Sixth Laptop Hunters Ad, Matt and Olivia

[freesonwang]

Wow. No news on this yet MacRumors?

Check out the new ad here! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO7b5mACOA4)

Notes and Quotes:
"Large screen, long battery life, the ability to share pictures for under $700".

"These two [PCs] are really nice."
"I know. It's okay."

"You see how [this PC] just seems a lot more sturdy?"

"What about the whole picture deal."
"Uh. It was Windows Photo Gallery."

"Do you like this one?"
"Definitely."
*Baby starts crying*

"Oh. My. Gosh. This computer definitely met all of our expectations".

C'mon, people, be more excited. Jump up and down just like the script told you too! Lol at the complete blandness and apathy of the two characters. And while they did get a large screen, I am pretty sure they didn't get a computer with good battery life for $700.

[mkrishnan]

These people are slightly less lame than the cast of previous editions of this ad campaign. Still no one I can identify with. The real-life analogue of that couple probably would have bought a $700 PC notebook with a 17" screen that weighs 9.5 lbs and I have no desire to stop them.

Probably there's no coverage on this topic here because... yawn.....

[jav6454]

These people are slightly less lame than the cast of previous editions of this ad campaign. Still no one I can identify with. The real-life analogue of that couple probably would have bought a $700 PC notebook with a 17" screen that weighs 9.5 lbs and I have no desire to stop them.

Probably there's no coverage on this topic here because... yawn.....

.... zzzzzzzzzz .... *wake up* ... there is another one of these ads? .... meh, sloppy and not convincing, yet some people will fall for it.... *goes back to sleep* ... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ....

Now in all seriousness, the ad simply put emphasis on Windows Photo Library (which is no match for iPhoto), cheap ($699, same laptop Lauren bought), and fits what they want. Also, it smacks Macs right back as they mention how expensive they are.

Strangely, they stopped putting up people looking for laptops under $1500... I wonder why... OH THAT'S RIGHT!!!!:D

[Melrose]

I can picture the dialogue that went into this one:

Microsoft: "Quick! Apple is still doing well! Do another ad!"

Marketing Guy: "Well, we've done women and young guys, hit on
gaming, price and video editing [sic], what can we throw at the
public now?!"

Microsoft: "Babies! Use a baby! Everyone loves babies!"

Marketing Guy: "Brilliant! Microsoft, you always have such
original ideas, never mind that every other aspect is the same
as before!"

[nuckinfutz]

Let me know when they have a version with Olivia naked. Spanky hunters ..lol.

Matt looked like "I could give a ****".

[K3mp]

Matt looked like "I could give a ****".
Yeah he did. The cameras also seemed like they had selective hearing.

[iGary]

Enjoy your POS, frigtards.

[gkarris]

At least they got the HP (the Dell ones made me puke - like the IE 8 commercial :p)

I think they'll also get a free upgrade to Windows 7 - should be a "fun" upgrade for them to do...

Please don't wake me again, unless Kate Beckinsale needs a laptop... :eek:

:D

[dmmcintyre3]

The thing is you just can't get a good computer for under $1000 at 12-15 inch and 17 inch really needs to be $1200+. A 17 inch 9 LB laptop is fine if you do not go anywhere often and just move it around the house but you get junk battery life with a sub 1k 17 inch laptop. Although that PC probably has express card or PCMCIA which you cannot get with Apple for less than $2500.

[thegoldenmackid]

I mean, it's not so much news. And there has been mention in the other threads, even the non-Apple media has mocked them as being misleading.

[dmmcintyre3]

My PB G4 would be better for photos. Why? Have you seen how good photos look on my PB G4? A $1000 15 inch Dell cannot compare to this. The glossy Dell looks washed out in comparison to my matte PB. My iBook (when it works which is rarely) looks better than the dell. Windows Photo gallery I will have to try out on my grandma's PC but I doubt it is better than iPhoto ('06).

I just tested it. I could make it look much better quicker with iPhoto than Windows Photo Gallery. I spent more time with the PC than with the PB. This was with iPhoto '06 and Windows Photo Gallery in Vista Home Premium.

Edited:
http://dmmpics.co.cc/phototest.zip

Original:
http://dmmpics.co.cc/phototest.jpg
(if it does not show try again in a few min. I am uploading it.)

[FF_productions]

I like how each ad is at Best Buy. Shows a lot of variety in where one can shop for a computer (not trying to protect apple, I'm talking all computers).

[thegoldenmackid]

I like how each ad is at Best Buy. Shows a lot of variety in where one can shop for a computer (not trying to protect apple, I'm talking all computers).

It's Fry's actually for the newer ones. Best Buy employees don't wear ties or suits, at least at most the stores I shop at.

[xIGmanIx]

cue another 4,000 comment thread on how apple is vastly superior to all others. I like them, and cost is a buzz word right now that microsoft is circling around which is a major factor to some.

[gkarris]

cue another 4,000 comment thread on how apple is vastly superior to all others. I like them, and cost is a buzz word right now that microsoft is circling around which is a major factor to some.


Agreed, plus Windows 7 will be Microsoft's Redemption... :)

(I've tried it - best Windows to date...)

[nuckinfutz]

Much like the company ..Microsoft's adds are about as Dorky as they come.

[nuckinfutz]

Agreed, plus Windows 7 will be Microsoft's Redemption... :)

(I've tried it - best Windows to date...)


When you're at the bottom...the only direction you can go is up.

[Eidorian]

I do my shopping online for the most part. It's strange buying a laptop in store. I might take a look at it for the size and feel but not buy one in store.

Unless Fry's is having a killer deal on a motherboard and CPU.

[uberamd]

What is the resolution of this 17" monstrosity? Most inexpensive 17" laptops push 1440x900, which is NOT an ideal resolution for a 17" laptop, ever since Apple spoiled me with 1440x900 15" (where my previous 15" laptops were 1280x800).

But if a gigantically thick, clunky plastic PC with a crap screen and equally crap battery makes you happy, then so be it.

[gkarris]

When you're at the bottom...the only direction you can go is up.

you made my coffee go up my nose... :eek:

:D

[blackhand1001]

My PB G4 would be better for photos. Why? Have you seen how good photos look on my PB G4? A $1000 15 inch Dell cannot compare to this. The glossy Dell looks washed out in comparison to my matte PB. My iBook (when it works which is rarely) looks better than the dell. Windows Photo gallery I will have to try out on my grandma's PC but I doubt it is better than iPhoto ('06).

I just tested it. I could make it look much better quicker with iPhoto than Windows Photo Gallery. I spent more time with the PC than with the PB. This was with iPhoto '06 and Windows Photo Gallery in Vista Home Premium.

Edited:
http://dmmpics.co.cc/phototest.zip

Original:
dmmpics.co.cc/phototest.jpg
(if it does not show try again in a few min. I am uploading it.)

Actually the DV7 has a better screen than your powerbook and iBook. It has a polarized TN panel like the powerbook and the ibook uses a nonpolarized one which means poor contrast ratio and even poorer viewing angles. IF you want to know what an unpolarized tn panel is before apple changed the screen on the macbook it was unpolarized. The dv7 they bought has the wsxga+ screen so its 1680x1050 not 1440x900. The WXGA+ version is unpolarized which the one in the video is clearly polarized.

[synth3tik]

watching the video was fun, once my eyes wondered down to the comments, that's when things took a turn for the worst.

[djellison]

Enjoy your POS, frigtards.


My dad has a machine that's fairly similar to that one. It does everything he needs - quickly, reliably and easily, and... cheaply. The screen is STUNNING and has a far better viewing angle than my UB-MB which cost more than twice as much.

Why, exactly, is it a POS and why is he a 'frigtard'.

[SteveMobs]

So they end up buying a big chromed out piece of kit. Nice. I absolutely hate the way that computer looks. I see them around campus when the light reflecting off of them burns my retina.

[uberamd]

So they end up buying a big chromed out piece of kit. Nice. I absolutely hate the way that computer looks. I see them around campus when the light reflecting off of them burns my retina.

Then you grab your aluminum baseball bat... er... Macbook Pro and smack them over the head with it. I can see it now, The Sopranos in 2009, using Macbook Pro's to teach people that its not ok to miss payments instead of using baseball bats.

[nuckinfutz]

My dad has a machine that's fairly similar to that one. It does everything he needs - quickly, reliably and easily, and... cheaply. The screen is STUNNING and has a far better viewing angle than my UB-MB which cost more than twice as much.

Why, exactly, is it a POS and why is he a 'frigtard'.


I have no idea how we go around to talking about Point Of Sale systems ;)

Frigtard...I've gotta steal that one.

Some PC users have actually brought up a good point. Many don't like the Laptop Hunter adds because to them it portrays PC users as "cheap" and only concerned with price. There's an element of truth here.

[blackhand1001]

I have no idea how we go around to talking about Point Of Sale systems ;)

Frigtard...I've gotta steal that one.

Some PC users have actually brought up a good point. Many don't like the Laptop Hunter adds because to them it portrays PC users as "cheap" and only concerned with price. There's an element of truth here.

And I thought i was the only one that though of point of sale everytime i hear the word POS mentioned on a computer site.

[xIGmanIx]

When you're at the bottom...the only direction you can go is up.

how is about 85-90% market share at the bottom? please, keep it to yourself

[xIGmanIx]

I mean, it's not so much news. And there has been mention in the other threads, even the non-Apple media has mocked them as being misleading.

Right, because Apple would never do anything like that in their marketing? :eek:

[djellison]

Apple has, twice, been told by the ASA to change its adverts here in the UK for being intentionally misleading.

I've not yet seen it happen to Microsoft.

[dmmcintyre3]

Actually the DV7 has a better screen than your powerbook and iBook. It has a polarized TN panel like the powerbook and the ibook uses a nonpolarized one which means poor contrast ratio and even poorer viewing angles. IF you want to know what an unpolarized tn panel is before apple changed the screen on the macbook it was unpolarized. The dv7 they bought has the wsxga+ screen so its 1680x1050 not 1440x900. The WXGA+ version is unpolarized which the one in the video is clearly polarized.

Are you talking about the glossy screens? My screen looks better than my friends macbook. The glare is bad on them. You can make a matte more saturated than a glossy if you try.

Now, Why do you think apple charges extra for a matte screen and you can only get one on the biggest and most expensive of all their laptops? Because it is better for some uses. Which I use. Have you read any of the glossy vs matte threads? Pro photographers like the matte screens.

[tsa1]

looks guys ,the fact of the matter is, olivia or whatever, is hot and i would hit. I dont care what pc they bought.

[WickedRabbit]

I'm honestly surprised at how horrible these ads are. If Microsoft really wanted to play ball, they do the following:

"I'm looking for some serious gaming power in a laptop"
Screw the battery life. Get a gaming rig that's meant to be a desktop replacement or a lan party machine. No matter how you slice it and dice it, there isn't a single Apple machine that will compete with a serious gaming laptop on the PC side of things. You've got laptops with dual graphics cards, over 1TB of storage, 1080P screens, blu-ray, hot-swappable drives, hdmi, etc. Not to mention some reputable machines, such as those from Alienware and Acer.

Microsoft sort of tried it with the little kid, but they just said he wanted something for gaming and didn't really go after it. They should have started mentioning games (and how 95% of them aren't available for Mac), machine specs, etc. And even if they said "for $2,000 to $3,000" a top of the line Macbook wouldn't even give you half of what a top of the line gaming rig would give you at that same price point in terms of specs and for gaming there's no comparison at all.

Their ad group is just horrible and they really should try leveraging some strengths that they have instead of the lame ones that in many cases turn out to be a bit of a stretch to begin with.

They could even step away from laptop's and start a Desktop Hunters, with an obvious advantage being customization and upgradeability:

"I'm looking for something that will grow with me as technology advances"
"Let's take a look around"
"Look at the iMacs... these are so sexy."
"How can I upgrade this?" "Well, all you can really do is change the hard drive and ram so when you want an upgrade, go buy a new machine."
"What about the PC?"
"Oh well you can start at whatever price point you want and just upgrade from there. New graphics card, more ram, additional optical drives or hard drives, etc. No real need to buy a new machine when you can sort of just add things as you see fit"
"That's awesome!"

And if you're wondering why I compare the iMac as the desktop instead of the Mac Pro it's because the Mac Pro is not a consumer oriented desktop. It's quite expensive for one and the Xeon processors are not ideal for day to day tasks. In fact, it's been proven that Xeon's will actually perform worse for day to day tasks. So, if Microsoft were to do this, the more realistic comparison would be the iMac. But, even if they were to compare the Mac Pro against a high end PC desktop at the same price point, spec wise the PC would win by quite a margin. It would more than likely rock SLI graphics cards, over 1TB storage, would have a blu-ray drive, hdmi, 7.1 audio and probably a monitor for the same price as the Mac Pro sans the monitor.

---------

Now I obviously have a Mac (iMac to be exact) or I wouldn't be here. But these are some valid points that their ad group should really touch on as they are obvious advantages instead of the far stretch crap that they try to pull now.

To Microsoft:
Stop being stupid and advertise your strengths and not your price. People will see right through you and people care more about advantages than anything else.

[paolo-]

Is it just me or does even the very premise of the add make no sense at all? They get what ever laptop they want and Microsoft pays for it... yet the macbooks are too expensive !?

fail.

[ZebraineZ]

Well I really wanted to say this....

PC's are for people who really want a Mac but can't afford it honestly.

If you gave a person a chance to either have a Mac or a PC, they would take the Mac 100% , and I am not being biased.

Every person I have either talked to or anything, has been amazed at me or anyone having a Mac, and when they hear that person has a PC they just go 'oh...ok'.

Of course they go to the Macs in the commercial. They know they really want a Mac but the microsoft guy gives them less money so they are forced to buy a PC :)

A PC is ugly, and fat and is a real drag to use.
I know they use the same 'parts' but honestly I think Macs use them better and PC's just try to do it in a hurry and end up crapping.

Let's say you are going to college.

If you have a $1200 budget, would you rather take the 13-inch MBP, 2.23gzh, 2gbram, pretty thin and lightweight, or would rather get a (whatever) PC laptop, with 4gb ram, 2.6gzh, not as thin or light as the macbook, same price.

I am trying to be as fair as possible and seriously, what would you choose out of them? If you are a person who already knows the mere basic of computers and went to the store and used each computer, they would be hooked on the macbook. In the end they would take the macbook, because they want a computer that works well, looks well, and has whatever you would need in a computer. I don't know where I am going with this but you get the point :)

[MTI]

Debating truth and the virtues of advertising . . . isn't that an oxymoron? ;)

You have to admit, the ads are fun to watch.

[djellison]

If you gave a person a chance to either have a Mac or a PC, they would take the Mac 100% , and I am not being biased.

You are. Macs are NOT for everyone. They don't do everything everybody wants. They may do everythign YOU want - but YOU are not representative of every person on this planet. If someone said "You can have a Mac Pro, or your DIY workstation" - I would take MY workstation - every single time.

[BongoBanger]

cue another 4,000 comment thread on how apple is vastly superior to all others. I like them, and cost is a buzz word right now that microsoft is circling around which is a major factor to some.

Bingo. It's funny though, isn't it? Also a clear indicator the ads are working.

[BongoBanger]

Well I really wanted to say this....

PC's are for people who really want a Mac but can't afford it honestly.

That's funny because I have both. Oh and an Ubuntu box.

If you gave a person a chance to either have a Mac or a PC, they would take the Mac 100% , and I am not being biased.

Nope. Merely very, very silly.

[LERsince1991]

They should really do an advert for students... see what they recommend :D

I want a small, lightweight laptop that performs well when running intense CAD apps and adobe CS4 apps.
Things like good screen, bluetooth, good battery life, backlit keyboard and other things would be nice.
I want it to last about 5 years and still work with intense apps ok.

Huh? I have one option?... :P

[blackhand1001]

Are you talking about the glossy screens? My screen looks better than my friends macbook. The glare is bad on them. You can make a matte more saturated than a glossy if you try.

Now, Why do you think apple charges extra for a matte screen and you can only get one on the biggest and most expensive of all their laptops? Because it is better for some uses. Which I use. Have you read any of the glossy vs matte threads? Pro photographers like the matte screens.

Actually I wasn't talking about glossy/matte. I am talking about the difference between TN and TN+Film.

[MorphingDragon]

ZzzzZzzz... :eek::rolleyes: Again? ZzzzZzzz

[three]

Not everyone in the world likes Macs for various valid reasons. For example: I have some real life friends that computer game, they personally love OS X, and they like the beautiful designs but don't like Macs since Mac's aren't expandable enough for gaming.

[dL.]

Basically, the whole point of all these Laptop hunters is:

1. PC have lots of choices.
2. Mac doesn't have a lot of choices, especially if it's below 1k.

Most of the time if you guys noticed, they focus on screen size. Yes it's important, but it's not everything.

IMO, the most important factors of choosing a laptop is:

1. Weight. The lighter the better.
2. Battery life. The longer the better.
3. Trackpad size. Keyboard feel.

I think we all know which laptop offers the best of those 3 factors.

dL

[NT1440]

The ability to share photos, seriously?

No really, seriously?

Anyone with a damn internet connection can share a damn photo.:rolleyes:

[djellison]

IMO, the most important factors of choosing a laptop is:

1. Weight. The lighter the better.
2. Battery life. The longer the better.
3. Trackpad size. Keyboard feel.

I think we all know which laptop offers the best of those 3 factors.


Well - back to my Dad's 17" Dell.

Weight. Moot. It spends its time on a desk. Sometimes it gets moved to another desk.

Battery life. Moot. It spends its time plugged in.

Trackpad size. Moot. Mouse.

Keyboard feel. Great - has a numeric keypad which is great for the accounting he does a fair bit of.

Over all. 3 moot points and one win for the Dell over any Mac. And £1300 in cash over the only Mac with a similar sized screen.

Apple fanboys have to get over this long held belief that no matter what you want or what you're doing, a Mac is a better choice.

Sometimes - it just isn't.

[MorphingDragon]

Well - back to my Dad's 17" Dell.

Weight. Moot. It spends its time on a desk. Sometimes it gets moved to another desk.

Battery life. Moot. It spends its time plugged in.

Trackpad size. Moot. Mouse.

Keyboard feel. Great - has a numeric keypad which is great for the accounting he does a fair bit of.

Over all. 3 moot points and one win for the Dell over any Mac. And £1300 in cash over the only Mac with a similar sized screen.

Apple fanboys have to get over this long held belief that no matter what you want or what you're doing, a Mac is a better choice.

Sometimes - it just isn't.

*Kill the non-believer...

No really, only nitpickers really care.