Doing the math

Someone out there did an extensive price comparison between the MacBook and comparably-equipped laptops from Dell, hp, and Sony (h/t daring fireball). I thought I'd post here a similar comparison I did between comparably-equipped desktop machines from Apple and Dell back in 2002 (originally posted to a slashdot comment). These numbers were drawn directly from the respective companies' online stores at the time.

Dell Dimension 8200

• Pentium 4 1.7GHz
• 256MB RAM
• 40GB HD (no 60GB available)
• 3yr ltd warranty/service plan
• Windows XP Home
• 15in flat panel LCD (analog connector)
• 64MB Geforce2 MX
• DVD-R/CD-RW drive
• Dell Jukebox, Image Expert 2000, Standard Dell Movie Studio bundle
• Microsoft Works 2002
• Price: $2,209

Apple iMac SuperDrive

• G4 800MHz
• 256MB RAM
• 60GB HD (no 40GB available)
• 3yr AppleCare Protection Plan [apple.com]
• Mac OS X and OS 9
• 15in flat panel LCD (digitally connected)
• 32MB Geforce2 MX
• DVD-R/CD-RW SuperDrive
• iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD
• AppleWorks 6.2 Price: $1,948

Difference: $261