600-150 is a bigger number than 30 last time I checked. So even if the $30 machine were to loose all its remaining value instantly, not even scrap metal, you would be far, far ahead.

These are the dollar numbers claimed in the above post.

> If a $600 Mac lasts 5 years and still worth $150 and another machine loses all its value in six months (...)

Your hypothetical scenario is so absurd you didn't even noticed your catastrophical scenario falls well within any warranty period.

In the meantime, I own cheap miniPCs that I used as daily drivers, and they soldier on for years.

I mean, do you really believe that NUCs from Intel and AMD will simply fall apart if they don't have an Apple sticker on them?

I do think we should at least use the same measure of time to compare. Even if that means one reaches $0 by the time the other reaches $150.

Macs do generally hold their resell value better than PCs, but that doesn’t necessarily have any correlation to usefulness.

I have bought several ThinkCenter small form factor PCs used for about $200 each, and they’ve each been about 5-7 years old. They’re perfectly fine and I can even get new parts from Lenovo, depending on the part and machine. Fantastic deal. They run loads of services in my home.