PC vs amiga pricing in the 80s and 90's. Were PC owners getting screwed?

[LordSpunky]

I always tell people nowadays it's not worth it to build their own computer from bits, as a new PC won't cost them much/any more..
(Unless they want to have fun, which is why I do it..)

But, back in the day, I always told people to build their own.

You could build a PC back in the day for MUCH less than a complete Compaq or Dell..
The markup for a complete PC was crazy..
A complete PC would set you back $3000, when I got my Amiga 500 with memory (a 512K expander) and a 1084s for $850.
But, I could have "built" that PC for maybe $1200 almost totally from Jameco.  ;-)

desiv
p.s.  All of these numbers are from impressionistic memory that's 20+ years old, so it's 100% accurate!!!!

I agree from a '98 - '05 perspective, even then - late 90's it was still cheaper to build your own PC.......my first PC I was suckered by Packard Bell, I knew little and ended up paying £1200 ish for a Cyrix! While if I had built my own [Knowledge wasn't there then] it would have been better for cheaper! Amiga had gone then, but when I bought my Escom A1200 in '97 it was £100 clearance! You couldn't buy a PC for that!

I've built computers for most of my family, and now when it comes to upgrade time I tell them the same, go to Tesco, and buy one out the box for £300 / £400 because I couldn't build that spec for that! [With genuine OS etc.....]

[LordSpunky]

Lets not forget Apple prices ether. You think Mac prices were fair? They made IBM type machines look like a real bargain!

VERY true......and I've fallen for it too....owning a year old iMac.....that I could have bought ten PC's for the price I paid........

[LordSpunky]

And you'll go through 10 PC's in the time you'll be enjoying your iMac  

My main system is still a G5 iMac. Absolutely no logical reason to replace it yet. Runs everything perfectly fine. Well, 'cept some of this Adobe shit is a little slow to load, but I try to stay away from their stuff as much as I can anyway.

I admit, the iMac is fantastic! 27" of very very clear screen, 8GB's of RAM, Quad Core Intel.......for music, which is why I bought it, it is brilliant! Plug that guitar straight in!.........*drool* only a modern Amiga would better it