Microsoft Releases Second 'Laptop Hunters' Commercial

[KnightWRX]

Sure.

However, maybe I have an older computer and need more power for what I need to do to help me get a job.

Unless by older computer you mean something built in the early 90s, pretty much any computer can go on the web, produce a resume in a word processor and use e-mail to send it out.

We used to do that kind of stuff on Pentiums clocked at 100 mhz with barely 16 MB of ram (I'm not talking video ram either).

And if really your computer can't, your library probably has a few free to use that can.

There are many ways to help and spur the economy besides making a computer purchase. Investment in stocks, bonds and savings are one way. Purchase Real Estate or building a new home are another.

Savings do not help the economy. Investing in stocks either. You need to get out and give money to businesses, not banks and wallstreet.

 

[BillParkinson]

Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later

I always say Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later about Apple stuff.

I can pay less for a Windows machine, but I will pay more in my own hours over time with all the upkeep of a windows machine.

Apples are not perfect, but I spend far less time keeping my OS X machines running than I used to with my Windows based machines. And that TIME IS MONEY!!!

 

[gkarris]

just for fun..

LOL - now THAT'S awesome!

Come to think of it - yes, look for a $1,500 Notebook computer. You find it - you keep it.

Yeah, like that's gonna be extremely difficult...

 

[sharkinfested]

Actually, it wasn't name-brand Kool-Aid, but rather Flavor Aid. But whatever it was, it contained cyanide, which I guess is really all that mattered.

But here Microsoft isn't sticking up for itself so much as making itself look even more ridiculous...they're giving free advertising for Apple AND making customers who buy computers with their OS look as though they're settling for something that sucks. Which they sorta are.

See my sig. Microsoft might as well just conclude their next ad with, "I'm a PC and I wanted that sleek, sexy, gorgeous Mac but had to settle for this piece of ****ING ****

People say Kool-Aid because that brand has become synonymous with any fruit flavored mix – much like Kleenex is used to describe any facial tissue regardless of brand. The point is that Jim Jones tested his followers several times offering up the drink and telling them that it contained poison to see if they would drink it – they always did. Of course the last time he did that it really DID contain the poison…

But I do think these ads are making the point that often PCs are cheaper than Macs. The ads have certainly pushed some buttons here. But to be fair it only works with budget PCs. My Dell cost over $1000 more than my aluminum MacBook. There are plenty of PCs that cost as much or MORE than Apple’s line.

 

[dwl017]

How come all you "creative professionals" even have time to visit this web site? if you are truly the "creative professionals" that you say you are why in the hell would you waste a minute of your valuable time on this rumors site?

Since you bought those high end Mac's to earn a living shouldn't you all be busy in the edit suites?

Creative professional my ass! I bet over 50% of these so called "creative professionals" are doing nothing but surfing the web, checking email and chatting on facebook.

Like I said its all stupid this argument has been going on forever!

 

[KnightWRX]

How come all you "creative professionals" even have time to visit this web site? if you are truly the "creative professionals" that you say you are why in the hell would you waste a minute of your valuable time on this rumors site?

Since you bought those high end Mac's to earn a living shouldn't you all be busy in the edit suites?

Creative professional my ass! I bet over 50% of these so called "creative professionals" are doing nothing but surfing the web, checking email and chatting on facebook.

Like I said its all stupid this argument has been going on forever!

I'm not a creative professional and this is the weekend, so basically, I'm sitting home with nothing to do (which is not true, I'm working right now, but my mkfs has just hanged again, which will force me to fsck a 500 GB filesystem for 2 hours..., then allocate a spare 600 GB in the storage array, make a newfs, copy over the data from the old and blah blah blah working weekends suck).

 

[MacAerfen]

I think the things I love best about these ads are what they are saying. Not one of these ads say anything about the Windows product other than the computers they run on are cheap.

I mean when you look at the Apple ads at least they say something about the product the company makes. They poke fun at Windows by saying what they feel is better about the product they make. Ya some of them are cheap shots at Microsoft but at least in the end there's some positive message about why to buy an Apple product other than "Hey buy this computer because its cheaper than a Mac". It is kind of sad when that is all Microsoft can say about its own product is to try and push another companies product. Not once in these adds is there even really a mention of Windows items. And in all honesty when was the last Microsoft ad that actually had something to do with why people might want to run Windows? The Seinfield ones were stupid attempts at publicity that had nothing to do with the product at all and this latest isn't even advertising Microsoft since you could just as easily wipe those computers and put on linux.

I think the fact that they know how crappy Vista was and that they have no intention of fixing it but instead just going to sell people Windows 7 for inflated cost to get rid of Vista is sad. I used to like windows but honestly they have had too many really big OS blunders like Windows ME and Vista that they did nothing to correct other than release a new one that costs more money. I mean buying Vista Ultimate which is really the only decent version there is is almost 1/3 if not 1/2 of the price of some of these computers they are pushing.

 

[wardev]

I'm a mac and I work. I actually work. Wish I could say the same for Mr. PC

 

[samh004]

How come all you "creative professionals" even have time to visit this web site? if you are truly the "creative professionals" that you say you are why in the hell would you waste a minute of your valuable time on this rumors site?

For many this is an interest or passion, so they make time to come here.

However one could say the same of all the other forums on the net. There's a few pilots forums and you'd think they'd be too busy flying planes, but apparently not.

Plus as pointed out, it's the weekend.

I think the things I love best about these ads are what they are saying. Not one of these ads say anything about the Windows product other than the computers they run on are cheap.

They display the Windows logo at the end, which should be recognisable by now.

 

[sushi]

Why does everyone want to start a fight in here? (Rhetorical).

Not sure why. But it does seem to go that way.

It's an advert. Who gives a ****. It you spent more time getting conficker off your computer and less time paying attention to this crap you would realise people will say Anything to sell anything.

And your point is?

Unless by older computer you mean something built in the early 90s, pretty much any computer can go on the web, produce a resume in a word processor and use e-mail to send it out.

We used to do that kind of stuff on Pentiums clocked at 100 mhz with barely 16 MB of ram (I'm not talking video ram either).

And if really your computer can't, your library probably has a few free to use that can.

Funny. Didn't realize that my 90s computer would run Vista with Office 2007, including Outlook. Silly me.

Yes, I get your point. But in reality, who are you to inform someone else as to how they can spend their hard earned dollars? Each is free to spend their funds as they see fit. For some a new computer, even cheap one, may be a better use of their funds at this time.

Savings do not help the economy. Investing in stocks either.

Incorrect. You might want to hone up on those financial skills.

But I do think these ads are making the point that often PCs are cheaper than Macs. The ads have certainly pushed some buttons here. But to be fair it only works with budget PCs. My Dell cost over $1000 more than my aluminum MacBook. There are plenty of PCs that cost as much or MORE than Apple’s line.

Thank you.

Yep, some buttons have been pushed. As a long time MacFan I find it interesting to see how testy some folks are in regards to this advertisement.

I've been using PCs since DOS 1.0 and Macs since 86. Seen a lot of changes over the years. Am and always have been a Mac fan, but PCs work fine too.

For many this is an interest or passion, so they make time to come here.

However one could say the same of all the other forums on the net. There's a few pilots forums and you'd think they'd be too busy flying planes, but apparently not.

Plus as pointed out, it's the weekend.

Some belong to many forums and others to just one or two. Personally, I tend to focus my time here rather than other forums.

 

[KnightWRX]

Funny. Didn't realize that my 90s computer would run Windows XP and Office, with Outlook, 2007. Silly me.

Guess what, word processors weren't invented with Office 2007 and Windows XP wasn't the first version of Windows to exist.

You don't need the latest version of everything to put together a resume and get a job.

 

[Bubba Satori]

The thing is they don't need to. They have more on hand capital, a higher stock price and a better brand image than any other competitor. Apple market share continues to rise, despite the downturn in the economy.

Why on earth would they do anything that could damage any of those?

Uh, because their customers need different types of computers that they refuse to build. So they lose lots of sales to people who get PCs and hack them. How many ten of thousands of monitor sales has Apple lost to Dell, HP or NEC because they refuse to update their prehistoric ACD line ?

Pride goeth before a fall.

Не needs to add 50USD for antivirus software
and a lot of USD for some other software which isn't included into Windows=))))
So price is about 2k=)))
Burn in hell MS

No he doesn't. The free stuff works great. But you knew that.

 

[sushi]

Guess what, word processors weren't invented with Office 2007 and Windows XP wasn't the first version of Windows to exist.

You don't need the latest version of everything to put together a resume and get a job.

But gee, I keep getting these docx, xlsx, pptx, and accdb files that I need to open, edit/update and save. Bummer.

BTW, I once wrote a word processor application for a mainframe computer back in the 70's.

 

[Mister Snitch]

About saving money

I read a piece once on the 'self-made' wealthy and their spending habits. Many of them made their fortunes by being frugal (and investing their savings in one way or another), but they have their limits. They were careful in spending on clothing, for instance, and limited their eating out. On the other hand, they didn't go shopping for cut-rate surgery, bought cars that would last, well-made shoes, etc.

They wouldn't save money just for the sake of saving money. They knew what was important to them, what constituted value and what was just vanity.

These ads claim that spending on a Mac is just vanity, that buying a PC means the job gets done just as well, and cheaper, and that the only difference is a pretty package and a prestigious logo.

So why do I cover my laptops with a protective shell that disguises the Apple logo as soon as I get it? Because what really matters to me is that it is a good, reliable product that performs well, and I want to keep it that way.

I hate shoddy products, and would rather do without than buy one. That's all there is to it. I'll buy a Mac, and forego SOMETHING ELSE if I have to.

 

[samh004]

Guess what, word processors weren't invented with Office 2007 and Windows XP wasn't the first version of Windows to exist.

You don't need the latest version of everything to put together a resume and get a job.

Maybe so, but you do need the latest web browsers sometimes to apply for a job. Some websites just wont display in older browsers, or ones with bad gfx cards. My neighbours computer has the latest software, but pages render awfully.

Anyway, getting off topic a bit here.

 

[KnightWRX]

But gee, I keep getting these docx, xlsx, pptx, and accdb files that I need to open, edit/update and save. Bummer.

If you're looking for a job, you're not getting docx/xlsx/pptx and accdb files. You're writing a very nice resume, saving it as doc (not all companies have the latest office, we're still stuck on 2003 where I work) and sending it out, maybe not even with Outlook but with something like Thunderbird or Eudora or Outlook Express.

Again, you can hold out with your older computer for a while if your finances don't warrant changing it, no need to cheap out and get some affordable POS.

 

[jphall]

M$ is so funny, it is my preferred source for unbiased Mac news and reviews. And comments on how cool I am.

I've always wondered why HP and Toshiba also sell $4000+ laptops if these cheap ones are so great. Toshiba has a 17" that is over 9 lbs!!! Can you imagine? I carry two MBPs (one 15" and one 17") when I travel, and they weigh 12 lbs combined.

I've never had any problems with Silverlight. They use it on ITV.com and it works flawlessly there. Try installing it.

I am using Silverlight to watch the NCAA men's tournament on my Mac, Silverlight crashes Safari every time I close its browser window. I like being able to watch the games, and I'll be uninstalling it late monday night. Game just ended tonight, I closed the window and pow, Safari quits. Nice!

And on to 3000+ posts! M$ is gonna bring the internets down to its knees.


Oh yeah, forgot to mention this, but these Windows machines include trial versions of antivirus software, then you have to buy it presumably, or your machine becomes a cheap POS owned by the Russian mafia.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Then by your definition of portable, that 20" Dell monstrosity is also portable. We are specifically discussing how portable each model is. Are you being daft on purpose ?

It might be less portable for a 90 pound teenage girl.

 

[wheelhot]

Ah this is getting a lot of crap, now why MUST Apple lower their prices just cause some people say "Mac is too expensive?", tell that to Mercedes Benz or BMW and they will laugh at your face, yup, the market wished to won MB or BMW but do these people bother to make their price cheaper? No cause they are marketing their product as a premium product, same goes to Apple. So can we put this silly argument "oh PC makers offer their product at a cheaper price hence Apple should follow" to rest? Sheesh people.

So now lets get another thing into perspective. Mac IS NOT FOR EVERYONE, why many people can't understand this, especially Windows fanboys or people who "wished" to own a Mac. First of all, if you spend most time in front of the PC playing games, get a PC, if you spend time doing business/office work (accounting and etc.) likely you will own a PC cause the company you are working for will be using PC hence less problem with file compatibility, and if you are engineer likely u will use PC cause some engineering softwares are not compatible with Mac or is there a Mac version, if you spend your time doing Graphic Design, Photography and such (or art related), get a Mac cause most people uses Mac for this purpose and in fact more graphic related companies use Mac instead of PC. Now if you are a student, of course owning a Mac will be a luxury, but if you can't own one, you can still get a PC and get the job done, doesn't mean cannot own a Mac gives you the right to whine at Apple asking them to lower price just so that YOU can own a Mac and besides, boys will likely end up with PC cause well frankly speaking, more boys play games then girls (at least in my area) and girls are the one who end up with Macs cause they prefer for things to just work and not to be bothered with maintaining their computer (defragmentation, disk cleanup, virus scan and etc etc.) and these people who play lots of games usually will have an understanding how to maintain their computer to ensure the optimal performance for their games so PC is good for them.

So let do a quick summarize:
Business, Engineers and Gamers get a PC, Students (non play games) and Art related get a Mac

 

[mambodancer]

My biggest qualm with these ads is...

MICROSOFT DOESN'T MAKE HARDWARE.

If the PC manufacturers wanted to compare prices, they would. The software retards in Redmond need to be concerned about what they actually do for a living.

Or perhaps they've simply given up on Vista, are acknowledging that they can't even come up with a campaign to have it even compare to OS X, and are forced to resort to sell OEMs computers FOR them... even though they INCLUDE Vista.

Precisely!

Any good sales person that knew their job would always start by asking questions about what the customer wants to use the computer for. Any hardware specs that these customers came in for are about the least important until after you consider the customers needs and uses. Then you dig a little deeper to uncover any other potential uses the customer might have in the near future...ie, Great, so you said you are looking for a budget PC to do email and internet. Have you considered digital photography? Would you like to import, edit & share photos easily? Are you concerned about viruses and security? Would you like to watch movies and TV shows on your computer? Do you want fast wifi or ethernet connectivity or both? What about service and support? Finally, you get back around to the budget after they have now reconsidered what it is they might really want to buy and, if need be, suggest financing or credit card options, or, if they well and truly can only afford a $700 PC you could sell them that HP, Dell or whatever with their full understanding of the potential limitations of an entry level system. If you or they really felt a Mac would be there best fit but price was still an issue, I would recommend refurbs or used systems (with the inherent risks of non-warranty computers). In the end, a good sales persons can better inform the customer of their choices and the costs associated with any decision.

I will tell you in my years of selling IBM, Kaypro, Compac, HP, Epson and Apple computers, a Macintosh and the installed software could almost sell itself when you showed it properly to people like those depicted in these ads.

Microsofts problem is in comparing Windows to OSX, especially given that a Macintosh can run both operating systems so they are left with trying to sell someone else's hardware. Next week, will they feature Dell?

 

[Bubba Satori]

His first priority was to find a computer with "portability" and he picks out a 7 pound beast? Good luck carrying that brick with you all day. Hope you have a good chiropractor

What a bunch of pussys. I carried 20 pounds of books all day in college.

 

[mojohojo]

are these adverts real? like do they actually give $1500 to random people to search of a laptop? if so, i would like to know what happens when one of them actually decides on buying a mac.

 

[KnightWRX]

are these adverts real? like do they actually give $1500 to random people to search of a laptop? if so, i would like to know what happens when one of them actually decides on buying a mac.

It's all scripted, with hired actors. That has been established already. Even if it wasn't and the guy decided he got the Mac, they could... oh I don't know... just not air it ?

 

[sharkinfested]

So now lets get another thing into perspective. Mac IS NOT FOR EVERYONE, why many people can't understand this, especially
So let do a quick summarize:
Business, Engineers and Gamers get a PC, Students (non play games) and Art related get a Mac

Ok, I really don’t have a dog in this fight sense I admit that I like both Apple and MS products but I just have to point something out:

The “gamer’s excuse” for buying a PC just doesn’t cut it anymore.

Sure there are a few titles but for the most part video games moved to dedicated machines like xBox, Wii, and Plystation YEARS ago! Any real gamer has one or all of these devices.

You remember a few years ago when you went into a store like Best Buy and there were isles and isles of computer games? Now they all fit on two small shelves in the corner of the store.

 

[sushi]

Maybe so, but you do need the latest web browsers sometimes to apply for a job. Some websites just wont display in older browsers, or ones with bad gfx cards. My neighbours computer has the latest software, but pages render awfully.

Anyway, getting off topic a bit here.

Don't think so in this case. A new cheap PC has much more capability than a new top of the line PC just a few years ago.

In many cases it's cheaper to purchase a new cheap desktop or laptop than to upgrade older models. It's surprising what comes with cheap PCs these days. Competition has driven down the prices to where you can get quite a capable laptop relatively inexpensively.

If you're looking for a job, you're not getting docx/xlsx/pptx and accdb files.

Oh really. Quite an assumption on your part. Who knows, I may be applying for a job that requires Office 2007 skills and I need to demonstrate my proficiency in order to get hired.

Additionally, while I may not have a full time job, I may be doing part time work that necessitates the use of the Office 2007 suite.

You're writing a very nice resume, saving it as doc (not all companies have the latest office, we're still stuck on 2003 where I work) and sending it out, maybe not even with Outlook but with something like Thunderbird or Eudora or Outlook Express.

Heck, I could use a typewriter to create a wonderful resume (done that before).

There are other things involved with job search besides doing a resume. Examples of your work capabilities come to mind.

Again, you can hold out with your older computer for a while if your finances don't warrant changing it, no need to cheap out and get some affordable POS.

But as I mentioned earlier, a cheap PC today is many times more powerful than a top end system just a few years ago.

For some of us, we plan ahead and have money saved up to purchase a new laptop or desktop whenever the need arises.