Does The Cheap PC Phenomenon Spell Trouble For Apple?

By Charles W. Moore

A recent article by ZDNet Editorial Director Jesse Berst, notes that one in five PC purchases is now a sub-$600 machine, and that a Seattle firm, Microworkz, has announced a $299 PC. These prices make even the deep discounts being offered on Revision B Bondi iMacs look relatively pricey.

Lowball cheap-o PC-maker Emachines now ranks sixth in sales, and sells a 300 Mhz tower for $399 (CPU only).

One collateral casualty of the cheap-o PC phenomenon appears to be growth in the DVD drive sector. An article by CNET News staff writer Stephanie Miles notes that with sub-$1,000 computers now accounting for more than 40 percent of all PC sales, PC manufacturers have been obliged to leave out expensive features like DVD in order to squeeze out a profit.

Two years ago, a market research study predicted some 10 million DVDs would ship in 1999, but in 1998, DVD sales totaled less than half that number -- between 4 and 5 million.

Is this price meltdown on the Wintel side something we Macheads should be worrying about? Is it the "democratization" of computing, or just an avalanche of cheap junk?

Perhaps an automotive analogy will help illuminate these issues. Cars have gotten so good that it's hard to think of a current automotive analog to the $299 PC, so the late, unlamented Yugo will have to do. Canadians in the audience can also think of the Russian Lada.

A $299 to $599 PC is arguably better than no computer at all for people who can't afford something better, just as a Yugo or Lada was/is better than walking. However, IMHO, neither of the cheap-o categories offers the value available in a used _real_ computer or _real_ car.

A neighbor of mine used to chuckle over people who told him they wished they could win the lottery so they could drive something like his Cadillac Coupe de Ville. The irony was that the Caddy, although in pristine condition, was some 10 years old, and had cost him about one quarter the purchase price of the cramped little new econo-boxes these envious admirers were typically driving.

You can get a decent PowerMac 6000/7000/8000 series machine for under $600. Of course, they are slower than the PC price-leaders, which typically feature 300 MHz processors which Mr. Berst figures are "fine for simple computing tasks, word processing, email," he says, "but power users will be gravely disappointed." Well, for the things most people do most of the time with computers, by my lights 300 Mhz is gross overkill, even in a PC. I know newspapers that are still doing layouts in Quark with 7100/7200 Power Macs, and a small magazine that runs Quark on an ancient 68040 LC 630.

Mr. Berst also disses the 15 inch monitors that come with the cheap-o PCs, and suggests that buyers will want to beef up to 17 inches unless they "enjoy squinting." Reality check. I work 10 hours a day or more on my Macs, and I've never had a monitor bigger than 14 inches. I sit farther away from the screen than most people, and I don't squint.

Mr. Berst is nothing if not demanding. He advises readers to accept nothing less than a two-year warranty on even a bargain machine. Heck, you don't even get that on a high-end Mac. However, better to have a machine that statistically isn't likely to need much warranty support. A used or refurb. Mac will have short or no warranty support, but that needn't keep anyone awake nights.

The one instance where one of these dubious PC "bargains" might make sense is for a Mac user who absolutely must run some piece of software that is only written for the PC platform. Buying one of these jobbies probably makes more sense than a PC expansion card, and they will definitely be faster than software emulation.

Mr Berst also disparages the multimedia performance offered by the cheap-o PCs, noting that they run slower, have sluggish graphics performance, and "you'll want to add a bigger monitor, better speakers, graphics card, faster CD-ROM (or even DVD) for an optimum experience."

Well, if you really want an optimum computing experience, you're barking up the wrong tree with any Wintel PC, let alone one of these bottom-feeders. Rather than buying all those add-ons trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, why not just buy an iMac?

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February 09, 2010