With the tons of SMS, emails, telephone calls I have received for the past 24 hours reminding me to take the day off from the regular "house chore," I can't help but think of what I should get as a gift on this special day. If there is one thing I really miss on this day, my 82nd with the Mac OS X, I have to say it is digital ink. This blog will explain in detail why I miss it so much especially when going to meetings.
Searching the web for what is currently the best Tablet PC, all my favorite Tablet websites unanimously point to only one - the IBM X61 Tablet ThinkPad. Having used an IBM X41 before, I am quite familiar with the build quality of Tablet PC's from Lenovo. Here is a pic of my old X41.
One thing I like aside from their sub 4 lbs weight is the slim and tactile keyboard that they come with. What makes the X61 even more enticing aside from being superfast is that it is currently on sale until June 18. A 2gig RAM 1.7 GHz model now cost only $1900+ when the price that I paid for the old X41 two years ago was already $2600.
It is now crunch time. Do I succumb to the mood of the day and reach for the wallet? Heck, I already know of someone who is willing to get my Macbook for the same price I got it for. Assuming that I get to sell the Macbook for $1600, this means that my cost for the new X61 Tablet would only be around $400. I wish it were that simple but there is more to the total cost of ownership (TCO) than just hardware cost.
I remember reading last year a blog by Winn Schwartau comparing in detail the TCO between a Mac and a PC. He even provided a downloadable Excel file to allow one to manipulate the numbers based on their own actual costs. So I searched for his blog, downloaded the files, and immediately started punching my numbers.
Here is what I got:
|
PC |
MAC |
Total Hard Cost (Inclusive of software and upgrades) |
$2,987 |
$2,510 |
Subscription Updates per year (AV, firewall, etc) |
$320 |
$45 |
Reliability Cost (lost time in $ per year) |
$348 |
$132 |
Total cost of ownership in 3 years |
$4,991 |
$3,041 |
The numbers will definitely vary depending on the software that you plan to install and how much you value your time. Mine however shows that in a 3 year period, my TCO for the MAC is around $2,000.00 less than the X61. If you want to try it for yourself, you can download the PDF (Winn's Recommendations) and the Excel file from here.
The 2 thousand dollars difference may not be much to some especially if they value having digital ink capability (which I actually factored in as an added cost to the MAC for not having this much desired feature). But going through this exercise reminded me and even allowed me to quantify the amount of time I used to waste and will be wasting if I switch back to Windows.
The verdict. I will stay with my current Macbook and PigpogPda combo. Part of the money saved from not giving in to the temptation will be used for a night out with the family.
Happy father's day!
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