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

[Franko]

I know amiga upgrades were pricey, but is there something I am missing, or was PC owners just being robbed?

No... they weren't getting robbed they were just folk that were too dumb to realise the Amiga was the better machine and deserved to be ripped off...

[Nlandas]

I don't know, you can still get more bang for your buck building your own. Especially, if you buy a really good case and other components and reuse them as you replace your mobo/proc/video every 2 years like me.   8^D

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!!!!

[Speelgoedmannetje]

No... they weren't getting robbed they were just folk that were too dumb to realise the Amiga was the better machine and deserved to be ripped off...

I don't think Joe Average bought a PC anyway in the 80s, rather just your 8bit Commodore, ZX Spectrum or MSX. IBM came from the business/server market and had the business know-how and software. Ergo, the business was screwed big time in the 80s yes.
Likewise the Mac, but then on the graphic department.

[Lurch]

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..)

LOL This isn't true at all, I can build a PC for $500 NZD. If I wanted the same spec in a pre-built computer it would cost me double that and in some cases 3 times that.

The other side of it is these pre-built machines from Dell, HP etc etc usually have old tech but they're demanding top dollar for it.

[Speelgoedmannetje]

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..

It depends. If you pick your parts over the internet well you can still save AT LEAST $200 (with Windows, add ~$100 without).
And I've noticed that a manufacturer like HP STILL preinstall those hellish 'goodies' which thoroughly cripple the pc.

[Speelgoedmannetje]

LOL This isn't true at all, I can build a PC for $500 NZD. If I wanted the same spec in a pre-built computer it would cost me double that and in some cases 3 times that.

The other side of it is these pre-built machines from Dell, HP etc etc usually have old tech but they're demanding top dollar for it.

I don't know the prices of Dell and HP machines, but the price of 'nameless' pre-built machines aren't that unreasonable. Still overpriced and underpowered though.

[runequester]

My current PC was 300 dollars at fry's electronics. 2.something ghz dual core, 4 gigs of RAM, G100 graphics. Not a power house nowadays but it serves just about all my needs, and when shipping costs are factored in, I doubt I'd have saved much doing it part for part.

[save2600]

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........

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.

[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

[XDelusion]

Is this a trick question?!

[desiv]

My current PC was 300 dollars at fry's electronics.

Exactly..  In fact, we get the Fry's ad here every week for fun in the office.  Yes, we buy a newpaper just for the Fry's ad. :roflmao::rtfm:
And the prices on those machines (and not just from Fry's) are insane.

Now, it's not top of the line stuff.  It's not a "gaming rig" or anything like that.
But the average person (well, the average person that asks me for advice) is looking for a machine that will browse the Internet and run MS Office acceptably, not play Crysis at 300 frames per second.

True, someone who wants to spend the time an effort can put together a great machine for less money than Dell or HP charges.  But it's not the same now as it was in the 90's.  
Back then, it was much easier for anyone to save a lot building their own.  The margin's are thinner now.

desiv

[Digiman]

Around 94 Commodore had no answer for the £800 PC clones which had Apollo 4040 levels of performance. The problem was the A4000/030 was just overpriced and not suitable and the only other machine sold complete off the shelf was 14mhz A1200 which was sub 286 16mhz performance.

Of course the A1400CD with 28mhz 020, AKIKO, 4MB RAM (ie inc 2MB FAST RAM) and 2x CD-ROM for £599 in a low profile A3000 type case was green lighted for Xmas 1994 launch. This would have helped a lot for sure. Direct competition for 486SX 25mhz PCs

As for PC users getting ripped off, do you remember just how expensive business software was???

[save2600]

As for PC users getting ripped off, do you remember just how expensive business software was???

Still is. I know people in the private sector that sell and write proprietary business software. This is still a huge industry. Think POS retail systems and support here. People are still getting gang-raped on software written for and designed for inferior systems that take the piss every chance they get.

[Khephren]

business software £ were so over the top...
A1400CD would not have made a difference, AGA was a lame duck, and everyone knew it by '94. The specs you've mentioned should have been the A1200
As for £800 PC in '94, I dunno about that. I bought my first PC in '97, a no brand no hope piece of crap. Bloody thing cost me £900. And wasn't the sx25 the past for PC users by '94?

[ElPolloDiabl]

There was a graphics card someone was selling on Ebay made in 1990 it could do 7 million polygons (same as a 1995 TNT2) and he claimed the original price was $30,000 in 1990.
The sure did rip people off and compared to a company like intel with R&D all the money seems to have been squandered.

[kedawa]

People don't mind paying exorbitant prices when they're spending someone else's money, so it's no surprise that computers designed for business use were over priced.