It used to be that if you bought an Apple computer, you were paying a lot more than if you bought a PC.

That changed somewhat when Jobs announced the new Intel-based Macs. They were competitively priced when they came out - and he struck a deal with Intel so that he would have the new chips before Dell for that launch, so they couldn’t be compared directly anyway.

This (in addition to the original $499 Mac Mini) created a new idea in people’s minds that Apple was now price-competitive.

This was a one-time marketing message however, and Apple has not *remained* competitive since then.

For example, there no longer exists a $499 Mac Mini (unless you buy it refurbished or buy an old stock mode) (from 2005), there is a $599 Mac Mini (a computer’s price went up over 3 years???!), the cheapest Mac there is - and as anyone who has shopped Dell can tell you, its inexcusably overpriced and underpowered.

Today I went onto Dell’s site and configured a Dell desktop on deal to compete with the Mac Mini - I was *astonished* at the results:

This is very disturbing to me, as I wanted to order the cheapest intel mac I could find in order to write an iPhone app. However, I have a REALLY hard time paying $599 for the mini. Although the processor and memory are inexcusably lacking at that price point, the 5400 RPM 80GB hard drive is nothing less than insulting.

Frankly, the Mac Mini should retail for half the price.

Besides the price point, the lack of configuration of the Mac Mini is also frustrating - I don’t need firewire, bluetooth, or wifi on my desktop - so with Dell I can ditch those and move my money into areas I care about - processor and memory. With the Mac Mini, you get a Mac Mini, and you pay for it all, whether you want any given feature or not. Its frustrating.