Memorandum
To: Donna Shea, Instructor
From: Phil Fournier
Date: 10/2/2004
Subject: WR2 Compare and Contrast two computer systems
For the purposes
of this assignment, I did extensive research on the internet to learn what I
could about the Apple computer company and the capabilities of its
products. My past experience with
computing has been almost exclusively with the IBM PC standard, beginning with
my first computer purchase in February, 1988, when I bought a computer for my wife’s
birthday, ostensibly for her benefitJ. She did use the computer for gaming and
personal work such as the creation of greeting cards and personal calendars,
but it became an invaluable tool to me.
Our first computers were all run on Microsoft’s DOS (disk operating
system) which was on a floppy disk. Our
second computer purchase was a machine with a 20mb hard drive, which at the
time seemed huge.
My first exposure
to the Apple computer was in the same year, 1988, as we shopped for a computer
system that would be adequate to run a software program for our business. We very nearly bought a software and hardware
combination that was based on the Apple computer and its operating system. Being a non-computer user at the time, I was
thrilled by the look of the Apple operating system. The graphical user interface and the use of
the mouse were almost irresistible to a man who hadn’t used typing since high
school. My father was somewhat biased
against the Apple system due to his working with IBM machines in his oil
company research job, and as a business partner, his opinion was important to
us. But even he was very impressed by
the “look and feel” of the Apple equipment and software. We came within one day of buying the system,
which had a price tag of $15,000. At the
last minute we asked the vendor for a reference. He gave us one, and it happened to be an auto
repair shop owner in our town. From a
marketing standpoint, this turned out to be a serious mistake on his part, as a
conversation with the repair shop owner confirmed a suspicion which we had; the
computer system would not network effectively.
We had determined that we needed two terminals at least, possibly three,
to run our business effectively. This
Apple system had the requisite number of terminals in theory. But in practice, they could only be used one
at a time. We held off on our purchase
and later bought an IBM PC based system.
The “look and
feel” feature of the Apple computer and its GUI (graphical user interface) were
a huge selling point in the early days of Apple computer and no doubt account
for its great success within the educational field. In my research on the internet, I found that
Apple enthusiasts are ardent in their love and support of the computer and its
features. Dr.
For the purpose of
this report, I compared two computer systems: The first, I own myself; a Dell
computer Inspiron 600M laptop computer which I
purchased about three months ago to replace my problematic HP laptop. The second I compared by shopping on the
Apple website; an Apple PowerBook G4 laptop computer. I tried to equip each one with comparable
hardware and software so as to make a valid comparison. I also researched websites that showed
comparisons of the two computers.
Generally, the comparisons were based on speed, which for many users is
an important feature. Here are
side-by-side comparisons of the equipment of the two machines:
Apple
PowerBook G4: 14-inch TFT Display, 1024x768
resolution, 1.33GHz PowerPC G4, 512K L2 cache, 512MB DDR333 SDRAM, 60GB Ultra
ATA/100, NVIDIA GeForce FX, Go5200 (64MB DDR), Full
size keyboard, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, FireWire 400 AirPort Extreme built-in,
Mini-DVI out, CDR/DVD Super drive, Keynote presentation software, 3 hours
battery life, weight of computer is 4.6 lbs.
Note that the Apple website does not sell Office software, only its own
presentation software. In order to
obtain Office for Mac I went to an alternate website and found the necessary
software at around $150. The price for
computer as detailed above including Office software, around $1,900.
Dell Inspiron
600M: 1.6ghz Pentium M processor, 4 hour battery life, 60gb hard drive, 512mb
RAM, Microsoft Office for small business, Windows XP home edition, 10/100 base
T Ethernet card, 24x CDR/DVD drive, 14.1” TFT display, 64mb video memory,
weight of computer 4.9 lbs. This
computer is also equipped with all of the ports, old technology and new, including
a serial port and a parallel port, two USB ports, a single PCMCIA port, and a
built-in wireless connection. The price
for the computer as detailed above was $1449.
From
a teaching standpoint, either of these computers would be more than adequate
for almost any use that an instructor might have. In reading the reviews, the Apple product got
high praise for its ability to handle video capture and video editing. Having never done anything with video on a
computer, I have no experience upon which to make a comparison to the Dell
computer, but the difference would probably be more in the software available
than in the actual computing power or memory capability of each machine. Websites that have the appearance of being
sponsored by Apple show the PowerBook G4 to be about 30% faster than the
comparable PC laptop. If an instructor
were primarily interested in the video capabilities of the machine, it would
probably be a good idea to make a real-life comparison before purchasing.
One
item which is to me of great importance is the support and warranty of the
machine. Laptop computers are subject to
a great deal of rough usage because of their very definition of portability and
movement. My own experience has been that
I can beat one up within two years. My
last Dell laptop lasted through the three year warranty I purchased for it, and
continues to function flawlessly today, five years after I bought it, though
its small hard drive and relatively slow processor made it obsolete for my
uses. During the warranty period I had
three small problems, all of which Dell computer handled on-site in an
incredibly short period of time, less than two days downtime. I cannot speak to Apple’s response time, but
I would be surprised if their service was to that level. I noticed on the website that the standard
complete warranty period was only 90 days, which to me does not bode well.
For
purposes of live comparisons rather than internet shopping, I found the
following map on the Apple website to be of interest:
What
you see there are the locations where an Apple computer can be viewed in real
life. Similarly, if one was to insist on the Dell
brand of laptop, there would be no great abundance of stores to buy from. I searched the Dell website and found about
17 stores in
In
summary, for the use of an instructor, either the Apple or the Dell machine,
equipped of course with the necessary software, would be capable of meeting
every computing need the instructor might have.
The Dell machine will be less expensive, and if one is willing to
purchase an off-brand machine, prices would probably be even less. The 60GB hard drives should have long life
for storage needs, even with large video and graphic programs. Bigger drives are available on both machines
for more money. Speed of both machines
is very fast, even when multiple windows are open (I currently have four
internet site windows open, a mail program, and three office programs open with
no noticeable drop in speed within this word processing program.) Both machines are capable of burning CD’s and
viewing DVDs. The battery life on the
Intel Centrino (Pentium M processor) is somewhat
better than the Apple, four hours compared to three, proved
experimentally. In the end, personal
preference will probably be the deciding factor, rather than functionality. As is probably obvious from what I have
already said, my choice would be the Dell Inspiron
600m.
The
following resources were used relative to this research project:
Fournier,
Philip – My own personal experience
Dell
Computer web site for Inspiron 600m notebook computer
–
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspn_600m?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd
Apple
Computer web site –
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore/
Website
for purchase of Microsoft Office for Mac – PCNation,
http://www.pcnation.com/web/details.asp?affid=306&item=883434
Website for Apple
computer history
http://apple.computerhistory.org/
Website for Mac
computer comparisons