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Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

finance.yahoo.com

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Re: Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

#41

Post by jmknoll »

greedo wrote: post #37
jmknoll wrote: post #19

"Previn says that while a Mac initially costs anywhere from $117 to $454 more than a similarly configured Windows PC, over four years IBM saves between $273 to $543 per Mac compared to a similarly configured Windows PC." Its late over here, and I could be misinterpreting this, but this feels like meaningless clickbait. 3 times cheaper to own is based on 117 * 3 ~= 543? Taking the extreme low end of one value and the…

No. The minimum savings was $273/4 years = 68.25/year The maximum savings was $543/4 years = 135.75/year

Are those savings already including the fact that "a Mac initially costs anywhere from $117 to $454 more than a similarly configured Windows PC"? Looking at it again, its not entirely clear from the way that its worded.

Re: Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

#42

Post by TheSpiceIsLife »

paulmd wrote: post #10
linkmotif wrote: post #2

Don't know about the stats, but this has definitely been the case for me. My late 2010 MBA worked for 5 years then broke one day. Apple fixed it in under 24 hours for $304.80 (that's with 8.75% NY tax) and I'm typing on it as we speak. PS the thing is basically indestructible... I have no excuse not to buy another some time in the future. Can't wait to try the 12" MB.

Apple doesn't have a monopoly on durable laptops. I'm still using a circa-2010 Thinkpad W-series (purchased refurbished in 2013). Needs a new cooling module (starting to overheat occasionally), and it's been through a couple battery packs and a keyboard replacement, but those are essentially wear items and it's otherwise still going strong. So far I've actually stepped right flat on the screen once (it fell out of be…

Needs a new cooling module (starting to overheat occasionally)

I've disassembled more than a couple of laptops, cleaned out the continental-crust-thick wall of dust from the cooling fins, and replaced the thermal paste on the CPU.

See if you can find a disassembly guide for your machine and give it a go, it's fairly straight forward.

Re: Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

#43

Post by TYPE_FASTER »

gramstrong wrote: post #4

*for a corporation. For a single user who knows their way around a Windows machine, they are not.

I do not agree. My 2009 MBP lasted much longer, and required way less maintenance time, than any PC I've owned or used.

Re: Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

#44

Post by agumonkey »

rvanmil wrote: post #35

It's only anecdotal, ofcourse, but I used to own Windows machines and as a result so did all my relatives with me being the "tech guy" in the family. Not a week would pass without me fixing a relative's PC. Now, about 7 years later, everyone in my family including myself has switched to Macs and I can't even remember the last time I was called to fix a machine.

And you know, fixing, helping, is fine to me, even regularly, but Windows problems are such fake ones. I stopped using Windows for a while, was cringing on linux papercuts and lack of skilled GUI, but the minute I had to use windows, bloatware jumps at your throat and you regret it right away.

Re: Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

#45

Post by linkmotif »

freehunter wrote: post #8
linkmotif wrote: post #2

Don't know about the stats, but this has definitely been the case for me. My late 2010 MBA worked for 5 years then broke one day. Apple fixed it in under 24 hours for $304.80 (that's with 8.75% NY tax) and I'm typing on it as we speak. PS the thing is basically indestructible... I have no excuse not to buy another some time in the future. Can't wait to try the 12" MB.

I agree but I would strongly hesitate to say "basically indestructible". Macs are incredibly destructible. They have a very thin glass screen, you could bend the chassis with your hands if you wanted to, and they're not even a little waterproof. How I would describe a MacBook is "quality". It's not especially durable, it just doesn't break down over time. Other laptops break in stupid ways. The hinges snap because it…

The first few months I owned this MBA, I was still getting used to having a computer so thin and small. One day as I was packing up, I closed the computer and tossed it into the air, setting it rotating on its axis, as one might do with a notebook or folder. Immediately shocked by what I had done, I froze and watched it rise into the air and then fall. In full rotation, one of its corners impacted my Ikea desk. The desk had a 3/4" wedged dent. The MBA went on to work for another five years before the above-mentioned failure.

Re: Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

#46

Post by busterarm »

jgforbes wrote: post #21
patwolf wrote: post #9

I'd like to know what percentage of help desk calls are related to hardware vs OS vs software. I can believe that the Mac hardware is more reliable. However, a lot of help desk calls I remember making were because some legacy software wasn't working which wasn't directly related to Windows, e.g. I can't read my lotus notes mail because there's a problem with my remote mailbox configuration. I'd like to know if those…

There could be other biases too. For instance, if the Mac users at IBM were in largely technical roles (e.g. working on their MacOS integration service) vs large non-technical departments working on Windows machines (e.g. HR and accounting). It wouldn't be very surprising that technical departments had less help-desk complaints than non technical departments.

Not always. One of the software/hardware architects at D.E. Shaw Research (with a Ph.D. from MIT) was _legendary_ among our support team for filing and expecting followup on scores of internal support tickets for minor and often non-reproducible issues like the behavior of his laptop touchpad buttons or weird one-off website behavior. He filed tickets for everything and almost always for things we couldn't do anything about.

I'll never forget his name for that reason alone. He was, and I imagine still is, a serious drain on the support staff.

Totally brilliant though.

Re: Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

#47

Post by DINKDINK »

FollowSteph3 wrote: post #25

It's because most PCs people use are bottom of the barrel cheap. If you compare similarly priced PCs to Macs with similar business class builds (keyboards for laptops, etc) I highly suspect everything will balance out, at the very least be minimal.

Increasing the costs of a PC would make the comparative cost worst. The article claims equivalently spec'd systems

>Previn says that while a Mac initially costs anywhere from $117 to $454 more than a similarly configured Windows PC,

Re: Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

#48

Post by mamon »

jgforbes wrote: post #21
patwolf wrote: post #9

I'd like to know what percentage of help desk calls are related to hardware vs OS vs software. I can believe that the Mac hardware is more reliable. However, a lot of help desk calls I remember making were because some legacy software wasn't working which wasn't directly related to Windows, e.g. I can't read my lotus notes mail because there's a problem with my remote mailbox configuration. I'd like to know if those…

There could be other biases too. For instance, if the Mac users at IBM were in largely technical roles (e.g. working on their MacOS integration service) vs large non-technical departments working on Windows machines (e.g. HR and accounting). It wouldn't be very surprising that technical departments had less help-desk complaints than non technical departments.

It really depends. Developers may have better skills, but also have bigger needs, in terms of software we need to use on daily basis. And with things like proxy servers, ActiveDirectory, group policies, or antivirus softwarem which you cannot reconfigure or turn off, working on Windows can be real pain in the ass.

Re: Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

#49

Post by vbezhenar »

linkmotif wrote: post #2

Don't know about the stats, but this has definitely been the case for me. My late 2010 MBA worked for 5 years then broke one day. Apple fixed it in under 24 hours for $304.80 (that's with 8.75% NY tax) and I'm typing on it as we speak. PS the thing is basically indestructible... I have no excuse not to buy another some time in the future. Can't wait to try the 12" MB.

On the other side, my macbook is the worst notebook I ever own. Faulty SSD (replaced by warranty, but still 1 month downtime because of terrible service), faulty battery after 3 years (which can't realistically be replaced), non-working audio port and speakers (I'm using USB headset), faulty keyboard (half of keys don't work as I'm typing it using Keyboard Viewer), 1 failed charger (worked 2 years), 1 charger will fail soon (cords are peeling off). There were various issues with Asuses, Lenovos I owned, but never so much. I used to own 25-year old BMW which was failing every month or two, so I had to constantly repair it and always guessing which part will fail next. I have the same feeling about Macbook, I never had so unreliable device.

Re: Macs are 3 times cheaper to own than Windows PCs, says IBM's IT guy

#50

Post by proyb »

patwolf wrote: post #9

I'd like to know what percentage of help desk calls are related to hardware vs OS vs software. I can believe that the Mac hardware is more reliable. However, a lot of help desk calls I remember making were because some legacy software wasn't working which wasn't directly related to Windows, e.g. I can't read my lotus notes mail because there's a problem with my remote mailbox configuration. I'd like to know if those…

10% hardware vs 70% software and 20% OS for my case supporting user in MNC.

Most common: Printers, VPN, windows updates glitch could cause hours to reverse. Symantec AV is still unreliable or broken that it didn't update it definition and apply different access permissions to network drive/software take hours to approve.

Included hardware faulty and seriously parts can drag from days to months due to shortage.

Self services software is a good features which windows does not provide except 3rd parties.

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