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NOTE: Normally, after matching other hardware specs, keeping the hardware specs in line with each other includes making sure that if one system includes a display, the other system includes one as well. In this particular case, the price discrepancy was so great between the two systems that I made an exception.
As a result, the Apple system includes the $699 20" Cinema Display, while the Dell only includes the tower. For an alternate comparison, remove the Cinema Display, add Apple's AppleCare warranty (3 years of both hardware & software support) for $249, and you're still left with a $450 price advantage for the Mac Pro.
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Best of Field
(in my opinion)
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Apple Mac Pro with 20" Cinema Display
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Dell Precision 690 (tower only)
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Design/Styling:
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Aluminum Casing
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Black/Silver Casing
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Mobility:
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42.4 lbs (tower) + 14.5 lbs (display)
integrated handles on tower
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55 lbs
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Component Access?
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Extremely easy access;
(cable-free bays, lift-out RAM risers, etc.)
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thumb-screws;
relatively easy component access
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Cords/Cables:
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appx. 10 cables/cords (Tower, Display, Web, Speakers, Keyboard, Mouse, Microphone)
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Desk Space Used:
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151 sq. in. (tower); 126 sq. in. (display)
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187 sq. in.
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unknown; assuming 30-35 dB
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unknown; assuming 30-35 dB
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Energy Use:
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up to 1.4 KW (tower) + 65 W (LCD)
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up to 750 W tower
(optional 1 KW power supply for $470 more)
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 |
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2x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
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2x 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon
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L2 Cache:
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4.0 MB per processor
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4.0 MB per processor
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RAM Type:
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DDR2 FB-DIMM ECC (667 MHz)
(fully buffered)
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DDR2 FB-DIMM ECC (667 MHz)
(fully buffered)
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Front Side Bus:
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2x 1.33GHz, 64-bit dual buses
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2x 1.33GHz, 64-bit dual buses
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RAM Amount:
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1.0 GB (2x 512)
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1.0 GB (2x 512)
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Max. RAM:
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16.0 GB (8 slots)
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4.0 GB (or 64 GB)* (8 slots)
*NOTE: The theoretical limit is 64 GB, but this would require both the 64-bit version of Windows as well as a 1KW power supply with extra memory risers--raising the price by another $470, in addition to the extra RAM itself.
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Hard Drive Capacity:
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250 GB
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250 GB
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Hard Drive Type:
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Serial ATA
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Serial ATA
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Hard Drive Speed:
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7200 RPM / 8MB cache
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7200 RPM / 8MB cache
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CD-RW:
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24x24x32x CD-RW
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24x24x32x CD-RW
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DVD-/+RW:
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16x8x16x DVD±RW (dual layer)
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16x8x16x DVD±RW (dual layer)
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Floppy/Other Drive:
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--
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13-in-1 media card reader
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PCI/AGP Slots:
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4 full-length PCIe total (3 available)
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2 half-length PCIe slots; 2 full-length PCI-X slots
1 full-length PCI, 2 full-length PCIe (6 available?)
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Internal Bays:
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4 3.5" 3 GB/s cable-free SATA bays total
(3 available)
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4 3.5" SATA bays total
(3 available)
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External Bays:
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2 5.25" optical drive bays total (1 available)
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4 5.25" optical drive bays total (2 available)
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Mouse:
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4-button, 360º trackball optical USB mouse
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Mechanical 2-button PS/2 scroll mouse
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Keyboard:
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USB Keyboard w/2 USB 1.1 ports, volume/mute/eject keys
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Standard Keyboard
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Remote Control:
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optional
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optional
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USB Ports:
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9 total: 7 USB 2.0 (3 on back, 2 on front,
2 on monitor); 2 USB 1.1 on keyboard; 6 available
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7 total on tower (2 on front, 5 on back);
7 available
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FireWire Ports:
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6 total: 4x 400 Mbps (2 on CPU, 2 on display)
+ 2x 800 Mbps on CPU; 5 ports available
(note: 2 ports on CPU front : 1x 800, 1x 400)
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2x 400 Mbps (1 in front) (2 ports available)
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Legacy Ports:
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--
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2 serial, 1 parallel, 2 PS/2 (used)
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Video Card:
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nVidia GeForce 7300 GT
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nVidia Quadro NVS 285
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Video RAM:
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256 MB GDDR2 SDRAM
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128 MB GDDR2 SDRAM
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VGA Out:
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Yes (adapter included)
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Yes (adapter included)
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DVI Out:
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2x DVI ports (1 single-link + 1 dual-link)
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2x DVI ports
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RCA-Out:
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optional PCI card or adapter
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optional PCI card or adapter
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S-Video Out:
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optional PCI card or adapter
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optional PCI card or adapter
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TV Tuner:
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optional PCI card or adapter
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optional PCI card or adapter
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Dual Display Support?
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Yes
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Yes
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Display:
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20" viewable digital LCD
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(n/a)
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Display Upgradable?
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Yes
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Yes
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Display Resolution:
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1680x1050 / 1.7 Mpx (widescreen)
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(n/a)
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Maximum Resolution:
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1920 x 1200 (digital); 2048 x 1536 (analog)
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1920 x 1200 (digital); 2048 x 1536 (analog)
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Brightness/Contrast:
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300 cd/m; 700:1 contrast ratio
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(n/a)
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Viewable Angle:
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170 vertical; 170 horizontal
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(n/a)
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Audio In:
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Analog & Optical digital audio in (Toslink)
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Integrated HD Audio w/line-in
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Audio Out:
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Analog & optical digital audio out (Toslink);
front headphone jack
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Integrated HD Audio w/line-out/headphone jacks
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Speakers Included:
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Integrated mono speaker included
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Internal mono chasis speaker
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Video Camera/Webcam:
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optional
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optional
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Ethernet:
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Dual 10/100/1000 Base-T ports
(jumbo frame support)
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10/100/1000 Base-T
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56k Modem:
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optional USB modem
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optional USB modem
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Wi-Fi Card:
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optional 802.11a/b/g Airport Extreme card
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optional 802.11a/b/g card
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Bluetooth Card:
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optional Bluetooth 2.0+EDR module
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optional Bluetooth 2.0+EDR module
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Hardware Extras:
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--
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--
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Included OS:
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Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger; BSD Unix;
X11 Window System included
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Windows XP Professional SP2
(optional: Windows XP 64-bit)
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Windows Support:
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Native (via Boot Camp);
also via 3rd-party Virtualization
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Native (all Windows OS's)
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Mac Support:
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OS X (Native)
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Mac OS 8 (via Basilisk)
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Linux/Unix Support:
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Various flavors (Native)
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Realtime Metadata Search/Organization:
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Spotlight (system-wide)
(includes Smart Folders, Content Search, etc)
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(Google desktop search available)
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Modular Desktop Utilities:
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Dashboard (system-wide)
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Task Scripting:
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Automator/AppleScript (system-wide)
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Windows Script Host
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Save-as PDF:
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Native (any file; includes encryption)
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--
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Faxing:
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System-wide (requires optional modem)
Send/Receive logs/archives included
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Fax Service not installed by default
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Zero-Config Networking:
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Bonjour (system-wide)
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Handwriting Recognition:
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Inkwell (system-wide)
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--
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Voice/Speech Recog:
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Voiceover (system-wide)
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(limited to certain non-core apps)
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Web Serving:
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Apache w/Perl, Python & PHP included
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IIS w/.asp included (XP Pro only)
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Data Backup Utility:
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(iBackup, PsyncX, etc. available as free download)
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Included
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Developer Tools:
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Xcode 2.0; GCC 4.0;
Quartz Composer included
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(free download of compiler/linker/diff tools)
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File Compression:
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System-wide Zip compression
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System-wide Zip compression
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File Encryption:
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FileVault system encryption
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Per-file encryption (XP Pro only)
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Word Processor:
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TextEdit (.doc compatible)
or OpenOffice (free download; Word comp.)
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WordPad (.doc compatible)
OpenOffice (free download; Word comp.)
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Spreadsheet:
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OpenOffice (free download; Excel comp.)
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OpenOffice (free download; Excel comp.)
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Presentation:
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OpenOffice (free download; PwrPt. comp.)
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OpenOffice (free download; PowerPoint comp.)
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Database:
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OpenOffice (free download)
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OpenOffice (free download)
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Drawing/Painting:
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OpenOffice (free download)
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OpenOffice (free download)
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Page Layout/Publishing:
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--
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--
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Website Authoring:
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iWeb 1.0
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--
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Font Management:
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FontBook 2.0
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no on-the-fly font enabling/disabling
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Projects/Planning:
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Omni Outliner
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--
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Web Browser
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Safari RSS 2.0
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Internet Explorer 6
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Image/PDF Viewer:
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Preview 3.0
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Image Viewer
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E-Mail/Address Book:
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OS X Mail 2.0 / Address Book 4.0
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Outlook Express
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Calendar Program:
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iCal 2.0
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--
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Data Synchronization:
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iSync 2.0
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Offline Files & Folders (XP Pro only)
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System Data Transfer:
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System Migration Assistant
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Settings Transfer Wizard
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Chat/AV Conferencing:
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iChat AV 3.0
(others avail. as free dl: ICQ, AOL IM, etc..)
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Windows Messenger
(others avail. as free dl: ICQ, AOL IM, etc..)
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Multimedia Software:
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Quicktime 7.0; DVD Player 4.5
(WMP & RealPlayer avail as free downloads)
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WMP 10
(RealPlayer & QuickTime avail. as free download)
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PVR Software:
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optional
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Financial:
|
--
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--
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Reference:
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Dictionary/Thesaurus; Sherlock 3.0
|
--
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Digital Photography:
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iPhoto 6.0, ImageCapture; Comic Life
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Google Picassa avail. free dl
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Digital Video Editing:
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iMovieHD 6.0
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MSFT MovieMaker 2
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CD Burning/Music:
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iTunes 6.0; OS X Disk Burner; OS X Burn Folders
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Roxio Creator; XP Disk Burning; WMP 9;
iTunes avail. as free download
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Audio Engineering:
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GarageBand 3.0
|
--
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DVD Burning/Authoring:
|
iDVD 6.0; Disk Burner
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Roxio Creator; Std. XP Burning
|
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Games Included:
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Chess
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Mine Sweeper, Asstd. classic games
|
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Total Software Titles Available:
|
Either Fewer or More
depending on whether BootCamp is utilized
|
Either Fewer or More
depending on whether the Mac uses BootCamp
|
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Additional Software:
|
Asstd. system software
|
|
|
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Free Services:
|
1 month .Mac trial
|
--
|
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Viruses/Trojans/Worms:
|
No known viruses, trojans,
worms or spyware affect OS X.
|
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Firewall:
|
Built-in, fully configurable
|
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Hardware Warranty:
|
1 yr. ltd./on-site
|
3 yr ltd./on-site
|
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Software Support:
|
90 days
|
--
|
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Customer Service:
|
|
|
|
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Subtotal:
|
Base system price: $2,124
+ 2x 2.66 GHz Dual Core Xeon Upgrade: $300
+ 250 GB Hard Drive upgrade: $75
+ 20" Apple Cinema Display: $699
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Base system price: $1,579
2.66 GHz Dual Core Xeon upgrade: $520
Second 2.0 GHz Dual Core upgrade: $869
250 GB hard drive upgrade: $90
16X DVD+/-RW w/Roxio Creator upgrade: $79
667 MHz RAM upgrade (from 533 MHz): $40
13-in-1 media card reader: $19
Internal mono chasis speaker: $5
nVidia Quadro NVS 285, Dual DVI upgrade: $10
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- Rebates if any:
|
--
|
--
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+ Ground Shipping:
|
n/c
|
n/c (ltd. time)
|
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Total Price as configured:
(tax not included)
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