By Prince McLean
Published: 03:00 PM EST
Apple has responded to the new Microsoft ads promoting low-cost generic PCs as a cheaper alternative to the Mac, stating "A PC is no bargain when it doesn't do what you want."
The comment, from Apple spokesman Bill Evans, appeared in a
BusinessWeek article by Arik Hesseldahl, which examined the differences between the $699 HP notebook Microsoft recommended to its TV audience over Apple's 17" MacBook Pro, a system in a considerably higher quality and price range.
"The one thing that both Apple and Microsoft can agree on is that everyone thinks the Mac is cool," Evans added. "With its great designs and advanced software, nothing matches it at any price."
What you pay
Hesseldahl did the math to find out, noting that the lower cost HP notebook ships with a 60-day trial Norton Internet Security 2009, but requires a $50 subscription to help keep Windows from falling to the onslaught of PC viruses and malware.
Some savvy PC buyers might be aware that they can find free antivirus tools on the Internet, but between the fraudulent malware posing as free antivirus tools and the heavily promoted, multi-billion dollar security industry that staunchly defends its right to profit from adding the security that Microsoft left out of Windows, there's clearly a lot of PC buyers who will end up suckered into paying that extra $150 over the short lifetime of their PC to keep it as clean as the Mac would be without any antivirus software.
The analysis also points out that PC users who run into inevitable problems will face a $129 fee from Geek Squad just to diagnose the problem, while pointing out that Apple offers free help from its retail stores' Genius Bar.
What you get
Hesseldahl also outlined the difference in what users get in terms of usability with iLife's iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, and other software. He noted that the PC ships with some third party movie editing tools that usually cost $184, but figures that collecting a few other software titles to match what ships on the Mac would easily cost another $340. Never mind that all those PC programs don't offer much in terms of tight integration like the Mac's iLife titles.
All that missing software and the extra fees can easily double the cost of the cheap PC hardware. And as the report describes, the bargain basement HP hardware isn't very compelling, with a wimpy battery rated for 2.5 hours compared to the MacBook Pro's eight, an extra 1.2 pounds of weight in a thicker case, and a far lower quality display with much lower resolution, 1440x900 compared to the MacBook Pro's 1920x1200.
The article also notes that
Consumer Reports ranked the Mac first among a half dozen notebooks with 17" to 18" screens, while the HP came in fourth. Hesseldahl also cited a Forrester Research study that ranked Apple first in "usefulness, usability, and enjoyability" ahead of HP, Dell and Gateway, which is now part of Acer.
"PC makers in the Windows camp have done everything possible to make their products progressively worse by cutting corners to save pennies per unit and boost sales volume," he wrote. "There's good reason Apple is seeing healthy profits while grabbing market share. It refuses to budge on quality and so charges a higher price. Rather than running ads that seem clever at first but really aren't, the Windows guys ought to take the hint and just build better computers."
