Today has seen a fairly major hardware refresh from Apple, including upgraded Mac mini’s, Mac Pro’s and iMacs.

It’s a well known fact that I’m well entrenched in the Apple camp, and as such I get infuriated at the plethora of unfounded arguments levied at Apple and their systems. One of the most popular of which, is the notion of an ‘Apple Tax’, upon which Apple apparently levies it’s customers for the mere privileged of allowing them to don the fabled Apple insignia.

So in light of today’s update, I thought I’d do a quick comparison of the iMac 24 vs the Dell XPS One 24, Dell’s rival machine.

XPS One 24

1. 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Quad-Core (More recent CPU, but Windows applications barely know what to do with 4 cores)
2. 2GB 800MHz Memory (Slower memory, and half as much)
3. 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT (Older video card in this class)
4. 500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (Half the size)
5. Slot Load Blu Ray Rom and 16x DVD+/-RW (bonus but I would never use)
6. Analog/Digital TV Tuner and Remote Control (bonus but I would never use)

Total cost: £1,799.00

iMac 24-inch

1. 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo (Technically not as good for apps written for quad core architecture, but a much fast clock speed)
2. 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 (Faster memory, and twice as much)
3. 512MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 130  (Latest video card in this class)
4. 1.0TB Serial ATA Drive  (Twice the size)

Total cost: £1,799.00

For exactly the same cash, an iMac gives you a CPU with a faster clock speed (quad core is meaningless without applications that can make use of the architecture), twice as much and much higher spec speed RAM (DDR3 vs DDR2), a better and more recent video card and double the storage capacity (500Gb’s to 1Tb). It is true that you lose the Blu Ray and TV tuner, but big deal. I watch films on the sofa in front of an even bigger screen, not at my desk, and the BBC iPlayer keeps me entertained on the TV side of things.

Ignoring the fact that the iMac 24 is, in my opinion, a much nicer looking piece of kit than the Dell XPS One 24, or that it runs a substationally better and faster operating system and instead rationally comparing the specs, for me, it’s really a no brainer, but for die hard Microsoft zealot’s I’m sure I’ll be seen to be a brainwashed, evangelicalised member of some weird cultish religion.

The conclusion? Swallow your pride and buy a Mac!