New MS Laptop Hunter Ad

[macusernick]

Oh boy this one will be fun....

One of the arguments that fails but is used the most is "total cost of ownership". A Mac user trying to use this argument is just downright stupid.

I would agree with the total cost of ownership is more for a Mac... but you are forgetting the most important part... the OS. Sure you can spend half the price, but you don't get Mac OS X. Yes, you can get a Hackintosh copy and load it onto a PC, but this ad is targeted for general users, not nerds.

There are other aspects to the "total cost of ownership" argument Apple fans like to make. One being anti-virus software. First of all, good AV software is free. Secondly, you have to be pretty stupid to get infected these days. IE and Firefox both guard against malware actively, and will give you multiple warnings and try to stop you from downloading malware at every step. Then Windows itself will attempt to stop you from installing and running it. So that part is bunk.

Maybe this is bunk for someone who knows how to use a computer, but for the XX% of Windows users that really have no clue (i.e. the majority of non-nerds) this is still an important factor. I know plenty of people who still get viruses, adware, spyware, etc on their system.

Apple apologists like to point out that Macs come with iLife. Well, I just recently reinstalled OS X to remove all of iLife except iPhoto. iLife is the ultimate in bloatware. By reinstalling OS X without iLife installed I have about 10GB more of free space, even though iLife only requires 6GB to be installed.

Funny how things can easily be taken out of context... let me guess... you installed all of the bonus clips/samples for GarageBand? Um... of course you will save 10gb if you remove that, duh.

The iLife suite is useless for most people, and iMovie is only good if you want to do Youtube or Mobile Me clips. It's no longer any good for producing actual movies that would be good enough to burn to DVD, which is still what most people want. Even iMovie's newest and most impressive feature, image stabilization, is a gimmick. All it does is zoom up on the picture. So you have to decide between having a full resolution shaky image or a lower quality still image.

The usefulness of the iLife package is obviously in the eye of the beholder. For those of us that are not Pro editors, iMovie is a great piece of beginning software that will get you accustomed to the way Final Cut works. Sure iMovie isn't the cat's meow... but it comes bundled for free. What PC bundle is better then?

Freeware is almost non-existant on a Mac as well. Aside from VLC, Perian, and Adium, what decent freeware is there? Nearly every piece of software wants you to pony up $5, $10, $15 to fully unlock it. On Windows theres a whole world of freeware thats nearly as or as good as the paid stuff. With Windows, you can get by entirely on freeware.

Are you really this uninformed on the Mac scene? There are plenty of excellent Freeware applications available for the Mac as well as a great open-source based community that provides thousands of additional free software packages. If you don't believe me, just go to macupdate.com or opensourcemac.org and take a look around, you might be surprised.

Another aspect to the "total cost of ownership" argument would be warranty and service. Apple is known for not covering basic build quality issues, just ask the first gen MacBook Air owners about their hinge problems. Apple offers NO damage coverage. With a prebuilt PC, the manufacturer will offer warranties that cost about the same as AppleCare that cover accidental and liquid damage. Apple doesn't do this. AppleCare isn't even available for phone support 24/7. And if you're like me, and they replaced your screen with a defective one, you have to drive 75 miles to your closest Apple Store to prove its defective and get a replacement!

I can only speak for myself on this one, but the AppleCare plan has been the best warranty of any product that I have ever owned. The representatives are courteous, helpful, and better yet, speak English! My laptop was shipped out and back to me in less then 2 weeks. I'm sure not everyone has a great story like me, but there must be a reason Consumers Report gave Apple the top award for customer service... hmmm.

Now that the "total cost of ownership" argument is completely and utterly dead, let's go back to the commercial. ... The best part of the commercial is the comment about the amount of RAM the MacBook Pro comes with. It's true. Apple's computers tend to come with 1/4 (Mac mini) to 1/2 as much memory as PCs do. Some argue that its because OS X is more efficient. That's just a load of BS that you can smell from a mile away. I've been using OS X for years now, as well as Windows for even longer. Windows runs much better on the same hardware, and Leopard is every bit as "bloated" as Vista is.

So you loaded Vista into boot camp on your Mac, or you got a Hackintosh copy and loaded it onto your PC rig? Funny thing about that is, last time I knew, Vista performed better in boot camp on Macs then it did "natively" on PC machines... what's the deal with that?

Oh, and one quick thing I forgot to mention... MBPs come standard with 4gb ram so this whole point about the ram discussion is a waste of time.

And to anyone who says Microsoft is "scared", keep in mind that Apple's worldwide market share is only at about 3.5%, Microsoft's is at about 90%. You think about that

It's funny you mention that at the end... I would rather be the 3.5% that is happy and content with their computer then be the 90% that complain and troll on Mac forums.

Thanks for your time!
mun

 

[spininaround]

this is all u need to combat these Mircosoft Ad's

http://movies.apple.com/media/us/mac/getamac/2009/apple-mvp-elimination-us-20090512_480x272.mov

 

[cah87]

http://movies.apple.com/media/us/mac/getamac/2009/apple-mvp-elimination-us-20090512_480x272.mov

I love that, its the best apple ad yet in my opinion

 

[dlo604]

You know what I would do? I would take the cash, leave my PC in the box, and then return my PC for the cash. After a week I'd go to a different Best Bu or Future Shop and buy a new uMBP. Half those people are so stupid.

 

[vvvvv]

what a lame video

this video's meant to breed idiocy into MORE idiots. it's terrible acting for one. she looks like a tool. the people who buy into this kind of video deserve to get stuck with a *****ty PC. that dude trying to sell her something in the store as well, is not believable. see, at least when we rip on apple, we know they're staging an experience that's already unbelievable, they know their position as a computer brand in the market, but microsoft keeps pulling this elbow jerking *****. it's so lame. they're so undependable. apple wouldn't be apple if their machines weren't over priced. i'm so curious as to why, microsoft, with boat loads of money, doesn't invest in better ad campaigns and concepts.

 

[vvvvv]

no *hit sherlock

"this is going to be a fast processor... for video editing... thats going to help you alot.". wow. thanks captain obvious. when you paint a door black, you can call it a black door finally... hmm.

 

[xbjllb]

"this is going to be a fast processor... for video editing... thats going to help you alot.". wow. thanks captain obvious. when you paint a door black, you can call it a black door finally... hmm.

Yep, and when she wants to author, burn and proof a Blu-ray disc for her plasma she'll be able to do that too.

But not on a Mac. Nope, no Mac can do that without resorting to running Windoze.

Massive fail.

 

[DMann]

Yep, and when she wants to author, burn and proof a Blu-ray disc for her plasma she'll be able to do that too.

But not on a Mac. Nope, no Mac can do that without resorting to running Windoze.

Massive fail.

Since Macs run Windoze, then Yep! FCS, on the other hand, will be out of reach with her sub-par choice.

 

[xbjllb]

Since Macs run Windoze, then Yep! FCS, on the other hand, will be out of reach with her sub-par choice.

Poor thing. Thankfully with some of the money she saved, she'll just have to bite the bullet and edit with Avid or Adobe Premiere. And then she can send Blu-ray discs of her work to all her clients. Keeping her entire workflow in the professional PC film/video world from capture to final presentation.

Somebody better tell Hollywood Avid and Premiere are "sub-par" to FCS. Don't think they've gotten the message yet.

More massive fail with that attempt than even Apple. If Apple wants to gain market share with FCS, dragging their feet on Blu-ray has got to be the single most asinine way in the world to do that.

Now if they're hell-bent on the exact opposite, then by all means, carry on.

 

[DMann]

Poor thing. Thankfully with some of the money she saved, she'll just have to bite the bullet and edit with Avid or Adobe Premiere. And then she can send Blu-ray discs of her work to all her clients. Keeping her entire workflow in the professional PC film/video world from capture to final presentation.

Somebody better tell Hollywood Avid and Premiere are "sub-par" to FCS. Don't think they've gotten the message yet.

More massive fail with that attempt than even Apple. If Apple wants to gain market share with FCS, dragging their feet on Blu-ray has got to be the single most asinine way in the world to do that.

Now if they're hell-bent on the exact opposite, then by all means, carry on.

Poor thing - I believe you've summed it up quite well - with her alleged budget, she probably wouldn't even be able to afford Avid or Adobe Premiere Pro - who knows, Microsoft might have offered to pitch in and buy her an Avid DS workstation for $30,000, in addition to her laptop. BTW - both Avid and Premiere run exceptionally well on OS X. Conversely, transferring large files on a laptop running Vista takes hours - as the transfers often fail to complete at all. Most film makers I work with transfer files from Avid to FCP and back again, mainly because they prefer the streamlined interface and comparative ease of editing. Although Avid’s strong points are the robustness of media management and responsive editing dynamics, Final Cut’s strengths are its easy timeline editing functions, the ability to mix many media types due to the QuickTime architecture, and the embrace of third party hardware. Sure, I wish Apple would stop delaying BD support, but until then, we'll just have to boot into Windows for that.

 

[rich2k4]

what i don't understand is. what are all these people who bash macs doing here? did they sign up specifically to troll?

I mean if you like PC's that much, then go to some PC forum where instead of getting help, people end up writing a virus for you.

 

[xIGmanIx]

So you buy an HP, Sony, Lenovo, Dell, etc... you don't go to the third parties to buy things cheaper? I know I do.

No they come already included like Blu Ray, eSata, express card, dual hardrive suport

 

[GoodWatch]

what i don't understand is. what are all these people who bash macs doing here? did they sign up specifically to troll?

I mean if you like PC's that much, then go to some PC forum where instead of getting help, people end up writing a virus for you.

And what I don't understand is what are all these people who bash MS doing here? I mean, if you like MS that much, then go to some MS forum There is sometimes more talk about MS and PC's than over Apple and Macs.