Mac vs. PC: Microsoft lowers the bar to $700

As the English poet John Ruskin observed: he who knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing is the willing victim of the unscrupulous. Not implying the PC is made by unscrupulous people, merely that cost is only one thing to consider–and the longer lived the asset–the less significant small cost differences are.

If the PC consumes all of my time….saving a few hundred bucks isn't worth it. I have been in the computer/technology business for 20 years. I don't want to tinker and fiddle with the device all day long (like I did yesterday with one of my PC's). My Apple computers save HUGE amounts of time for me. Over the course of 6mos…1yr….2yrs. I will LONG have forgotten the $300 I saved.

I'd be curious to see a follow-up with the people featured in these ads, may six months later, to see how they like their $700 laptop. If personal experience is anything to go buy they probably have nothing but contempt for them. Case in point: My father purchased a $1000 HP laptop with Windows Vista on it and he absolutely hates it. Why? He can never get it to work right, and he has several programs that he likes to run for his sailing and navigation that he has never been able to run on Vista, even in the so-called "compatibility" mode.

These ads actually dismiss the one big thing that the "PC vs Mac" ads address, and that is the operating system. They essentially point out the obvious, that there are cheaper laptop alternatives to MacBooks and completely ignore the operating system. Sure, I could go out and buy a cheap laptop, I actually did purchase a $900 HP laptop about two years ago. It works, but it wasn't great and is nothing compared to my MacBook Pro. In the end this is nothing more than marketing and you have to remember the target audience. Most technology savvy people will actually research their purchase rather than rely on advertisement. I researched my MacBook Pro purchase for three months, looking at reviews on both sides of the camp. So you have to ask yourself, are you going to listen to a marketing department tell you what you should buy? Or are you going to do your own research and decide for yourself what laptop best suits you.

It still amazes me to see this old Mac vs PC argument going.

I use both systems heavily every day. I do music for games for a living; I use my Macbook Pro for my audio work and a great Dell desktop becasue most of the tools I need are PC only. I do my productivity (MS office) on my Mac under Parallels. Both my systems run great. My PC doesn't crash daily as some would believe and my Macbook wasn't terribly expensive.

I do have a slight preference for the Mac, since on the road I can boot to either Windows or OSX and both run great. Btw, I would go so far to say as my Macbook Pro is the best Windows laptop I've ever owned. Big difference there is that I have a clean install of Windows on it, without all the extra stuff you get when you buy normal PC.

I want to add that I have 4 laptops, 3 servers and a Mac G4 and all my machines get heavy use. I don't use them as much as I use fine china.

Then again I wouldn't expect a mac user to have a dedicated 10TB storage array in a closet either.

*If* you know what your doing you will not have any issues with a PC no matter what the "technical" people on here spout.

*IF* you are clueless and just expect to click a couple icons and that is the extent of your computer usage (Web, Email, document creation) – by all means get a mac and knock yourself out.

I consider myself one who walks between the two camps. I work for IT at a university and mange labs full of macs of various makes and models. Believe me, I spend a lot of time fixing and debugging those machines. I've also been a PC user my whole life. Saying one is inherently better than the other is just idiotic.

Are Macs more stable? Yes. Apple has control over every stage in their production for both hardware and Operating system. I'd say 90% of the applications your average Mac user works with are made by Apple. That means that everything works smoothly and there are less variables to deal with. It also means your options are limited. Want a new graphic card for your Mac Pro? you have 2 options. New CD/DVD burner? 1 option. Different Processor? Nope, just different clock speeds. Macs are "out of the box" machines and they work well because of it.

PCs give you so much more variety and options, but with that comes inherent issues. If you've got 100 options for motherboards along with 100 different sound cards, video cards, CD/DVD drives, PCI add-ons and processors to add to it there is a high chance of conflict. This also means there are cheaper and less than desirable options out there but also very high end components that are as good, and in many cases surpass the quality of Apple.

I've always said if I was going to get a laptop I'd buy a mac and if I was going to get a desktop it would be a PC. Laptops aren't performance machines anyway so stability and ease of use reign there. However, for pure power and performance I'll always build my own desktop to suit my needs and expand as I see fit.

First off, I had a brand new PC for 8 months, gave it to my gf and bought a mac. She has nothing but problems, ive never had a problem.

Second, these ads show mishaps in the fact that windows is across such a huge spectrum of companies, where is Macs are alone with just apple. It doesn't point out that Sony is also more expensive, and so are other companies. All it shows is a way to rig it so someone has to pick Microsoft. Its like GM saying hey find one of these cars and if its cheaper than a Mercedes, we will pay for it. Well duh… but the Mercedes is going to be much worth it.

Basically if you told me I could get a $700 laptop for free, i would gladly take Microsoft's money, and post the laptop on ebay, and then buy a Mac.

as a pc user and not a mac user, when I see statements like the following…

"I love these comments about crashing pc’s – yeah maybe back in the Windows 95 / 98 days .. since Windows 2000+ the instance of an OS crash are slim to none. OS stability is impacted most by poorly written software / drivers."

I want to tell the author to get a netbook or blackberry. Clearly they are using a PC about as much as they use formal china. I make a frightfully large salary repairing Windows based machines and every version of Window OS there is. The graphics/marketing department uses Apple…I go by to say high every once and an while. Never to repair a machine. Never.

Some people drive a Ford, and some people drive Lexus. Both are cars but that is where the comparison stops.

barry

Macs and Mac OS are just better. period.

i'm a longtime PC Enthusiast, always building my own machines, had all kinds of flavors of Linux on numbers of cheap boxes, etc. always used Intel platform with Windows as OS on my best machine. I pre-ordered Vista Ultimate, i was pretty much their target customer.

i've got a MacBook Pro now, and i have no interest in turning back.

Windows machines are a constant battle to manage. the OS is a disaster. I am the 'family tech support' and it is just painful to constantly be putting out fires on these crappy machines…but the upside is they only cost $500

@ASP, NY, NY

I know when the G5 was released. The poster I responded to said his model was 3 years old. The G5 first debuted in 2003 and the last revision was in October 2005. However, that final revision was on sale until late 2006 when it was replaced by the Mac Pro. Meaning the oldest G5 is only 3 years old.

Posted By Jason, Mobile, AL : July 9, 2009 10:01 pm

Oh, and bragging about your Mac Pro G5 isn’t saying much. Workstation hardware like that is always at a premium. On eBay you can find Dell Precision 690s from 2007 that are still over $3000. There are also older Precisions that go for $1800 or better.

PowerMac G5 was released June 2003 which would make them a little over 6 years old.

I love these comments about crashing pc’s – yeah maybe back in the Windows 95 / 98 days .. since Windows 2000+ the instance of an OS crash are slim to none. OS stability is impacted most by poorly written software / drivers.

Seems my G4 has plenty of spinning beah balls and kernel errors. Apple is not immune to hardware failures. Try getting your Macbook repaired and see what that cost is like.

OSX has more than it's share of badly written/buggy software, it's really more on how the operating system handles it. Badly written software in Windows can access and overwrite system memory locking up the entire system. In contrast, Mac OSX has been using protected memory since it's release back in 1999.

If you have Applecare, Macbooks would be still covered under warranty.

BTW, year after year, Apple is ranked #1 in customer service and tech support:

Apple scored 80 in first place, Gateway 66, HP 64, Compaq 63 and Dell 58 according to Forrester Research’s 2008 customer experience index.

Consumer Reports ranked Apple #1 in tech support solving problems 80% of the time compared to industry average of 60%.

While JD Powers gave the iPhone #1 in their 2008 Business Wireless Smartphone Customer Satisfaction Study".

Consistently getting #1 on different surveys means that they're doing something right to me.

Microsoft users will never understand Mac users which I find fascinating. Our secret of success is that for us the Mac is the best. We don't care if Wintel's are cheaper or more in number. We like what we like and don't care if we're popular or not. As long as I have a Mac and iPhone I'm a happy camper. I really don't care what others use, in fact I like being the underdog. I prefer to follow a different drummer.

Microsoft doesn't make PC's. They make the OS, and the OS makes the computer run. Does anyone else find it odd that Microsoft avoids any comparison between their OS and Apple's?

@Joe, Houston, TX

Anti-virus costs money? Avira, Avast, AVG, ClamAV, and Microsoft Security Essentials are all free. Oh and Avira just happens to be the best out there. av-comparatives.org for the proof about Avira.

Actually with UAC and IE in protected mode Flash and things run Low level meaning you can't get infected unless the USER explicitly allows it to happen.

And can you explain the "hundred hours needed to get the system running"? I'd love to know what takes 100 hours to get Windows running.

@Sean, Bloomington, IN

Where did I ever assume that Mac users never had a PC?

What kind of problems did the PC give you? I'd love to know. Funny thing is I never see a response to that question.

Oh, and bragging about your Mac Pro G5 isn't saying much. Workstation hardware like that is always at a premium. On eBay you can find Dell Precision 690s from 2007 that are still over $3000. There are also older Precisions that go for $1800 or better.

Posted By willy, CO : July 9, 2009 3:59 pm

Quite frankly, Windows has similar stability to Mac these days, and has for years, some issues are created by folks loading crap software on their machines, but that’s the beauty of Windows, you actually have loads of choice, not so much with Mac.

Typical drivel from someone who probably works as IT supporting Windows. Lay off the M$ Kool Aid.

And after that iPod toting, macbook carrying kid leaves college he'll sit down at his new job all happy and be given a nice PC to use.

Playtime is over.

I love these comments about crashing pc's – yeah maybe back in the Windows 95 / 98 days .. since Windows 2000+ the instance of an OS crash are slim to none. OS stability is impacted most by poorly written software / drivers.

Seems my G4 has plenty of spinning beah balls and kernel errors. Apple is not immune to hardware failures. Try getting your Macbook repaired and see what that cost is like.

There are a number of virus application that are free. Viruses are like 1990's .. it's all about malware and browser exploits. Seems my Mac's have updates as well so what is the point? Cyber crime is only growing and the day will come all these Apple users who blindly feel they are secure are going to get nailed.

Cost is a huge factor when buying a computer and I'm sorry Apple decides to price itself out of a larger market share. Apple's only care is their profit margin and there seems to be enough people eager to help them pad it more.

You are all missing the point.

Olivia is HAWT!!!!!!!!!

I find it strange that more then half of the time these commercials would show HP notebooks being picked. There are tons of other low cost but good quality PC notebooks out there yet they manage to pick the lousiest bunch from HP.

"Oh and the Google laptop hunter ads you want to see, they’ll leave out the part where the person cries because they can’t do anything BUT email, web surf, and have incompatibilities between Google Docs documents and Microsoft Word."

Exactly. Just as Microsoft never points out how crappy these cheapo computers they're pushing are. They forgot the part where Lauren spends 100 hours trying to get her computer to work properly, spends hundreds of dollars on antivirus software, and STILL gets infected simply by visiting a web site (zero day exploit).

If Microsoft can leave all of that out, why can't Google?

@ Willy, CO

re: "if you want to be bad, do you target 80% of the systems or only 7% of the systems, they’re targeting the 80%. There is NO operating system out there that can’t be nailed with virus attacks, Mac included, the bad people just don’t waste their time on Mac’s, there aren’t enough of them."

I've seen this (BS?) argument made over and over. If it's true, why did a number of viruses exist for older Mac OSs. They had a fraction of the share of OSX, yet many viruses were written for OS 7-9 for Mac. Further, don't you think the notoriety of writing a working virus for OSX isn't worth it to the people (er scum) that do this… There must be another reason? Can you think of one???

This is a dangerous play for Microsoft. After all, there are plenty of laptops that run Microsoft Windows that are more expensive than Apple's offerings. These ads from Microsoft don't say anything about more capable or why you'd want to spend the same dollars or more for a Dell or HP. It reminds me of Hyundai ads (nothing wrong with a Hyundai, mind you) – emphasize that you almost get what you really want but for less money. Well… for an extra $100 or $200, why not get what you really want which is a Mac? After all, it's not like we're comparing a $22k car to a $35k car.

The biggest puzzling issue of this ad campaign is that it probably doesn't target the people that are actually current switchers or about to be switchers. If you think you want to get a crappy 17" laptop, you're not getting an Apple anyways. Apple doesn't make anything as crappy as the HP dv6t or an Asus eePC. Microsoft is preaching to the choir. If you want those kind of machines, then you're buying a PC as you might have done for the past 10 years. Instead, Apple is making significant headway amongst a group of consumers that are more interesting in getting things done or enjoying their computing experience more than Windows – and do not mind paying a little extra for a well built and thoughtfully designed product. After all, the best of the PC world have to offer, like many of the Lenovo Thinkpad series have the same or higher price tags than Apple's lineup.

Interesting article. I love the Mac fans and how myopic they are with their allegiance to Apple. A few points, No, a 700 dollar notebook will not have the build quality of a Mac, and it shouldn’t be expected to do so. Just like a Toyota vs. a Lexus, a price premium should give you something. I would not say that a HP commercial notebook made for business use has no less quality than a Mac but it will cost a similar amount. Quite frankly, Windows has similar stability to Mac these days, and has for years, some issues are created by folks loading crap software on their machines, but that’s the beauty of Windows, you actually have loads of choice, not so much with Mac. From the perspective of virus attacks, yes there is more risk on Windows machines, but this is not intrinsically due to the OS, but simply that folks writing this crap by intent are trying to be malicious, if you want to be bad, do you target 80% of the systems or only 7% of the systems, they’re targeting the 80%. There is NO operating system out there that can’t be nailed with virus attacks, Mac included, the bad people just don’t waste their time on Mac’s, there aren’t enough of them. Mac has always been a great graphical machine, but these days their capabilities are very limited from that perspective. Look at the machines used to develop virtually all video games and animated movies, sorry MacFans, its HP workstations, Mac falls way short of being able to deliver that kind of power and is now relegated to the desktop publishing and photo retouching realm. Mac has its place, but until they can compete on the massive scale with business use, which they won’t, they’ll be stuck as a nice stable little toy, as for the low end, just remember, many folks out there want an appliance, and Microsoft in collaboration with HP, Dell, Lenovo etc. can deliver that kind of a product, Apple up to this point has been unwilling to…

Surely, everyone realizes that a Mac will never be the chosen computer in Microsoft ads and no one will ever walk in looking for a computer that runs both OSX and Windows.

It would be nice if they interviewed these buyers a year later and ask if they were still satisfied with their choices.

Microsoft says it all. Bigger is better and low cost is everything.

One thing that is overlooked and is the MAIN Point .

Not one of these cheap computers runs the Mac OS !

Discussion OVER !!!!!!!!!!

As the old adage says, you get what you pay for. If you want to pay less to get a pc/laptop that runs Windows, then your time must not be worth a lot because you'll spend more of it managing and maintaining the machine. Macs just work. OS X is a joy to work with, not a battle. If you're just comparing hardware that's one thing, but you have to consider the OS that's included as well. And when you upgrade the OS, you're not presented with six different price points to deal with. The same full function OS is always one price for all.

@Jason,

You assume us Mac users have never had a PC. I dealt with the PC platform for many, many years and finally gave up on it a few years ago. Once I bought a Mac all of those issues went away. My conclusion, Macs are better. Period.

By the way, I just sold my old Mac Pro G5 for $1,800 on ebay. I took the money and bought the new Macbook Pro 15" with the proceeds, giving me another 3+ years of computing bliss for free. Try that with a 3 year old PC.

@Joe, Houston, TV

You really think Google is free? How about them scanning all your emails if you use Gmail? Last I checked they have monetized every one of their products or left a little piece in the EULA retaining the right to do so (read Chrome's EULA). Google and Free don't go in the same sentence.

Oh and the Google laptop hunter ads you want to see, they'll leave out the part where the person cries because they can't do anything BUT email, web surf, and have incompatibilities between Google Docs documents and Microsoft Word.

@Robert, Baton Rouge, LA

Sounds like everything that has been included in Windows since the beginning. Only recently have some of them been pulled out and offered in a free download called Live Essentials. And if it doesn't exist go find a free open source version for every bit of that functionality.

Oh wait…that means I have a choice of programs. Something Mac users don't get.

Oh and I've never had a virus or malware/spyware either. Only the ID 10 T users get infected with something.

@rsfinn, Mt. Airy, MD

How about never go back to Best Buy? I did buy one about 4 years ago now. Older Compaq laptop. Cost me $699.99 just like the ad and it was actually from Best Buy. System still runs beautifully with Windows XP Professional and hasn't had a single problem. In fact for the last year and a half it was in use by my sister daily while she finished up her Master's Degree.

Apple (Love my iPhone 3G), Google and MS all have their place in the world. Too bad the fanboys are too blind to see that.

Any $700 laptop is a piece of crap. It will work for awhile but inspect it closely and you will see dozens of things that made so cheaply just to get the price down. It's a false bargain, a Walmart mentality machine.

So typical of Microsoft. Over bloated and expensive softwares running on cheap PCs. I refuse to spend a single dollar of mine on this kind of products. My money goes a much longer way on the Macs and I can get the satisfaction of using a computer that runs like a charm and feels like a high quality piece of technology that is well worth the price of entry.

I can't wait to see the Google laptop hunter ads. They can show someone looking at the same computer and asking why they WIndows version costs so much more than the Google version since all he's going to do is browse the web and send email.

Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot. They're sending the message that price is the only criterion that matters – or at least, the most important one. Google has the clout to stuff that down their throats.

Interesting that the ads don't mention all the software that comes on the Mac and not the PC. All Macs include iPhoto (Photos and movies), iMovie (video editing), iDVD (Burn professional DVDs, iWeb (Build web pages), Garage Band (Make your own music with HUNDREDS of built in sounds and instruments), iTunes pre-installed, Time Machine software built into the OS X (Effortless backup), and IT ALL JUST WORKS. ALL macs run on the SAME operating system. Unbelievably stable operating system. I have not had a system crash in years. Apps quit sometimes but can open right back up with no reboots. And I have NEVER had a virus, spyware, malware or trojans – EVER. And I have no protection. This has been true for all my Macs since 1988 ! ! How much time and money and AGGRAVATION and fear has that saved me over the last 21 years! Tech support is AMAZING. Quality is great. Read the reviews. Thousands of programs that are first rate. Visit an Apple Store and see how much you get for your hard-earned money and what it can do. Go ahead and buy those PCs and have fun. My boss has a PC and I hear him rebooting at least twice a day and sometimes more. REQUIRED to leave PC on all night for that latest virus protection to be installed. What a pain. As for me – IT"S APPLE ALL THE WAY – everything is TOTALLY worth the money ! ! !

I think this is funny! Someone really posted this on a craigslist ad recently. I will paste in the funny part!

"Fantastic and mint Apple machine if you like Apples. I've tried hard, but I can't seem to get past the decidedly liberal quality of their advertisements. I know, it sounds stupid. But I can't help but feel uncomfortable with something so liberal in my house. SO, if you are liberal, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AN OLD CONSERVATIVE AND SAVE SOME MONEY! " ……….WOW!

I really wanted to get this circulating! I think it's funny!! Check out this craigslist add. It's real!!

"what’s a few hundred dollars more spread out over 2-3 years?"

… or 4 or 5 years, which is how long our family's Macs have traditionally lasted. (Only a need to move to Snow Leopard will keep my G5 Mac from making it to its fourth birthday.)

How soon will someone buying a $700 cheapie laptop find themselves back at Best Buy?

I consider myself a rational Apple fanboy. I KNOW Apple is the best, but if you don't, fine, I respect your opinion. Regardless how you feel about the respective OSs and physical costs of the equipment however, the one thing that is never discussed is trade-in/resale value of Apple vs. PC.

While Apple prices may not appear competitive at the lower end, the resale value later on more than makes up any price difference. I know from experience that trade in values alone make Apple cheaper than the competition. And that's before the antivirus costs, etc.

@JAy. Stopped reading your comment after the word, "fanboy". It's 2009 JAy not 1985.

I love the fanboy comments here. They always make me smile, if not laugh out loud.

While I am not sure I would by the HP that keeps getting tagged in these ads, I definitely didn't buy a Mac for my most recent purchase either. I'm not saying that they are bad computers. Just saying that the prospect of a $430 laptop to do what I need versus the $1000 Mac laptop entry fee didn't take me long to debate.

And, no, I didn't buy a netbook. In fact, the specs for my laptop are more attractive to me than the $1000 Macbook (more RAM, bigger HDD, faster processor).

Not saying my laptop is for everyone, but neither is a Mac.

Well the Apple response ad can have an equally perky Lauren like actress coming home with her new PC, having it crash several times, having to add virus software and finally ending up by "Lauren" taking it back to the store to get a Mac.

You know what's funny though and maybe deserves a mention? After they bought their $700 computer they used the money they saved to get 2 iPhones. After a year of using an iPhone they bought a mac. Oh an the kid will most definitely want an iPod touch followed by a Mac. It's so true & the genius that is Steve Jobs knows it. Too damn funny.

Its not the price that counts for mac owners

MatsRG

Keep the environment green

you can have your 700 dollar pc with it's viruses and problematic operating systems.. slowly but surely the masses are realizing that macs are worth the extra money. what's a few hundred dollars more spread out over 2-3 years?