New Microsoft Ad Campaign Targets Mac Prices

[123]

Well, naturally the basic-out-of-the-box apps aren't strictly a part of the OS but it's sort of difficult to evaluate the overall OS X experience and omit the browser.

No, it's not when other browsers are available that you like better.

I can't help but wonder what people are doing with their machines.

Serious work for instance. When you have 10-20 applications open all the time in XP it doesn't take long. And the problem is that often the problem can only be resolved by restarting the system. This is a mayor difference between OS X and XP. One is stable on a system level, the other one is not.

 

[Anuba]

You have to admit that Mac's do perform way better.

With identical hardware specs? Really depends on the application and how well it's been optimized for the respective platforms.

I use a lot of audio applications and they're very CPU intensive due to constantly rendering sound from various software synths and FX in realtime. While OS X is generally a better audio platform thanks to CoreAudio (easier to get low latency), when it comes to the raw processing power and the number of instruments, audio tracks etc that you can cram in before the system chokes, I've often found Macs to be a little subpar in most of the apps I use. Reason, for example -- ironically developed by Mac heads who should be more dedicated to the Mac version than the "other" one -- can handle the same load on my 2.0 GHz Vista notebook as on my 2.4 GHz iMac even though the notebook is almost 2 years older. But Reason doesn't do multicore support; apps that do are faster on the iMac than the PC notebook.

I had hoped to do a shootout with these apps running them in both OS X and BootCamp on the iMac, but (aside from being broken at the moment) it has an AGERE firewire chipset plus some BootCamp bugs that render it unusable as an audio workstation under Windows, so that's a no-go.

 

[KnightWRX]

ill keep the bashing to a minimum sorry.

anyways, why do they pay more?
- they are UNINFORMED
- they have little knowlege of computers or components and specifications.
- they buy products based on looks and or color.
- they either dont have the time to learn something new or they dont want to learn something new
- they are easily manipulated by media and advertisements

Or they've actually compared spec for spec and noticed that for all the trouble it is setting up a Hackintosh, the moderate difference in price just wasn't worth it.

I've been using Unix systems for the last 10 years, at home, as a desktop and at work as a systems administrator. I have been using computers in some form or another for almost 18 years now.

I wear t-shirts and jeans, usually black. Flashy colors don't draw me in.

Maybe you're just deluded in believing the media when they say there is such a thing as a Apple tax ? The only Apple tax is the limited choices in models they have. That results often in an apple to orange comparison, which Apple can't win. Actually compare the products with properly specced PCs and you'll notice the "Apple tax" melts away and can be attributed to the aluminium/glass vs cheap plastic.

 

[3282868]

ill keep the bashing to a minimum sorry.

anyways, why do they pay more?
- they are UNINFORMED
- they have little knowlege of computers or components and specifications.
- they buy products based on looks and or color.
- they either dont have the time to learn something new or they dont want to learn something new
- they are easily manipulated by media and advertisements

I worked at Apple SoHo in NYC for almost two years (2006-2008) in sales then as a "Genius" (loathe that term lol). 90% of the people who came in were avid Windows OS users who were tired of issues that most of us know how to easily fix/avoid. Unfortunately, the average personal computer user does not know (or want to know) or take the time in doing what most Mac owners don't: prevention maintenance. Also, the ease of use in ergonomics and design appeal to many switchers.

As an individual who left psychology to pursue industrial design, I am troubled by the dismissal from many regarding Apple's industrial design. Jonathan Ive has been a huge success in Apple's success over the past decade. Ive's understanding of ergonomics, simplicity and ease of use are a huge factor in Apple's resurgence in the personal computing market. Dismissing form as "luxury" is a very misinformed notion. As the majority of MacRumors posters perhaps we are more apt in dismissing form in relation to ergonomics. However, the "average" novice is more apt at choosing technology that is aesthetically pleasing and simple to utilize. In this Apple succeeds, as verified by Apple's awards in design and recent success with such award winning systems as the iPod, iPhone and iMac. Paying a premium for the attention to detail in form is a major point overlooked by a lot of people in this thread. I appreciate and use both Windows and Mac OS X, however I love the aesthetics and simplicity in use of my Apple products. The time and money Apple has placed into their products is overlooked a great deal by their competition, and more individuals are willing to pony up the extra money for that artwork (after all, was it not Steve Jobs that said "We're artists, we create art"?).

 

[pr5owner]

sure she picked a bad computer

if it was for UNDER $1000 ($999)

she should of got this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152100

MSI GX720 Vs $999 Macbook from Apple.com


Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26G Vs 2GHz (MSI Wins)
17" WSXGA+ 1680x1050 Vs. 13.3" WXGA 1280x800 (MSI Wins)
4GB DDR2 667MHz Vs 2GB DDR2 667MHz (MSI Wins)
320GB Vs 120GB (MSI Wins) << Seriously? 120GB?
DVD Super Multi Vs DVD Super Multi (Tie)
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512MB DDR3 VRAM Vs Nvidia 9400 0MB ram (shared ram, 0MB deticated) (MSI Wins)
Modem Vs None (MSI Wins)
Gigabit LAN Vs Gigabit Lan (Tie)
802.11a/g/n Wireless LAN vs 802.11a/g/n Wireless LAN (Tie)
1 x Express Card Vs non (MSI Wins)
3x USB Vs 2x USB
Bluetooth Vs Bluetooth (Tie)
1x VGA vs none (MSI Wins) (you have to buy an adapter, not included)
1x HDMI vs None (MSI Wins) (same as above)
1x eSATA Vs none (MSI Wins) (i dont think adapters exist for macbook)
8in1 Cardreader vs None (MSI Wins)
2MP Web Cam vs 0.3MP (MSI Wins)

choice is clear to me, the requirements for that chic was the screen had to be 17" right?

 

[Anuba]

Wow, talk about a bad commercial. How are you expecting to win over customers when you make them feel like total losers for buying your products?

Valid comment, had it been 2007 when the economy was going like a freight train, but now that it's derailed the masses have turned to penny pinchers. The message that they don't have to crawl into a hole and die, but actually afford themselves some luxuries without blowing 4-figure sums, is bound to catch on.

So yeah, bad commercial to run in 2007, great commercial to run in a climate where Wall St execs are lynched and being rich and showing it off is the equivalent of painting a bullseye on your forehead.

 

[BVeritas]

Walmart

Lauren could have saved even more if she bought her system at Walmart.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10913553

 

[pr5owner]

Valid comment, had it been 2007 when the economy was going like a freight train, but now that it's derailed the masses have turned to penny pinchers. The message that they don't have to crawl into a hole and die, but actually afford themselves some luxuries without blowing 4-figure sums, is bound to catch on.

So yeah, bad commercial to run in 2007, great commercial to run in a climate where Wall St execs are lynched and being rich and showing it off is the equivalent of painting a bullseye on your forehead.

i agree, netbooks didnt take off for no reason, i think Asus planned to release it just at the right point when the economy was starting to fall apart.

 

[pr5owner]

Lauren could have saved even more if she bought her system at Walmart.

no she could of saved more if she did a little googleing for the best price/highest performance

ALOT of apple products are at walmart. so your saying apple is cheap junk?

 

[hugodrax]

My M5 cost more than a Toyota Corolla but that is comparing Apples to Oranges.

Somehow trying to say all laptops are the same and the only thing that counts is trying to get the lowest price model makes no sense.

 

[DMann]

I worked at Apple SoHo in NYC for almost two years (2006-2008) in sales then as a "Genius" (loathe that term lol). 90% of the people who came in were avid Windows OS users who were tired of issues that most of us know how to easily fix/avoid. Unfortunately, the average personal computer user does not know (or want to know) or take the time in doing what most Mac owners don't: prevention maintenance. Also, the ease of use in ergonomics and design appeal to many switchers.

As an individual who left psychology to pursue industrial design, I am troubled by the dismissal from many regarding Apple's industrial design. Jonathan Ive has been a huge success in Apple's success over the past decade. Ive's understanding of ergonomics, simplicity and ease of use are a huge factor in Apple's resurgence in the personal computing market. Dismissing form as "luxury" is a very misinformed notion. As the majority of MacRumors posters perhaps we are more apt in dismissing form in relation to ergonomics. However, the "average" novice is more apt at choosing technology that is aesthetically pleasing and simple to utilize. In this Apple succeeds, as verified by Apple's awards in design and recent success with such award winning systems as the iPod, iPhone and iMac. Paying a premium for the attention to detail in form is a major point overlooked by a lot of people in this thread. I appreciate and use both Windows and Mac OS X, however I love the aesthetics and simplicity in use of my Apple products. The time and money Apple has placed into their products is overlooked a great deal by their competition, and more individuals are willing to pony up the extra money for that artwork (after all, was it not Steve Jobs that said "We're artists, we create art"?).

Very well said. The only luxury here is not having to deal with the plethora of distractions which are characteristic of the Windows environment.

 

[123]

sure she picked a bad computer

if it was for UNDER $1000 ($999)
...

I think it's a bit unfair to compare low quality *** to a MacBook. However, that doesn't mean that Macs aren't overpriced. IIRC, the first Intel machines were more or less competitively priced, but Apple increased price ever since.

 

[BVeritas]

no she could of saved more if she did a little googleing for the best price/highest performance

ALOT of apple products are at walmart. so your saying apple is cheap junk?

Notice that you don't get Macs and you don't get a discount on Apple products. Probably a first for Walmart.

 

[*LTD*]

Sure... Software updates... they sure don't need installed.



Provided you don't ever fill up your hard drive.

OBVIOUSLY.

Software updates require NO WORK MY part. Or, for that matter, on the part of Windows users. You click and they get installed. Done.

There is no need whatsoever for any third-party software to be installed on OS X in order to keep it from falling over. And it doesn't matter how many files you have, the OS doesn't slowly get dog-slow over time like Windows. Surf as much as you want. Do whatever. Unix maintains and cleans itself.

I don't need to do anything else to a vanilla OS X install out of the box other than to confirm software updates. Ever. And this is typical of most OS X users.

 

[volfreak]

ill keep the bashing to a minimum sorry.

anyways, why do they pay more?
- they are UNINFORMED
- they have little knowlege of computers or components and specifications.
- they buy products based on looks and or color.
- they either dont have the time to learn something new or they dont want to learn something new
- they are easily manipulated by media and advertisements

Uninformed - not. I've used Toshiba laptops, Dell laptops, Lenovo laptops (Thinkpads when they were still IBM - which were probably the best Windows laptops I've used) and have used UNIX, Windows and Mac OS for years, have even built my own at times.

Have little knowledge of computers or components or specs - not. I understand that the Intel processors are the same as are other components. But the design, casing and overall design is nowhere near the same. The Windows laptops that I've dealt with have been nowhere near the quality of the Apple laptops. Apple laptops have lasted years longer than the Windows laptops. I've found the Apple laptops to be better built. Even the testing by PC magazines show the MacBook Pros to run Windows better than the comparable PC laptops. In my experience, most PC laptops are built with lousy plastic cases and are just not as nice, sturdy, reliable as Apple laptops.

Buy products based on look or color - partially true. My MacBook Pro looks tons better than crappy a55 plastic Dells, Toshibas, Lenovos, etc.

Don't have time or want to learn something new - have used Win since 3.11, UNIX for years and Mac since the late 80s. I work with SQL Server on Win2003 Server and am very comfortable configuring web servers, DB servers, ActiveDirectory settings and so on on Windows, setting up Apache web servers on UNIX and Linux and OS X. I'm very comfortable working in any of these OSs.

Manipulated by marketing - nope.

I use OS X and Apple laptops as I have always had much better success with the products. OS X is a more productive OS for me. The usability with the OS makes a big difference in how much better I can do my job. I even spend about half my day in Windows (usually remotely controlling servers and doing DB stuff) so I'm completely accustomed to more than just the Mac OS. I find that most Windows people I deal with that trash the Mac have never used one or have not used one in more than 5-10 years. I find that most Mac people I deal with have to work with Windows and are more knowledgeable about alternate platforms and make an informed decision to use Apple products and the Mac OS. So, you're postulation is (1) generalizations that aren't supported by anything and (2) completely off-base. I, and many others, pay more for:

1. Less hassles (external displays/projectors, viruses, configuration)
2. Better overall computing experience (consistency in keyboard commands, controls, interface elements, etc.)
3. Quality design (there's not a Windows PC out there that has anything like the unibody Aluminum casing of the MacBooks and Pros).
4. The ability to run every major OS available, including Windows (I've even got Windows 7 on here and run XP locally and deal with Windows server OSs on a daily basis)
5. A more stable, more secure computing environment (Win 7 is much better than the previous versions as far as this goes though)

That's why I and many others are willing to pay more. The cost is worth it.

Cheers.

 

[badmac78]

I find the parallels that people have been drawing on this commercial with what is going on with WS very interesting. Yes, people will be penny pinchers, but I'm hoping people will make smart choices also. Now the $25k car she is driving that is probably running her $400 a month is the reason why she can only afford to buy a cheaper computer. Hopefully she won't leave the computer sitting on the back seat with the top down...

 

[backdraft]

Why the price difference?

Well the ad obviously forgets to mention the additional costs such as additional software that needs to be purchased (antivirus, spyware, etc...) the whole Windows upgrade *cough* downgrade *cough* cycle, having to reinstall Windows every couple of months as it gets progressively slower, dealing with crappy M$ updates that break software forcing you to rollback or reinstall Windows, the sluggish performance of M$ office, de-fragmenting your hard drive even though NTFS is "journaled" and doesn't require it, horrible tech support depending on the vendor (especially in DELL's case), having to call multiple vendors for support versus just one company, dealing with software drivers conflicting with others, crappy USB ports that fail (mostly DELL's here, front USB ports in their towers ALWAYS FAIL), low customer satisfaction (Apple is consistently ranked #1, 2nd closest spot is multiple percentage points away), oh and did I mention Windows? It has the worst user interface ever designed (You go to the START to turn OFF your computer?), you need to go to at least 5 windows/dialogs just to change your monitors resolution? Lets not mention the registry, one spot for complete system failure, shared DDL's (take one down kill multiple programs), Internet Explorer the most non-standard browser on the planet ( I curse it everyday and am forced to create CSS/Javascript hacks so a page can render properly, all that lost productivity) hmm....

Did I miss anything? I'm sure I have. In any-case thats more then enough to justify the price difference.

 

[pr5owner]

I think it's a bit unfair to compare low quality *** to a MacBook. However, that doesn't mean that Macs aren't overpriced. IIRC, the first Intel machines were more or less competitively priced, but Apple increased price ever since.

the challenge for the commercial was $1000, the ONLY APPLE Laptop you can get is that one off their website, i did not find any macbook pros for that price.

all im doing is comparing a $999 computer with another $999 computer

 

[Tallest Skil]

Software updates require NO WORK MY part. Or, for that matter, on the part of Windows users. You click and they get installed. Done.

I'm confused, do you have to install the updates yourself, or don't you?

You do.

 

[yossim]

nobody says you have to run windows, ubuntu has EVERYTHING out of the box, even more so than OSX (full office suite) and if you dont have an app that you need, just get it from the repository.

That's true, but with Ubuntu you are always dealing with driver problems, the computer crashing on you, and all kinds of other issues.
In short, I've had nothing but problems with Ubuntu.

 

[DMann]

I find the parallels that people have been drawing on this commercial with what is going on with WS very interesting. Yes, people will be penny pinchers, but I'm hoping people will make smart choices also. Now the $25k car she is driving that is probably running her $400 a month is the reason why she can only afford to buy a cheaper computer. Hopefully she won't leave the computer sitting on the back seat with the top down...

However, what she settled for would be much less likely to get stolen than a 17" MBP.

 

[badmac78]

However, what she settled for would be much less likely to get stolen than a 17" MBP.

Hahaha . . that's a shame . . . I can see it now

Thief realizes it's a PC ... puts it back with a note ... "Should have bought a Mac"

 

[pr5owner]

Uninformed - not. I've used Toshiba laptops, Dell laptops, Lenovo laptops (Thinkpads when they were still IBM - which were probably the best Windows laptops I've used) and have used UNIX, Windows and Mac OS for years, have even built my own at times.

yeah you are uninformed, toshiba, dell and ibm are not the only brands out there, however they are probably the most popular. those 3 brands are actaully middle men, they dont make their own HW, just like apple, try looking at brands that are the ORIGINAL (Asus, Clevo/Sager, Quanta, MSi, Compal) you will see the quality is much higher (most companies will keep the highest quality items to themselves)

Have little knowledge of computers or components or specs - not. I understand that the Intel processors are the same as are other components. But the design, casing and overall design is nowhere near the same. The Windows laptops that I've dealt with have been nowhere near the quality of the Apple laptops.

LOL so your saying this is high quality?

defective mag safe adapters >> http://consumerist.com/374897/apples-magsafe-adapters-still-fraying-melting-sucking

defective macbook pro screens and or video cards (whatever is making those green lines) >> http://techblips.dailyradar.com/story/macbook_pro_screen_glitches_heat_not_nvidia_issue/

defective macbook air hinges >> http://digg.com/apple/MacBook_Air_hinge_defect_not_covered_by_Apple_s_warranty

defective ipod shuffles >> http://www.petitiononline.com/shuf2006/

i have lots of examples but i too lazy to copy them all

Buy products based on look or color - partially true. My MacBook Pro looks tons better than crappy a55 plastic Dells, Toshibas, Lenovos, etc.

again, look at comment 1, those 3 are the middle men with ****** products, get the ORIGINALS

 

[Anuba]

Actually compare the products with properly specced PCs and you'll notice the "Apple tax" melts away and can be attributed to the aluminium/glass vs cheap plastic.

You're right, with some models it can. The iMac has a pretty decent pricetag when you look at other all-in-one desktops. The MBP 17", while maybe not offering a fullsized keyboard (w/ numpad), dual HDDs, Quad CPU and other options on Dell and HP "pro" machines, isn't too bad either.

The ones that make you go hmmmmmm at the moment are the Mac Pro, and to a lesser extent the Mac Mini and the MBP 15". Definite Apple Tax vibe there. And by Apple Tax, I'm referring to that inexplicable part of the discrepancy between a Mac and a PC with the same specs. The entire discrepancy is not inexplicable; I feel that the sleek industrial design and the nice details warrant paying a premium. I'll even throw in a little extra 'brand tax' too. But that only gets you halfway to the pricetag. Most high pricetags aren't inexplicable, there's usually something about it that makes you go "yeah OK, that makes sense I suppose". But with some of Apple's machines it's just like... "Huh? I don't get it. While technically I can afford it, if I buy this thing at this strange price I'll never be able to shake the feeling that I'm the biggest sucker on the planet".

 

[yossim]

....again, look at comment 1, those 3 are the middle men with ****** products, get the ORIGINALS

That's a good point...