Let's say you manage that,
You don't need to "manage that". There are plenty of companies selling complete systems. The difference is with a PC you
can do that.
SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) as standard equipment across the line.
You can get PCs with those, too (the "Superdrive" is actually a mid-range Pioneer model). In fact, a model that can read and record all formats (CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW) costs about $250.
And
of course they come with three PCI expansion slots,
Most PC motherboards have five.
Pretty much all 3D graphics cards have DVI these days, and have dual-monitor support as well (in fact, the cards used in Macs now are the same as in PCs, except in PCs you have a wider choice, because not all manufacturers have Mac drivers).
analogue audio in, analogue audio out,
optical SPDIF in, optical SPDIF out,
Standard on almost all sound cards (SP/DIF in usually only on mid- and high-end models).
built-in Gigabit Ethernet
Which not many people have use for, and therefore shouldn't be forced to pay. In PC motherboards, only server models normally include gigabit Ethernet as standard (in the rest you can add a PCI adapter if you want, it's cheap). Many home systems come with two base-100 ports, though, which is practical when you have a cable modem and a home LAN.
All models
are 802.11G ready, and offer Bluetooth capability as a
build-to-order option.
All PC models are "ready" and "offer capability", too. You just need to buy the relevant adapters; same as Macs.
iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, iChat, iDVD - all excellent apps
Not according to some people in the "Mac Tools" forum in this very site. Lots of people complaining about them and even asking how to disable them.
and then the 'built in' Email, web browser, address book, word
processor, spreadsheet, etc etc etc without the need to buy an
office suite of S/W.
Apart from the spreadsheet, Windows has equivalent programs. Personally I don't like them much, and would prefer if they
didn't include them, and charged less (because if you think those programs are "free" you're wrong; their price is simply included in the price of the system).
So, if you added all of that standard Mac stuff to your bear-bones
PC system, how much would it cost then?
Let's see how much it would cost us to build a PC system that would match the cheapest G5:
Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce 2 motherboard (including AGP Pro 8x, dual-channel DDR400 memory controller, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, 2 Serial ATA channels with RAID, 2 parallel ATA channels, two base-100 Ethernet ports, 5 PCI expansion slots, 2 firewire ports, 1 parallel port, 2 PS/2 ports, 1 serial port, 1 joystick port, 6 USB 2.0 ports, plus various other irrelevant connectors): $121
Athlon XP 2500+ (1.83 GHz "Barton" model, with 640 KB cache): $86
1 GB PC3200 DDR400 RAM (in two 512 MB sticks, to make use of the dual-channel memory controller on the nForce 2): $150
Pioneer DVR-A06 (high-speed multi-format CD / DVD recorder, usually comes bundled with a DVD player and basic DVD authoring software): $220.
Western Digital 120 GB (Special Edition, 8 MB cache) drive: $105
Chieftec tower case (including 450W power supply, several models and colours to choose from; there are cheaper cases from other makers, including plenty of aluminum models or even Mac look-alikes; I happen to prefer the Chieftecs): $95
Logitech Cordless MX Duo (cordless keyboard and rechargeable 7-button + wheel mouse): $70
eVGA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (model with 128 MB, DVI, TV output and video capture): $128
I think that about covers it in the hardware front. Let's add up. 121 + 86 + 150 + 220 + 105 + 95 + 70 + 128 = $975.
That's half the price of the cheapest G5 and has four times more memory (and it's dual-channel, too), a faster (although 30% smaller) drive, a graphics card with twice the video memory, a better optical drive, more expansion slots and more ports, not to mention the wireless keyboard and 7-button wheel mouse. The only relevant things missing are the Firewire 800 port (but I don't know of a single device that uses that, so the two Firewire 400 ports should get the job done), the 56k modem (does anyone still use those?) and the gigabit Ethernet port (but you do get two base-100 ports).
You can add gigabit for $40 and a 56k fax/modem for $10, bringing the total to $1025.
Now add Windows 2000 or XP Pro ($100), which already includes a word processor, web browser, address book, e-mail, media player, fax and terminal software, disk defragmenter, sound recorder, image viewer, etc., and you reach the grand total of $1125.
Of course, you still need to buy the monitor(s), printer, scanner, tablet, speakers, etc., but none of that is included with the Macs either, and it's exaclty the same for both systems, so it doesn't introduce a price difference.
This leaves you with $875 to spend on any software that you feel you need which is standard on Macs but Windows doesn't include (there are also plenty of free alternatives, so this extra software won't necessarily cost you money). That's more than Photoshop costs. Alternatively, you can get a very nice 21" monitor for that money (or a 17" one plus a graphics tablet and a photo printer).
The PPC970 CPU does support more than 4 GB (which this PC would not), but the cheapest G5 model is limited to 4 GB anyway, so no difference there. If you really need a system with more than 4GB, you can go for a dual Opteron (add about $1500 to the price above). But most Opteron boards support 12 GB, while the most expensive G5 "only" supports 8, so it's not exactly a match (but close enough, I guess).
Of course, if you need to run some program that is Mac-only, then the Mac may be worth the extra money. But for Photoshop? I don't think so. If you already have a Mac, there's very little reason to switch to a PC, but the same is true the other way around. If you're going to upgrade, it's a matter of weighing the upgrade cost and power against the investment you already have in software.
If Apple really wants to compete with x86 / Windows, they need to lower their prices. Of course, that's a big "if". Personally, I don't think they do.
