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PC vs. MAC the war continues.. another shot

So I got into this debate with a web guy who was asked for the second opinion. So I need your quick help guys again. This is based on his research but doesn't look he is comparing apples/apples. Looks like the web guys entered the unknown for him territory - infrastructure.

What do you guys think?

1.   Initial Cost:
 
  X200         MacBook Air        Apple "Premium"
INITIAL COST                        
13" laptop (Paralles VM free w/ Mac)         $1,373.09         $1,649.00        
dock station (PC)/keyboard-airport-cables (Mac)         $184.93         $180.00        
AC adapter (included w/ Mac)         $32.94         $-          
3 year extra warranty         $300.00         $300.00        
  $1,890.96         $2,129.00         $238.04
 
 
2.  5 year Total Cost of Ownership (Initial Costs + Support Costs):
 
  X200         MacBook Air        Apple "Premium"
INITIAL COST                        
13" laptop (Paralles VM free w/ Mac)         $1,373.09         $1,649.00        
dock station (PC)/keyboard-airport-cables (Mac)         $184.93         $180.00        
AC adapter (included w/ Mac)         $32.94         $-          
3 year extra warranty         $300.00         $300.00        
  $1,890.96         $2,129.00         $238.04
5 Year Est. Support Costs                        
In-house support: PC (2 calls per year * 2 hrs per call * $100 per  
hour * 5 years)         $2,000.00                
In-house support: Mac (one-half of PC, since free, comprehensive  
hardware & software support all through Apple)                 $1,000.00         $(1,000.00)
5 Year Total Cost of Ownership         $5,781.92         $5,258.00         $(761.96)
 
 
3.  Quality/Completeness of Phone Support:
 
Note I added 3 year warranty to both the PC and Mac options.   Why?    
It's a no-brainer low-cost investment!   We know hard drives and  
components fail and that we'll need phone support from the  
manufacturer at least one time over a 3 year period.   Also, what  
happens when you (or I) are not available just when user needs  
help?  She can/should call the manufacturer in a pinch (according to  
User, this does happen and she places a premium on immediacy of  
support).   Secondly, I submit that Apple support is both better  
quality in general (they are smarter and better qualified than most  
support reps).   Importantly, Apple supports the ENTIRE product --  
hardware and software, whereas we all know that PC hardware  
manufacturers OFTEN point fingers at Microsoft and blame them while  
the customer is spending time trying to figure out who's to blame.    
Also, strangely, Microsoft's operating system license is with/through  
the hardware vendor, so an end-user has to pay $150 to speak with MS.
 
 
 
4.  Amount of In-House Support Required:
 
I'm not saying there will be NO in-house support required for the Mac,  
but probably less because: (a) better and more complete phone support  
is available with the 3-year extra support warranty; (b) mac support  
is for the entire system (hardware + software) and Vivian's iPhone.
 
Real-life examples:
 
a.  Web guy came in to install a recently purchased HP printer on User
new PC.   The HP install script wouldn't work!   After 1 hour on the  
phone with HP support, they "punted" to it being a Dell issue.   After  
being bumped up to a sr. tech at Dell and 3 hours more later, they  
fixed the problem.    They claimed it was a problem between Windows XP  
and HP's software.  Who knows (who cares!), but what should have been  
"plug and play" cost User few extra hundred dollars!   This would  
never happen with a Mac b/c the hardware and OS are one.
 
b.  User's curren ultra-portable was a demo "deal", right?   It ran  
slow and pooped out.   Was it MS's fault?  The hardware vendor's?    
How many extra extra in-house support calls were needed to keep it  
alive and how much EXTRA did that cost to the User?
 
 
 
5.  Ease of Use/Quality of Experience:
 
OK, we all know Vista sucks and while XP is simpler, it's not as easy  
and intuitive to use as a Mac.   Why?  B/c the hardware and software  
are one (e.g. why is it that User needs to keep her laptop open  
while using her external monitor).   File management is much simpler  
(one hard drive and not the "a" through "g" volume crap which confuses  
backups).   Mac's freakin' back themselves up by themselves with  
TimeMachine!   Eventually, when Vista is viable (maybe a year from  
now), Vista will be more intuitive than XP, but it will never be as  
seamless with the hardware, by nature.
 
Also,  users' computing requirements include mobility to a  
substantial degree (her iPhone) and the ease of use/simplicity value  
of one integrated solution - including laptop/OS/Phone - is tremendous.
 
 
 
6.  Marketplace trends with laptop purchases:
 
You note below that law firms are not Mac houses (creative is).  This  
is a dated perspective.   True, creative firms tend to Macs b/c the  
software on it is better.  But if we look at the entire laptop market,  
Apple laptop growth is much greater than MS laptops.   Part of the  
reason this is changing is that with Apple's shift to Intel and really  
good VM options (VMWare and Parallels), Macs run Windows and Windows  
software extremely well and seamlessly (I know, I use VMWare and PC  
software on my Mac, when necessary and it works fast and flawlessly).

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Lee W, MVP

Can you post that in a word document?

mmcsadmin

ASKER

Actually this is what I got. Let me try to re-format this in Word forwat.

Thanks.

mmcsadmin

ASKER

This should be better. Let me know.
1.doc.docx

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Carl Bohman

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mmcsadmin

ASKER

Thanks for your input. You're absolutely right about the power adapter. He didn't understand it ($32) was for one for the docking station (assumed it would come with docking station). You're also right that a license for Windows XP would need to be purchased for the Mac -- an additional approx $129, for an OEM version.

Its hard to argue with someone who is a Mac person and avoiding the infrstructure/enterprise argument. But I think I won the case at this point.
This is some other his comments below:
===============================
My points about training and support is that most of the training/ support one needs is available for free at the Apple store. This is a
huge convenience factor as well as cost savings advantage.
Integration with Exchange is arguably just as good through a POP
connection. Also, if Vivian prefers, she can have MS's Entorage
"Outlook" client installed on her Mac, which is part of MS Office for the Mac.

The reference to the trends is not about being "trendy", but rather there are real, hard reasons why folks are moving to Mac laptops at a faster rate than Windows (not a whole lot "trendy" about me these
days ;-). This applies to all users - lawyers, etc.

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IncisiveOne

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IncisiveOne

> I think it is a well established and documented fact that the number of help desk calls for fiddling with a PC is substantially more than a Mac

Just one example. There are no viruses on Mac (there was a bit of detail on the previous thread). That is because it is Unix, and unix is impregnable and virus-free. That eliminates a lot of manual labour (that would be invested in maintaining anti-virus software, updates, etc; running through virus checks regularly; and of course removing viruses.

Re "operating systems". Refer to:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/24548135/What-versions-OS's-do-Apple-have.html?anchorAnswerId=24800455#a24800455

While windoze editions after '95 (which came out some years after 1995) may be considered "operating systems", there have very little in common with the established Operating Systems in the world. That means everything at the underlying levels; that translates to (in terms that you can see) the size of applications, because each has less code and uses standard libraries on standard operating systems (which are absent from Winded and therefore the same app eg MS Word is a bigger fatter nastier beast.

This also has an impact on ease of use. Standard-compliant programs make it easier to use the system (why does Ctrl-I and Ctrl-M do different things on Mac/PC and on different apps) and to transfer data between programs (just try putting images in Word docs and compare with Pages docs). As mentioned in the previous thread, there are no standards in windows, only conventions.

Let's say I am producing software, eg. a word processor like Word. If I adhere to standards, it means I have far less maintenance and I am far less affected by changes in the industry. If I write for Mac OS, I have all the libraries, etc available, so it decreases my development time, as well as increasing performance of the result; it also guarantees the user will get the same expected operation from the same task or the same keystroke. And my code does not have to change because (a) Unix has not changed in 30+ years and (b) MacOS has not changed in 10+ years. In the same 10 year period, there has been at least six Windodo "operating systems; each is a new codeline, with completely changed or new libraries; this demands that I change my code about six times in that 10 years. This is in part what leads to inferior code and 20,000 programs on the PC to do what 100 programs do on the Mac.

Cheers

IncisiveOne

Before the nit-pickers pick my nits.

When I stated "Unix has not changed" obviously what I mean is yes, it (including the libraries) is extended and enhanced every year, and in every minor release, but no, the extant libraries are not replaced; we have backward compatibility. On Windoze, in the first instance, the libraries do not work, so they have to be replaced. In the second instance, winDodo is replaced with Windoodoo or whatever. End result in the world that is absent of standards is: replacement/rewrite is demanded in every major release, as is evident in that world. In the standard-compliant world, so such thing is necessary.