MS TV ad attack MAC on price.

[BuffaloX]

Well we all know which OS has the best price. :P

One interesting thing in the article, is a schematic of user satisfaction.
With Linux thoroughly beating Windows, and just behind MAC OS X.

The article is from AppleInsider, so probably not exactly objective, but I think they have a couple of good points.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/03/26/microsoft_to_attack_mac_pricing_in_new_series_of_t v_ads.html

[Polygon]

i think in the ad she got gipped. the bigger the laptop, the less money it is..... (like i cant find a < 15 inch screen for under 1000 dollars) i think she could of found an even cheaper laptop if she actually tried.

[Giant Speck]

I would have at least tried to use the entire $1000, unless they let me keep the change.

Also, the commercial doesn't outline exactly what specifications she wants other than a 17" screen.

[TBOL3]

Hmmm... ok. I do have to say it's better than their previous two ads.

[mamamia88]

well price is really the only thing they got going for them and choice of hardware might as well advertise it. kind of a low blow though if you ask me

[thewolfman]

Hi Guys,

I think apart from the fact that we know Linux is best you are missing one main thing with the ad.

"The girl in the ad got a free PC out of the deal which would have cost them a whole lot more had they had hired a professional actress to take the part so MS got a cheap ad out of the deal".

HP are good PC's; that there is no denying!.

Have a good one fella's.

thewolfman.

[cdwillis]

I'm not going to bother watching the advertisement, I've read a bit about it on other sites. We all know who wins based on price.

[Skripka]

I would have at least tried to use the entire $1000, unless they let me keep the change.

Also, the commercial doesn't outline exactly what specifications she wants other than a 17" screen.

Most folks, in all honesty, only know they want a big monitor for multitasking purposes, beyond that they aren't picky. So her vague shopping objectives are not beyond the realm of possibility.


Although me, once you start getting above a 15" monitor you're looking at desktop replacement machines, as 17" laptops are heavy and not mobile...and you're better off buying a desktop for multi tasking and a light netbookish platform for on the go.

I dragged a 15" laptop around during my undergrad coursewok, in addition to my other books...and it was NOT fun or good for my back.

[jimi_hendrix]

i dont know any unsatisfied linux users

[Rokurosv]

I think it was a good ad.

[I-75]

$1000 for a Laptop? I can get a better deal than that...

For $1000

I can buy a Mac G3 with OSX Tiger on E-bay for $125
I can buy a Dell mini 9 w/Ubuntu for $250 at Dell
I can buy a full fledged laptop at Best Buy w/Vista for $399
I can Buy a refurbished XP computer @ Micro center for $149

And still have money left over for shipping costs and sales tax.

[Skripka]

$1000 for a Laptop? I can get a better deal than that...

For $1000

I can buy a Mac G3 with OSX Tiger on E-bay for $125
I can buy a Dell mini 9 w/Ubuntu for $250 at Dell
I can buy a full fledged laptop at Best Buy w/Vista for $399
I can Buy a refurbished XP computer @ Micro center for $149

And still have money left over for shipping costs and sales tax.

Tell me again...how many of those laptops systems have a 17" monitor? Because I'm fairly sure the answer is none.

[jimi_hendrix]

sound didnt work, what did the add say

[Tomosaur]

I find it somewhat disturbing (well, not really) that virtually no computer users see themselves as 'very satisfied' (across the whole spectrum of operating systems). Only a Mac breaches the 50% mark, and Windows performs abysmally.

Something's gotta give!

[cardinals_fan]

I find it somewhat disturbing (well, not really) that virtually no computer users see themselves as 'very satisfied' (across the whole spectrum of operating systems). Only a Mac breaches the 50% mark, and Windows performs abysmally.

Something's gotta give!
XP Pro wasn't that badly rated.

Anyway, every operating system has tons of flaws. All one can do is pick what works best for them.

[doorknob60]

Honestly, this was a smart move for MS. Apple is way overpriced, and we all know that, not that Microsoft isn't expensive too though, they just sell to OEMs for mega low prices, which seems unfair.

[schauerlich]

The woman never looked at the Apple computers.

Notice when she walks in there is a man in a brown jacket and sunglasses that looks at her as she walks in. When she walks out, the guy is about 10 feet forward. They just had her walk in and out in one shot.

[zekopeko]

so the whole point of the ad is the plethora of hardware availability for windows machines?

what does that have to do with the merits of windows? why don't they show all the "cool" things windows can do?
They can't attack Apple on the hardware dimension since the they aren't a hardware manufacture (well not a big one). And how much more would a PC be if you had to pay the full price of Windows not the OEM one?

[Giant Speck]

The woman never looked at the Apple computers.

Notice when she walks in there is a man in a brown jacket and sunglasses that looks at her as she walks in. When she walks out, the guy is about 10 feet forward. They just had her walk in and out in one shot.

She also says she'd have to double her budget to afford a 17-inch Mac.

The truth is, she'd have to almost triple her budget. The cheapest 17-inch Macbook is the 17-inch MacBook Pro, which costs $2,799. The regular MacBook and the MacBook Air only have a 13.3-inch screen.

Even if the 17-inch screen wasn't a strict requirement for her, she still wouldn't have been able to afford a MacBook for less than $1000. The white MacBook is the cheapest Apple laptop, at $999. After tax, the total exceeds $1000.

[jimi_hendrix]

She also says she'd have to double her budget to afford a 17-inch Mac.

The truth is, she'd have to almost triple her budget. The cheapest 17-inch Macbook is the 17-inch MacBook Pro, which costs $2,799. The regular MacBook and the MacBook Air only have a 13.3-inch screen.

Even if the 17-inch screen wasn't a strict requirement for her, she still wouldn't have been able to afford a MacBook for less than $1000. The white MacBook is the cheapest Apple laptop, at $999. After tax, the total exceeds $1000.

at school i asked someone once why they got a mac.

they said "they're cheap and i bought it with my own money"

[cardinals_fan]

And how much more would a PC be if you had to pay the full price of Windows not the OEM one?
But you don't, so the point is moot.

[wolfyking2]

I just saw this commercial. This is BS. I got a MAC flowerpot for 150$

[cprofitt]

The woman never looked at the Apple computers.

Notice when she walks in there is a man in a brown jacket and sunglasses that looks at her as she walks in. When she walks out, the guy is about 10 feet forward. They just had her walk in and out in one shot.

One quick question would have had her turning around...

"Excuse me I need a 17" laptop for $1000 or less..."

The instant snide comments and laughing coming from the people wearing colored shirts pretending to be experts would have told her there was no point in looking any further.

Apple computers are over priced - no arguing that. I got a 15.4" Lenovo with a 1680x1050 screen (not an option on a Mac) for $1347 and the equivalent Mac would have run me $2499. There is no way I can justify buying an Apple Mac when it costs nearly double.

Hardware choice is a PLUS for Windows users. It is something that Microsoft can crow about -- they make an OS that can run on any Intel platform including those produced by Apple. OS X can, but Apple will not allow it.

[benerivo]

Nice advert, but price is the one thing even the less technical of us can understand. It's not as if people have been buying macs, unaware of the fact you can get laptops at half that price. They buy macs knowing they are paying a premium.

[KiwiNZ]

Who cares***

You buy a Mac and love it.... great
You buy a dell and love it..... great
You use OSX and love it...... great
You use Windows and love it .....great.

Choice ....its yours

The argument will go on for ever, its been done to death . Lets move on.

[chris200x9]

Who cares***

You buy a Mac and love it.... use linux!
You buy a dell and love it..... use linux!
You use OSX and love it...... use linux!
You use Windows and love it .....use linux!

Choice ....its yours, the right choice is linux.

The argument will go on for ever, its been done to death . Lets move on.

there I fixed it for you :)

[Giant Speck]

there I fixed it for you :)

http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk122/SpecKtacle/facepalm-1.gif

[KiwiNZ]

there I fixed it for you :)

:):P
point

[myusername]

man thats dirty. i mean you have to admit, mac has some of the best laptops out there (excluding price. but its worth every penny). that hp was a pile of crap

[jamieh]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIS6G-HvnkU

Simply ridiculous....

[Therion]

"This is like a phone!"

Congrats, Lauren... You're an idiot.

[Simian Man]

HP does make great, inexpensive computers. Now what does this have to do with Windows???

PS. My HP Pavillion laptop is running Fedora 10.

[Brunellus]

HP does make great, inexpensive computers. Now what does this have to do with Windows???

PS. My HP Pavillion laptop is running Fedora 10.
It just so happens that Windows Vista is the "recommended" OS for those computers.

MSFT is resurrecting an old (and mostly valid) response to Apple fanboyism: their software runs on cheap commodity hardware, and both the hardware and software are universally available.

The buying process in the commercial is a bit forced and contrived, but it's close enough to reality for most users.

She dismisses the netbook out of hand because it didn't fit her hardware profile; I don't have a problem with it.

[smartboyathome]

HP does make great, inexpensive computers. Now what does this have to do with Windows???

They ship with Windows as default, with only one computer which has Linux. I guess this could be applied to Linux, though.

"We asked Lauren to find a Linux computer. She wanted it to have at least a 15.4 inch screen. She found none. We then asked her to try out Linux on the laptop she bought. She found she had driver issues and gave up."

It is true, on the average computer, there is usually at least one piece of hardware which either doesn't work with Linux or has a bug that needs to be fixed.

[Brunellus]

also: it didn't hurt that she's not hard to look at.

[LowSky]

My sister has that HP laptop or at least one that is very similar.
I hate the keyboard the keys are too big, and the number keypad keys are too small, and the screen is glossy which annoys me.

Vista is worthless to me, I'm running Ubuntu or Windows 7 (as some things I do still require Windows).

At least the girl was cute... I have a thing for red heads...lol

[Therion]

... she's not hard to look at.
In keeping with every Lauren I've known.


I have a thing for red heads...
That's because you're male.








/Yes, I know that's probably not her real name...

[MarcusA]

OMG it haz screen!

[Sealbhach]

She wanted a Mac, couldn't afford it, had to settle for some low spec laptop with Vista shoehorned onto it.


.

[Brunellus]

OMG it haz screen!
You mean like GNU Screen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Screen)?

[Mehall]

At least the girl was cute... I have a thing for red heads...lol


Ditto, lol.

And yeah, HP make good, inexpensive laptops (mine is a 15.4 widescreen with dual-core + nVidia graphics + good sound + various other good things for £350 Shame the case is cheap as all hell. :S I might have to pay someone to make me a better one in the next year or so. Cheaper than a new PC though, unless I buy a netbook.)

[Simian Man]

Well the point of the ad was that PC hardware such as HP sells has a better quality to price ratio than the hardware Mac sells. This is very true, but the fact that these PCs come with Windows is irrelevant. In fact they are cheap *in spite* of this.

[Brunellus]

Ditto, lol.

And yeah, HP make good, inexpensive laptops (mine is a 15.4 widescreen with dual-core + nVidia graphics + good sound + various other good things for £350 Shame the case is cheap as all hell. :S I might have to pay someone to make me a better one in the next year or so. Cheaper than a new PC though, unless I buy a netbook.)
"Laptops" aren't really "portable" computers as much as they are "transportable" computers. Anecdotal observation of HP lappies, similar class as the one in the commercial, seems to show that they're fine so long as you don't carry them around much. They're simply not built to take the type of pounding they get in being carried with books.

Drifting offtopic, this is why I love netbooks so much: I get a computer I can really carry, and then leave all the heavy stuff to a desktop at home.

[Brunellus]

Well the point of the ad was that PC hardware such as HP sells has a better quality to price ratio than the hardware Mac sells. This is very true, but the fact that these PCs come with Windows is irrelevant. In fact they are cheap *in spite* of this.
Try ordering one without an OS, and you'll see the price shoot up.

[Therion]

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Unavailable for comment...
http://www.wemakedotcoms.com/ellen/images/apple_store.jpg

[|Porsche]

She was hot.

[Simian Man]

Try ordering one without an OS, and you'll see the price shoot up.

I know, but that's only because there is little demand for computers w/o an OS. If enough people wanted a free or no OS installed by default, the price would drop below the ones with Windows installed. It sucks, but I have fully paid for 3 versions of Windows that were promptly blown to oblivion by Linux installers :).

[smartboyathome]

Try ordering one without an OS, and you'll see the price shoot up.

That is due to the biggest manufacturers not offering this, and the smaller manufacturers can't sell and buy in bulk, thus forcing them to raise the price.

[Vorian Grey]

I'm always happy to find a cheap women. I can buy her a cheap Windows computer while I get to play with the expensive Mac computer. Cool.

[Swagman]

Just added my comment.

If she hurries up she'll be just in time to get Conficker

[shatteredmindofbob]

...she looks like a girl I used to date.