms about soldered RAM in other devices like phones and tablets.

For those who are bothered about that sort of thing there are other machines available but those machines will probably have a bigger form factor.

tavernman

Apple must be doing something right, $18Bn profit in the last quarter, guidance for next quarter is 38.5-39.5% Gross Margin.

shortchanged_2

gjchester wrote: »

Depends on what you define as money saving, Getting the best price for something is not the same as paying the lowest price possible, There's a quality part of the equation that people often miss out. There's no point paying very little for something if you hate it and so don't use it..


Tesco basics Coffee is money saving if you look at absolute price, but it's not to my taste. but for some people who just want a hot drink to warm up the cost is the focus.


I'll pay more for beans I can grind at home, however I'll try and buy the coffee bean brand I like at the lowest price, so I'm focused on value for money aspect.

Have you seen that BBC programme eat well for less?

It really challenges peoples perceptions about things and goes to show how many people believe they are getting a superior product if it costs more.

Basically it shows how with clever marketing and branding people are often convinced they are getting a better product when in fact they are not.

Anne_Marie_2

shortchanged wrote: »

Have you seen that BBC programme eat well for less?

It really challenges peoples perceptions about things and goes to show how many people believe they are getting a superior product if it costs more.

Basically it shows how with clever marketing and branding people are often convinced they are getting a better product when in fact they are not.

Yes, I've watched a couple, and couldn't believe that people are taken in by this marketing junk. The title of the programme is totally wrong, as it doesn't seem to me that they are eating well at all, still eating a lot of ready made junk, albeit cheaper, rather than fresh home made. You can tell that I'm an Old Styler.

However, I'm one who has bought into Apple, and it has nothing to do with brand snobbery whatsoever. It was all about price and specs, with the Macbook Air winning hands down on price, compared to similar spec Windows ultrabooks. When the time comes to replace, which I hope will not be for some time, then I will again go and compare what's available on the market, and go for the model with the best price on the specs that I want, whether it be OS X, Windows or some other operating system.

There are always those who have this brand snobbery thing, and good luck to them, I just don't get it. At the same time, I do get really miffed off on threads like this one, when the anti-Apple brigade start up, when all the OP needs is some help. I haven't helped one iota here, but just getting so fed up, every time someone asks for help with an Apple product.

I do apologise for going off thread OP and hope that you get sorted out.

stuart07970

It's funny how the OP always disappears !

I don't blame them - it's the same sad arguments.

gjchester

shortchanged wrote: »

Have you seen that BBC programme eat well for less?

It really challenges peoples perceptions about things and goes to show how many people believe they are getting a superior product if it costs more.

Basically it shows how with clever marketing and branding people are often convinced they are getting a better product when in fact they are not.

Instant coffee tastes nothing like freshly ground bean coffee, If you are happy with the taste then that's OK for you.
There's nothing wrong with using any cheap product or brand, as I said earlier its a waste of money to buy something cheap and then not use it because you don't like it.

almillar

just the fact that they are overpriced designer goods that are no better than other offerings and have a snobbery value attached to them

You need to look up the bold word in a dictionary.

Your opinion is valid in threads where someone is considering buying a computer, but you're not contributing anything by sarcastically telling people that Macs don't break, in a thread about a broken Mac!

As MacMan says, a lot of the components (especially processor) are the same as PC ones these days.

Fred - get back to us when you work out which is more expensive - plastic or aluminium (re: laptops)

Soldered in RAM is something I'm not a fan of, but Apple seem to think (and I don't agree) that people want insanely thin products (Macbook Air is what I think you're referring to, but now also MacMini) and soldered in RAM is one of the prices you pay. I'm sure plenty of people would rather have more battery life on the iPhone too for a few extra mm of thickness.

BTW Apple have been ripping people off at RAM upgrade time for years, terrible.

gjchester

almillar wrote: »

BTW Apple have been ripping people off at RAM upgrade time for years, terrible.

I disagree. All makers do this, it not just Apple.

Going from 4gb RAM to 8gb on a Macbook Air is £80 extra, Going from a 256GB Flash drive to 512Gb is £240. And yes that seems a lot.

But look at Dell or HP and the costs of upgrading any of their higher end devices (lower end tend not to offer customisation as an option) and you’ll be looking about the same sort of price. If you want to change the configuration at build time its expensive.

The only difference is Apple make it harder to do it afterwards by soldering in, but as you pointed out people want the slim designs and soldering in saves space by not needing changeable connectors.

shortchanged_2

gjchester wrote: »

I disagree. All makers do this, it not just Apple.

Going from 4gb RAM to 8gb on a Macbook Air is £80 extra, Going from a 256GB Flash drive to 512Gb is £240. And yes that seems a lot.

But look at Dell or HP and the costs of upgrading any of their higher end devices (lower end tend not to offer customisation as an option) and you’ll be looking about the same sort of price. If you want to change the configuration at build time its expensive.

The only difference is Apple make it harder to do it afterwards by soldering in, but as you pointed out people want the slim designs and soldering in saves space by not needing changeable connectors.

Let's face it, the only reason apple do this is to try to get people in the first place to buy the higher margin bigger RAM unit in the first place or people will upgrade sooner to a whole new machine as the smaller RAM device in non upgradeable.

At the end of the day it's not in apples ecosystem benefit to actually have devices that last for ever. They need people to spend as much as they can on their devices and many people are silly enough to fall for their guff.

gjchester

shortchanged wrote: »

Let's face it, the only reason apple do this is to try to get people in the first place to buy the higher margin bigger RAM unit in the first place or people will upgrade sooner to a whole new machine as the smaller RAM device in non upgradeable.

At the end of the day it's not in apples ecosystem benefit to actually have devices that last for ever. They need people to spend as much as they can on their devices and many people are silly enough to fall for their guff.

Did you actually read what I wrote?

All makers charge a premium to customise or change a device if its done in factory.