I'm a Mac, I'm a PC

As someone who has used both platforms successfully for many years, I'd like to take a moment to talk about Mac and PC ads. Both claim to represent a better product and both criticize their main competitors.

Study #1 I'm a PC
The series of "Laptop Hunters" ads have become a particular favorite of mine when it comes to outright propaganda full of lies, missing information and full of opinion statements. Besides being poorly directed (note the position of the cars and clouds haven't changed before and after the purchase), the customers looking for new notebook computers don't have a clue as to what they are looking for. Screen size and price are some of the last things you should look at when buying a computer.

Question 1: What do you want your computer to do?
Question 1a: Gaming? Basic word processing and internet browsing only? Web publishing and graphic design? These questions will help determine the type of processor, memory, hard drive and graphics chip sets you will need.
Question 2: How important is reliability and durability to you?
Question 3: Do you have a bag to carry it safely and will you have access to outlets often enough to not run out of a charge? If not, you may need a longer battery life.
Now we get to the rest.
Question 4: How big do you want the screen to be and what size keyboard is right for you?
Question 5: After considering the value of the PCs you've seen (that is, what you get for the money you spend) how much are you looking to spend?

You may have noticed that this list is much larger than what you see in the commercial. That's because those cheap $699 and $799 HPs the customer often lands on are pretty much junk in the world of notebooks. They use a 3rd party lithium ion battery manufactured by 1 of many different companies, a screen by another 3rd party, a motherboard by another, memory by another, and so on. Wasn't the computer supposed to be an HP though? Well it is in a way. The version of Windows is custom for their machine with HP added software. The casing is certainly custom for the parts they chose as is, well, their logo.

So here's the problem with these commercials. They assume that most people know little about what they get for their money when it comes to computers and, unfortunately, they are mostly right. Because of durability issues and stupidity/cheapness, a lot of customers will just look at the price and buy that $699 notebook that will last about a year or two before needing a new battery or another major expensive part replaced. They just don't last under heavy use. The over $1000 Alienware, Dell XPS and other great, durable PCs will last much longer before breaking down or becoming obsolete. The claim of not being cool enough for Macs is just silly. Macs aren't just about style or coolness. It's about the whole user experience. PCs understood that when Microsoft released Vista to majorly spruce up the look and functionality of Windows. Most Macs are priced competitively to their PC competition for what you get. Apple has chosen not to get into what is referred to as the discount notebook market, that is computers priced round about $800 or less, and they have excelled. Recently, a few models of Macs fell to below $900 and Apple may file suit against Microsoft for their claim that there were not machines available in certain sizes and configurations at certain prices. It's been a while since I've seen a Laptop Hunters ad.

Also, notice i keep calling them notebooks, not laptops. Not long ago, some idiot complained to Apple about the machine getting hot while sitting in their lap claiming a laptop computer shouldn't burn their legs. Apple responded by saying their machine was not mean to sit on bare laps as it wasn't a laptop, but a notebook computer. Notice how they all open and close like a notebook? Come now. That one was obvious.
To be continued in Part 2...