Microsoft asks consumers to "do the math" before buying a Mac

[thejadedmonkey]

Devil's Advocate:

I bought a Netbook Holiday Special ($199 normally $399 with ATI chip and graphics and Win 7 Home Premium) from the MS Store last Dec.

MS took off the manufacturer's build (with tons of bloat-ware) and put their own on. It included a lot MS of extras (photo, video editing, music editor - sounding familiar?) and their premium Anti-Virus with lifetime subscription.

When it booted, it only asked for my username and the type of network to connect to (again - familiar? LOL)

I haven't had any problems with it whatsoever...

Just food for thought...

A lot of people on this board forget that Windows is the OS leader for a reason...

 

[GGJstudios]

I fail to see how a free antivirus is a tax.

It's a tax on system resources, not financial.

 

[DeaconGraves]

I do find it funny that Microsoft continues to make the comparison via specs alone, when design is a huge factor too, especially when it comes to notebooks.

I can't say I've used every Windows notebook out there, but I've come across several that had absolutely loathsome designs. My MBP was out of comission for a week once and I borrowed my sister's HP laptop. Specwise they were probably about the same, but the trackpad on the HP was one of the worst things I had ever used. The laptop was also thicker and heavier than my MBP, and the screen hinge was a lot stiffer, meaning that it took a bit more effort to open it up when it wanted to use it.

If you compare pure specs, Apple does come off as more expensive. But the design I'm paying for is definitely worth the difference.

 

[ehoui]

The real question is why do people still buy Macs (in increasing numbers) in spite of this... hmmm... makes you wonder...

 

[roadbloc]

It's a tax on system resources, not financial.

Seriously? A few MB's of RAM saved is worth over double the price? I'm not bashing Apple here, I love my Mac and I love OS X, but Windows 7 with an antivirus runs a hell of a lot smoother on my iMac than Snow Leopard does. When you take that into account, it pales into insignificance does running an antivirus.

Not to mention that plenty of OS X users now use an antivirus, despite there being no real need to.

 

[miles01110]

The real question is why do people still buy Macs (in increasing numbers) in spite of this... hmmm... makes you wonder...

People buy Macs. Businesses and governments buy Windows licenses. They need to get work done.

 

[AppleScruff1]

The real question is why do people still buy Macs (in increasing numbers) in spite of this... hmmm... makes you wonder...

Because Apple makes good computers and OSX is a good operating system. Unfortunately, many here are too blind to see or admit that Windows also works well for a substantial portion of the world. They are both great os's.

 

[GGJstudios]

Seriously? A few MB's of RAM saved is worth over double the price?

I've said nothing about prices. The "tax" I mentioned isn't a financial tax. You simply can't say that Computer A has x components and Computer B has the same x components, therefore, they should cost the same. A Rolls-Royce has an engine, doors, a steering wheel, windows, wheels and tires, just like a Subaru. Based on components, there shouldn't be such a wide disparity in prices between the two. Obviously, there are other factors involved that have nothing to do with the price of components.

Microsoft is trying to get buyers to think of computers as a commodity, priced only by the cost of the components involved. The reality is that computers are, for many buyers, quite personal and involve factors beyond RAM and hard drive capacity. Apple charges what it does for Macs because it can, and because people are willing to pay their prices. If that weren't the case, they would be forced to price them in line with Windows PCs in order to maintain sales.

The question shouldn't be, "Why does Apple charge so much more for Macs?", but rather, "Why are people willing to pay so much more for Macs?". It's not a tax at all, but rather a premium that Apple can successfully charge because people consider Macs to be worth the money they cost. If people didn't feel that way, they wouldn't buy them.

 

[maflynn]

The real question is why do people still buy Macs (in increasing numbers) in spite of this... hmmm... makes you wonder...

Because more and more people are seeing that the hardware and software that apple produce is very good. Many people are willing to pay a premium for some items. there's also the coolness factor, apple used this quite adeptly with the iPods, iPhones and now Macs.

Also as AppleScruff1 stated some people here cannot admit that for many people windows is a great solution for their needs.

Not everyone needs a core i7 desktop to email their friends and family or check their facebook status. Simply put many people find windows to work out of the box without much fuss.

 

[imahawki]

I didn't read the whole thread so maybe someone already said it but if they put 30 crapware and trial programs on Macs they could probably drop the price... but they don't want to. The Windows machines should say $1200 - $400 from crapware vendors to be more fair.

As far as why people buy Macs? Windows has gotten a TON better but a lot of the same problems still apply. I got tired of trying to make backup rotation work on my Win7 machine (it won't do it you can only backup to ONE destination. If you want to change that you edit your ONE allowed backup policy but you can't even have multiple policies to allow for not changing the policy every time you rotate your disk), I got tired of driver problems with my Wacom Intuous (certain apps wouldn't let you click buttons with the mouse but worked with the pen [random crap like that]) I got tired of all the registry trash that every program you want to demo leaves behind, I enjoyed the alleged openness but honestly got tired of the lack of real-world compatibility (the esata card I bought "worked" but not in AHCI mode so I couldn't hot swap. And even just leaving it in IDE mode I got a BIOS error every time I booted).

I could go on. I'm pretty objective and there are areas where Windows and generic hardware provide advantages but its not that cut and dried and people aren't suckers for paying more for a mac.

 

[*LTD*]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2 like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C134 Safari/6533.18.5)

Devil's Advocate:

I bought a Netbook Holiday Special ($199 normally $399 with ATI chip and graphics and Win 7 Home Premium) from the MS Store last Dec.

MS took off the manufacturer's build (with tons of bloat-ware) and put their own on. It included a lot MS of extras (photo, video editing, music editor - sounding familiar?) and their premium Anti-Virus with lifetime subscription.

When it booted, it only asked for my username and the type of network to connect to (again - familiar? LOL)

I haven't had any problems with it whatsoever...

Just food for thought...

A lot of people on this board forget that Windows is the OS leader for a reason...

Universal licensing.

 

[Sodner]

I agree that both OS's are good and in many cases a less expensive baseline Windows PC can adequately meet the needs of most users.

But this line of advertising really misses the mark with me. As someone else said ,it's like comparing a Rolls-Royce and a Subaru. Both are "cars" with engines, and tires and a steering wheel but are not really the same at all. Microsoft simply throwing up a few PC's that are near the spec's of a Mac, really does not tell the whole story.

Besides shouldn't HP, Gateway, Acer or Dell be running this add about HARDWARE and not Microsoft?

 

[TheSideshow]

Eh. They dont do a good job of comparing TBH.

Should've had the Samsung Series 9 against the MBAs. Envy's against the MBP's as well as the DV's and some Sony's. The Envy would still prove a good point seeing as a comparably equipped MBP 15 would've cost me 2600 versus 1100 I paid after my 30% Bing cash back for my Envy 14. (160GB SSD, 6GB RAM, 1600x900 Radiance screen, Core i5-450M)

Overall PC manufacturers need to step up their game, not Microsoft. I like my Envy 14 a lot, but I would have paid a bit more for a better trackpad which is my biggest gripe against it.

 

[mrsir2009]

Where did they say in the website that you need to buy antivirus software?

And did they compare the build quality or just specs?

 

[TheSideshow]

Where did they say in the website that you need to buy antivirus software?

And did they compare the build quality or just specs?

You dont need to buy AV software. You need it as much as you need it on OSX IMO. Viruses arent the problem anymore. Trojans are.

Plus Microsoft provides it free as Microsoft Security Essentials so you can add $0 to it.

 

[OllyW]

Where did they say in the website that you need to buy antivirus software?

You don't need to buy antivirus software.

 

[DeaconGraves]

And did they compare the build quality or just specs?

Well, they put in "descriptions"

15" MBP: "State of the art processors. All new graphics. Breakthrough highspeed I/O"

Dell XPS 15: "High Octane performance. Razor sharp graphics. Mind blowing audio. HD web cam and video streaming."

While they were quite nice to the MBP, you definitely can't determine which one is "better" based on those descriptions.

So this is definitely a spec comparison, which has its flaws.

 

[fehhkk]

lol @ comparing the MBP 15" to the Dell XPS 15 ... haaaahahahaha

 

[notjustjay]

Where did they say in the website that you need to buy antivirus software?

And did they compare the build quality or just specs?

It doesn't say it. It does say "sold separately" under the Mac category. If it were truly honest advertising, it should either say "freely available" or even "not necessary".

 

[imahawki]

I got news for you. Anti-virus doesn't prevent you from getting a virus. I've cleaned up 3 Windows PCs in the last 3 months with viruses and browser hijacks. ALL 3 were running Microsoft Security Essentials. The virus tax isn't about spending $30 for AV software, its about the maddening frustration of pop-ups and redirected searches and hacked hosts files etc.

 

[*LTD*]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2 like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C134 Safari/6533.18.5)

Laptop Hunters Reloaded.

Predictable result: record Mac sales this quarter. Pretty much what's been happening every quarter. MS and Ballmer have been bleating the same tired garbage for years: Macs are expensive, get a PC!

Except now, the netbook market is drying up, Apple has passed everyone in profit, market cap, etc., MS Windoze Phone 2007 is about as exciting as waiting for a NoDo update, and they have sweet f all in the tablet market. MS is moving from embarrassment to embarrassment. They should just allow users to install Office on the Xbox and play with Clippy.

MS latest campaign is attacking Apple at the top of their game, when they're changing the face if tech across the board. And MS wants to tell consumers to please please buy a ****** PC instead?? Really?? Totally insane.

Of course, unsurprisingly, Steve Ballmer actually thinks this is a brilliant idea.

 

[cherry su]

Looking at numbers alone, you will be paying more for an apple laptop then a dell, hp, asus etc. Its called the apple tax

Its funny how all the macs are turned off and all the windows PCs are one

I like how Microsoft thinks the 11" MacBook Air is a netbook

 

[xlii]

Microsoft and their ad campaigns are so dumb. Instead of trying to convince people to buy a pc instead of a mac they should be trying to sell Microsoft software to Mac owners.

 

[InuNacho]

Unless Microsoft is selling me Atari Jaguars they shouldn't tell me to "Do the Math".

 

[TheSideshow]

Unless Microsoft is selling me Atari Jaguars they shouldn't tell me to "Do the Math".

They "asked".