The All-in-One Battle: Dell's XPS One 24 vs. Apple's iMac
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 30, 2008 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Final Words
While I do believe the iMac is the more compelling package there are advantages on both sides of the fence that are worth discussing.
Surprisingly enough, you actually get pretty decent hardware from Apple for about the same price as you do from Dell, the biggest deficit proves to be HDD space and memory capacity, both areas where Dell takes the case. There's honestly no excuse for Apple not to be shipping 4GB of memory and the same 750GB drive that Dell's using.
The Dell advantages are clear, you get a quad-core processor (although Apple's dual-core 3.06GHz chip should be faster for most users), a Blu-ray drive, an integrated TV tuner, better software compatibility out of the box, more memory, a bigger hard drive and better speakers.
Apple's advantages are equally as pronounced, you get a higher clocked dual-core processor, a faster gaming machine thanks to the GeForce 8800 GS instead of Dell's GeForce 9600M (that's still shocking) and depending on how you look at it, an OS advantage. If you want to use the iMac as a gaming machine though you'll have to spring for a copy of Vista, which does balance the price between the iMac and Dell's XPS One 24.
If you absolutely abhor OS X then much of the iMac's advantage disappears, although I do believe that Apple's hardware decisions made a bit more sense than Dell's. The faster dual core vs. the slower quad-core, the 8800 GS instead of the 9600M. Dell did get a couple of things right, mainly the memory and HDD size which I've already mentioned, some sort of a hybrid of the two would be perfect.
The inclusion of a Blu-ray drive in the top end SKU is a nice gesture on Dell's part, although it would be nice to have a problem-free BD playback experience. I suspect that the current state of Blu-ray playback is partially why Apple has stayed away from it for so long, but if you can get it working right it is a nice frill. The (PRODUCT) RED versions of the XPS One 24 are also very solid gestures by Dell, especially given that they don't cost any more than the non-RED versions.
I'd say this whole comparison would be a lot more difficult if Dell chose to offer a better GPU and faster dual core CPU in its XPS One 24, thus removing any performance advantage from the iMac, effectively boiling this down to a Mac vs. PC debate. Since the iMac does have some inherent performance advantages, the situation is complex. If you are going to be doing more video encoding work then the XPS One 24 is a better option for you, while the iMac will be faster for most of the general populace. If you're buying this for a gamer then the iMac with Vista is the better option, but if you want something to be your primary machine for movies and a media center PC (especially one with Blu-ray support) then the Dell is more flexible; Vista Media Center continues to be a better overall media platform than Apple's Front Row under OS X, despite Apple having the cleaner/simpler interface, not to mention better integrated speakers on the Dell.
Personally, if I were in the market for an all-in-one I'd lean towards the iMac and use Boot Camp to fill in the gaps with Vista. If I were in a dorm room and wanted Blu-ray support, a basic TV tuner and wanted a Vista Media Center PC though, I'd gladly take the Dell XPS One 24 as an option.
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Eidorian - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link
It's not that hard.8800M GTS > 9600M GT
HanSolo71 - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link
thanks for the top gear reference i wish more people in america would actually get thatsxr7171 - Tuesday, November 4, 2008 - link
Well we have BBC America. But people don't watch it much.Jovec - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link
Well, that is the behavior of the MS Intellitype software - it will only control iTunes if it is in the foreground. By contrast, Logitech's Setpoint will control iTunes in the background. I have no idea if Logitech does something extra to make this work, or if MS is purposely limiting their keyboards. Had this exact same issue that encouraged me to move back to a Logitech KB.mfed3 - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link
this has to do with the keypresses binding to windows commands. they will all work in media player, media center, and all windows programs.it has to do with itunes controls not mapping directly to the same commands.
logitech's software must look at the media process running and send the correct command
epyon96 - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link
Not sure why the author insists on having a Mac OSX bias. I see nothing wrong with the Start menu nor do I find it outdated. Usually, it's 3 clicks max to get to a program with minimal mouse movement. I am not saying Mac OSX has a bad interface but I see nothing wrong with the Start menu unless you are a devoted OSX fan.I am slightly annoyed why Apple still insists on a single button mouse. For some strange reason, Jobs still insists that computer users are too stupid to learn to effectively use a two button mouse. So what does he give us? A one button mouse that tries to emulate two-button mouse behaviour. Sure it looks cool and has that novelty effect but it wears off after the showroom. It begs the question why?
What does the article mean when it says that the 24" inch flat panel monitors have trouble with 24 FPS 1080 Non-interlaced Blu ray playback? Is it trying to say that 24 FPS refresh rate is not possible on the flat panel without ghosting?
CMcK - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link
Apple haven't shipped a single button mouse with desktops or laptops for a few years now. The Mighty Mouse has four buttons - left, right, side (squeeze) and centre (press the trackball). Very useful. I have mine set for left click, right click, Expose and show desktop.Even the single, or indeed no button, Apple laptops have a left and right click. Just place a second finger on the trackpad and press the button or pad and you have a right click.
I don't find that I actually need to right click often while using OS X.
mikeepu - Friday, October 31, 2008 - link
Frankly I don't really sense a bias in the article. If anything the author is critical of both systems and just states his (keyword alert) 'personal' preference at the end of the article.But I do agree with you that there is nothing wrong with the Start Menu, its just that the Apple Dock is simpler in that only one click is required to start a program located on the dock or just two clicks if you have the Applications folder (the equivalent of the Programs folder in the Windows Start menu) attached to the Dock. But then again, where’s the harm in a few extra clicks to get to a program?
But man Do i want that Dell all-in-one for a Desktop media center :)
MrDiSante - Thursday, October 30, 2008 - link
I am also surprised at the obvious pro-Mac OS X bias in the article. Usually Anand is far more impartial, but this is more than a bit on the Engadget side. Pretty as Mac OS X is, I find that Vista actually offers the more practical solutions to task management problems.The taskbar is far better at showing the user what is and isn't running than the dock (something that Microsoft is mistakenly changing with Windows 7 and will hopefully reconsider). As the fact that there is text with the icons allows me to efficiently differentiate between the numerous windows I have open (again, something Microsoft should not change; OS X looks prettier, but Vista takes the usability prize here).
The start menu still makes more sense than Apple's solution since there is in fact a central place to go for all of your programs (although I personally think Linux does a better job of that).
Alt+tab scales far better than expose does. They both work fine if you're running 5 or fewer programs, but expose just gets messy really fast if you exceed that. If you have 10 or more programs open, with stickies gadgets/widgets etc, then Expose gets downright unusable.
Finally, Windows tends to be far more shortcut friendly. Start + number, and start + 3-4 characters + enter usually launch just about any application I need. Alt+tab switches to just about any program I need. Expose and the dock both struggle with shortcut-friendliness.
DCstewieG - Sunday, November 2, 2008 - link
Actually Apple was first on the shortcuts you're talking about. Pressing Apple+Space brings up Spotlight which lets you type the first few characters of the app to find it and Enter to run it.As for Anand's Mac bias, it's a very interesting story. Here you have a devoted editor of a PC hardware site who decided to give a Mac a spin for a month to write an article about it. What happens? He becomes a huge fan in the process.
You see a lot of comments saying that people use Macs because Steve Jobs put them in a trance or because they look nice or something, but here's a guy who came in fresh and decided he liked it a lot by actually using it.
If you haven't read it: http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2232">http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2232 (though it is a bit outdated now)