Mac vs. PC: Did Microsoft ad star 'Lauren' make the right choice? |
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Mac vs. PC: Did Microsoft ad star 'Lauren' make the right choice?
Microsoft's latest advertisement pokes fun at the price of Macs by telling the story of a woman named Lauren looking for a computer with "speed, a comfortable keyboard and a 17-inch screen" -- for less than $1,000. She visits an Apple store and turns her nose up at the prices before shopping for Windows PCs and finding an HP laptop that meets her requirements for $699.
But as any seasoned computer buyer knows, there are many other important specifications to compare when choosing among different machines. With inspiration from this Twitter user, I asked Microsoft for the precise PC shown in the ad, then compiled the chart below. This isn't an exhaustive list of specs, but here's how Lauren's prized HP Pavilion dv7-1245dx stacks up against Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro.
Does Microsoft have a point? Or is this comparison fair? [Chart updated with suggestions from comment thread. Thanks for all your feedback.]
About Todd Bishop
Todd Bishop is co-founder and managing editor of TechFlash. He has covered Microsoft and the technology industry for more than five years, most recently as a daily newspaper reporter and blogger based in Seattle.
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