Competition to the iMac

Posted on April 24th, 2008 by papipupipu

It may seem surprising to many people, but the all-in-one Apple computer is starting to be imitated from major PC manufacturers such as Dell and Gateway to compete with this loved company. To me, it seems quite late for these makers to realize the likes of the iMac and the extreme versatility of such desktop computers. By simply thinking this, I went to the wrong direction and thought that these were doing a not-so-good job. But recently, after browsing a bit, I was astonished from the grand results from these PC makers. Even with this, you may think that the usual PC makers are creating the traditional PC’s with nothing special. However, these usual PC makers contradicted the thoughts of many consumers by introducing stylish and eye catching computers with excellent performance. For example, Dell, with its recent successful launch of the well designed XPS M1330, surprised many when they revealed their impeccable one piece desktop named the Dell XPS One. It is the most common thought that nothing could surpass the family based, friendly looking iMac. However, this one is something that can get near to the standards of iMac. At first glance, the computer is unique in almost all aspects. It even has a Blue Ray player and burner in the computer, a keyboard with a touch pad, a discrete graphics card, and a glossy 20 inch screen. It creates more competition to the iMac by including the Adobe Elements Studio, which competes decently with Apple’s user-friendly iLife. Currently, the XPS One is the only computer in the market with such unique specifications. However, even with its splendid specifications, most people wouldn’t consider having a blue ray disc drive and the touch pad. This would lower the consumer range for buyers who want a one piece computer that includes a blue ray disc drive. This number is extremely low, creating less competition with Apple. However, the computer is still stealing away a portion of the iMac customers and also, by considering the growing popularity of the High Definition discs, the XPS One could become the next generation of these types of computers. This could be further supported if the Dell all-in-one bumps their screen size to 22 inch or above with the movie suited 1080p definition. Currently, the Dell only has a 1680 x 1050 definition, which is not sufficient enough to achieve the entering of the home theater media center desktop category. After looking at this, it is possible that the Apple faculty decides to introduce blue rays or other HD players in their computers, but it will be too late for them since Dell would have already dominated the sector. It is simply a matter of who develops and introduces the product first; that is why the iMac is currently babbling about their huge popularity. By introducing it before, the company would have all their time they desire to improve the product. But it is possible that their popularity will decline as the time goes on because if the XPS One reaches the reliability of Mac systems and gains excellent software, the Dell would acquire a huge number of customers.

On the other hand, America’s cow icon computer manufacturer doesn’t seem to have a bright future as Dell’s. But Gateway still introduced the computer early enough to attract customers and get advantage from the growing popularity of the one piece computers. Their computers have less unique features, resembling the iMac in many aspects. Apart from the features, the computer has an obvious name like Dell’s called Gateway One. By having this, the system is able to emphasize the fact that the computer is an all-in-one. However, as stated before, the Gateway One highly resembles the Mac, and therefore, it is often referred to as the clone of Mac. Apart from this, the Gateway includes as standard equipment a 19 inch screen with a 1.3 megapixel camera and by having this camera, the Gateway can compete with iMac even with the excellent software the Apple possesses.

With a price starting around the 1300 dollars, the Gateay One easily beats the high end price of Dell XPS One. However, the iMac has a price around the 1200 dollars, making it a better buy for people who are low in budget. This will create serious problems for Gateway since the iMac has better specifications. The base model of the Gateway One has a 1.5 ghz Core 2 Duo processor and the low end Intel Media Accelerator X1300, while the iMac has a 2.0 ghz processor and an ATI graphics card. The Apple even has a 20 inch monitor which is larger than Gateway’s. However, the Gateway has the ability of being customized, easily overpowering other all-in-ones in which parts cannot be changed. This is an excellent feature since the customer can improve the computer’s performance preventing the extreme stress buyers face when parts are not exchangeable. As shown, most of Gateway’s features are easily eaten away with the unbelievable equipments of the iMac. In order to compete with the iMac in a direct way, Gateway will need to pass through an intense stage of improvement.

If for some reason, people don’t find the value of the all-in-one computers, they could still buy traditional desktop computers. Buying the computers from this sector is an indirect way of competing in which manufacturers benefit. These types of computers are others that are being considered by many customers, regardless of the appearance. However, some of these have nice touches that allow the machine to have a miniature casing with all of the necessary features. The world’s largest PC maker is doing an excellent job on the creation of small desktops with convincible prices. HP’s Pavilion Slimline s3200 is the one of them that is making the benefitting job for the company. Rated “Excellent” in the renowned computer reviewer CNet, this is one of the best buys in the computer industry. With a starting price below the 1000 dollar line, it is splendid that the computer has gaming computer rivals like Alienware and the Dell XPS line of computers. These gaming computers have prices that range from the 1000 dollars to the 10000 dollar line. Why is it possible for a cheap computer to compete in this way? The answer to this is the intense price reducing techniques used by HP that allows the price to be lower than the competition. Also, apart from the value, the computer catches the attention of the people with its attractive design. The computer has a black glossy looking cover and a miniature size measuring 27.6 inches high and 10.7 inches wide. This is something to put an eye into it since it attracts customers that are in love with Macs but are laid off from the high prices of them. This is one of the best value computers in the industry, making it an excellent choice for performance lovers and budget-low customers.

The Apple iMac is still the king of the compact desktop systems with its excellent configurations versus price. However, Dell and Gateway recently released their own all-in-one systems. Dell, especially, is trying hard to compete with the iMac to steal the customers away, but the XPS One is still inferior to the Apple. On the other hand, HP is doing an impeccable job, showing formidable signs of competition with the Apple. If time goes on, there is a possibility of seeing an intense competition industry with the compact computers and all-in-one systems.

Information from:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/ho/WF05a/12132708-12133156-12133158-12133158-12133158-80626073.html http://www1.la.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsdt_one http://www.xataka.com/2007/10/24-dell-xps-one-desvelado http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/dell-xps-one-with/4505-3118_7-32743745.html http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/hp-pavilion-slimline-s3200n/4505-3118_7-32609456.html http://www.gateway.com/programs/one/index.php