Psystar Apple Case Goes To Arbitration; Results May Be Secret
from the hopefully-not dept
As we noted before there even was a lawsuit, a legal battle between Apple and Mac-clone maker Psystar could represent a key legal battle in determining the enforceability of certain provisions in an end user license agreement (EULA). And, indeed, the case was looking interesting, as Apple sued and Psystar hit back with antitrust charges. However, as a bunch of readers have sent in, it appears that the case has moved to "Alternative Dispute Resolution" (ADR). Basically, rather than going through a lawsuit, the two sides have agreed to first take it to an arbitrator, who may be able to work out a settlement. There are many, many good reasons to go this route (many of them have to do with saving money on the lawsuit), but the fear is that any settlement then isn't a binding legal precedent at all, and the actual results may even be kept secret. I can understand why both sides would do this, but it may deprive the world of a useful precedent.
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Filed Under: arbitration, clones, eula, settlement
Companies: apple, psystar
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Re: #1
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Re: Re: #1
New 13-inch Apple MacBook (base config)
13.3-inch LCD panel, 1200x800 res
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
160GB hard drive
SuperDrive 8X dual-layer DVD burner
nVidia GeForce 9400M graphics, 256MB shared memory
Total Price: $1299
Dell Studio 15 (base config)
15.4-inch LCD panel, 1280x800 res
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
250GB hard drive
8X dual-layer DVD burner
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 graphics with 256MB shared memory
Sound Blaster Audigy Advanced HD
Total Price: $749
Okay, so what we have here is a laptop with a bigger screen, bigger hard drive, comparable graphics, slightly slower memory (although most typical users will not notice the difference), and better sound. And it's almost half the cost of the MacBook. Btw, the 15-inch MacBook Pro starts at $1999. Um, yeah, WAAAAY overpriced. Plus, if you want to run Windows via Bootcamp, for gaming or something, you'll have to shell out for a license of Windows on top of the price of the Mac. And if I went with the $1299 price as the spending limit on the Dell, I could easily put the Mac to shame feature-wise.
I'm willing to bet that a good chunk of the extra $550 you pay goes towards that expensive aluminum brick milling, just so you can save a few screws that would cost mere pennies. If I ever find myself desperately needing to use the Mac OS, I'll probably build my own $400-500 box and crack OS X to run on it. I refuse to waste money on ridiculously overpriced hardware.
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Apple is overpriced
2.0GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR3 Memory
160GB hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Free Shipping
$1,299.00
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=MTE3MjA
Acer Aspire Laptop
Model: AS5735-4624
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core processor T3200 2.0GHz
2GB DDR2 memory;
160GB hard drive
Intel� Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M
$499.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9052945&type=product&id=121801 2528210
Need I say more?
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The best campaign ad ever!
How did this link get in here?
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Value
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Re:
They're coming, although I have no idea who needs an 8 core desktop:
http://www.hexus.tv/show/2008/01/Intel_reveals_overclockable_8-core_desktop_SKULLTRAIL_s ystem/
http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/19/8-core-nextdimension-pc-stretches-the-definition-of-por table/
Looks like Apple is definitely ahead in the 8 core marketplace. Which is... huge? If people are demanding 8 core desktops, they will be there.
And are you seriously saying the differences in components between the MacBook and the Acer listed above are worth $700? It's almost 2 1/2 times as expensive! I could get a laptop, a desktop, and a big monitor for the price of the MacBook. If you're rational at all, I think you would have to conclude that the value lies elsewhere as someone else posted. We could argue about whether it's in the case design, the OS, the support, or the brand name, but it's pretty clear to me it's not in the components. I considered going out and getting a specs on a $1300 PC laptop, but something tells me you wouldn't be convinced by that either.
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