Fanboys, get your commenting fingers warmed up. A new study shows that, on average, the cost of a Windows PC is half that of an Apple computer. According to data collected by the NPD group, the average Windows notebook goes for US$700, while the average Apple laptop costs above US$1,500, dropping a mere US$59 in the last two years. And that’s nothing compared to desktop computers.
In Australia, we have an advantage over other countries in that we have several networks offering the iPhone. Of course, the downside of this is that there is a lot more information to try and digest before you make the decision of where your money should be spent.
Fortunately, reader Andrew has come up with an incredibly awesome iPhone plan calculator. Simply slide the scales to your approximate usage, and you’ll be given a solid guide of which plans will suit you in your iPhone purchase, including the monthly cost and the total cost of ownership.
If Pythagoras was alive today, this is exactly the kind of practical mathematics he would spend his time working on. If you’re looking for an iPhone, make sure you check this out before you empty your wallet.
[Numbers in a flash - Thanks Andrew!]
The US$199 Xbox 360 price cut rumour we reported on yesterday got a little more real today after a screenshot surfaced showing the updated SKU for the Arcade model. VGChartz got the scoop, and noticed that the September 7 release date for the updated SKU coincides with some other big Xbox 360 events: the launches of Square Enix’s Infinite Undiscovery and Rock Band 2. Both titles are Xbox 360 exclusives around the price drop time frame (although as Kotaku notes, Rock Band 2 comes out for other systems in November). [VGChartz via Kotaku]
The Xbox 360 “price cut” in July wasn’t so much a price cut as it was a swapping of parts, but Ars says there’s an actual price cut coming in September. According to their source—who also told them about the impending 60GB switch-out prior to E3—the Arcade is dropping to US$199, the 60GB Pro to US$299, and the 120GB Elite to US$399. So say we all. [Ars Technica]
Trying to put pressure on their competition, or feeling the pressure from increasing Samsung and LG market share, Nokia has reduced many handset prices by 10%–mostly music and media phones–but also making discounts across the whole portfolio. Analyst and Sean Connery-fan David Hallden calls the move a Crazy Ivan:
UPDATE: Turns out that the Australian Hybrid machines are higher specced than their US cousins – So rather than hating us, Dell actually love us by giving us better hardware. For a full list of differences, you can check out the Dell websites, but we get 2GB RAM and a 320GB hard drive instead of 1GB and 250GB. The same spec upgrades go for the Latitude PCs as well…
We saw the Dell Hybrid announcement come from the US overnight, and its US$499 price tag was actually pretty exciting for a desktop computer. Of course, the computer was pretty exciting itself – 80% smaller, using 70% less power and packed in 95% recycleable packaging.
But now that the pricing for Australia has been announced, some of that excitement has quickly worn off.
If you’re interested in greening up your desktop PC with one of these bamboo-cased wonders, you may need to start saving, as Dell in Australia have the starting price set at $999 – almost double the US price. The US$499 equates to $525 on today’s exchange rate.
Obviously the exchange rate isn’t everything when it comes to pricing – there’s also the whole ‘economies of scale’ thing – Dell are going to sell a lot more of these in the US than they will in Australia (just based on populations), so they can afford to reduce the profit margin over there. But double the price? That’s a bit rich, isn’t it?
Some of you were probably salivating at the prospect of the Eee PC 1000H getting a price cut over the weekend. Sadly, in Australia, there’s no price cut to be found.
Asus have finally announced the official Aussie price for their latest Eee, and for those 10 inches of screen and 80GB worth of hard drive space, you can expect to hand over $699.
With Acer’s Aspire One and the MSI Wind all hitting the country at a slightly cheaper price, Asus are finally starting to get some competition in this space. As to which one’s the best, well, you’ll just have to wait and see…
[Asus]
The researchers at Purdue University are just full of bright ideas these days, and this weekend was no exception. Thanks to a major breakthrough, they may have overcome a major obstacle for “solid state lighting,” which laymen like to call LED (light emitting diode). That obstacle? Cost. LEDs are expensive, mostly because their innards are created on a substrate of sapphire. That means only a few gadgets and luxury cars headlights have benefited from the tech so far. Purdue researchers solved the conundrum with a technique that creates the LEDs on low-cost, metal-coated silicon wafers. This is great news for energy conservation, because while LEDs are much more efficient than their incandescent brethren, they are also 20 times more expensive to produce. [Purdue University]
The Wii’s US$249 base price always allowed it to be known as both the cheapest console and the best deal in town for next-gen gaming. Even at a price of US$60 a pop for the WiiMote and Nunchuk, the cumulative price of the system and four controllers would still be under the cumulative price for the Xbox 360 and PS3. This all changes with the Wii MotionPlus.
There have been a few blurry screenshots floating around the web that promise a US$299 Xbox 360—a US$50 reduction on the current 20GB model. But these latest pictures from a Gamestop employee are by far the most conclusive. The first is of an internal document that’s not to be opened until 7/13 (the Sunday before this year’s E3). And in not-so-subtle letters it announces “Xbox 360 Pro Systems US$299.99.” The second is of all the signage:
