Survey Says?

[Quetzacoatl]

Hi everyone. I've got a survery question for everyone. Before I begin though, I have to ask to not flame this post or spam, i'm just looking for everyones honest opinion.

1-If you bought an OEM system, and assuming you are an average person with little or no knowledge about computers, what would you rather buy, and AMD or an Intel based system?

2-Do you think that the average computer user knows what megahertz is and what affects computer performance?

I'm writing a report on computer hardware for my high school term paper and I need some input for the survey. I passed around over 200 copies to the teachers in the Middle and High School, but only got about 45 returns =/ Thanks for the help everyone

"When there's a will, there's a way."

 

[dhlucke]

1. The average user can get more for their money by buying a AMD system today.

2. The average user can't say MHz let alone understand what it is. Peformance to the average user is anything that boots fast and is faster than their last computer. It has nothing to do with actual performance since a custom built PC will stomp on any OEM system that the average user buys.

<font color=red>If you were to have sex with your clone would that be considered incest or masturbation?</font color=red>

 

[dwalls32]

I would say if I knew nothing about computers, I would probably buy an Intel based system from a big name, say Dell or HP. Or whatever was on sale at BestBuy at the time. Would get ripped off bg time, but I thinkthat's what most novice users do.

 

[kief]

Id prolly say AMD, but thing is the OEM solutions for AMD are not that great. Worse yet the unknowing user that picked up a P4 system would prolly get i845 with SDR. Either way yer screwed, so AMD based on price....

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

 

[Raystonn]

1-If you bought an OEM system, and assuming you are an average person with little or no knowledge about computers, what would you rather buy, and AMD or an Intel based system?

The people who populate this forum neither buy OEM systems nor are people "with little or no knowledge about computers." Thus, you will not get accurate responses to this question here. Rephrase the question and ask it to some people who are not computer enthusiasts.

2-Do you think that the average computer user knows what megahertz is and what affects computer performance?

Are you asking what we think about the average person or do you really want to know what the average person thinks? I really recommend you take these questions to some more average people.

-Raystonn


= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my employer. =

 

[kief]

I agree, its hard for us as informed users to act as if we didnt have this knowledge. I am scared to think of even trying, have you guys seen the average idiot in an electronics store? Its really strange to see people who are otherwise competant try to figure out ANYTHING about a computer. I could rant on this one for a long time (i have done my fair share of user support) but I think you get the idea =)

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

 

[Atolsammeek]

If I was you I would go on tv channels HSN.com And watch what they sell and then go to All the stores in your area Like Bestbuy and act like some one that wants to buy some thing. See what they try to sell you. Then look on http://www.pricewatch.com And see what they sell. And look on the Dell, IBM, Gateway, and HP.

That would give you a better idea on what they try to sell to someone.

 

[dhlucke]

Good point, but most of us probably have "average" friends and family.

<font color=red>If you were to have sex with your clone would that be considered incest or masturbation?</font color=red>

 

[Raystonn]

Right, but most people are not very good at predicting how others will answer, even if they are family members. Perhaps if they actually asked the family members without guiding their answers at all.

-Raystonn


= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my employer. =

 

[pr497]

1-If you bought an OEM system, and assuming you are an average person with little or no knowledge about computers, what would you rather buy, and AMD or an Intel based system?

intel based (intel-inside... ).
intels marketing campaign has made it so when people think computers...they think intel...intel has soo many comercials (on tv) thats its almost sad...
whereas AMD has almost no comercials (other than infomercials)...when was the last time you saw an AMD comercial?

2-Do you think that the average computer user knows what megahertz is and what affects computer performance?

no...they would think with numbers (ie. higher is better)...they would think...more mega hertz = faster (whwich isnt true for P4 vs. AXP...2ghz P4 ~ 1.7ghz AXP )...they would also think...more memory = faster (regardless of ram type...they would think that 512mb SDRAM is faster than 256mb RDRAM)

<b><A HREF="http://gamershq.madonion.com/compare2k1.shtml?2932776" target="_new">P4 + DDR333</A>=<font color=blue>OK</font color=blue></b>

 

[peteb]

If I'm objective you user falls into 2 categories.

1: The person who knows little, but wants a 'top end' system. That person will buy the biggest numbers (HDD size, RAM amount, cpu Mhz, RAM Mhz they can find/afford.

2: The person that wanders in to Frys or similar looking for something to get connected to the net and e-mail friends/relatives. They will likely have a rough idea of budget from talking to friends and will be more conservative and buy at mid to low-line prices.

With that basis category 1 will mostly be filled with Intel systems.

Category 2 will be filled by Intel systems, until OEMs take a wider stance to sell AMD. Then the numbers will rough out similar, since I doubt an OEM will undercut it's Intel line with an AMD line. I'd expect the OEM prices for an AMD and Intel budget system to be within a few percentage points at most. This does not mean that I think more OEMs will sell AMD, or that AMD will sell the same number. Until AMD get market presense with OEMs - slowly coming about - they will have low OEM sales %.


The average user knows bigger is better. You could stick a sticker on the front of a PC and thell them it has higher flops/flips/megahertz, widgets, wobbles or doodahs than the one next to it. They will, on general, have no ability to guage how much they need. **What they will do is read the side of the box of the home finance software/game and see if the system meets minimum requirements. If it does, they assume it'll run okay.

-* <font color=red> !! S O L D !! </font color=red> *-
To the gentleman in the pink Tutu

 

[HeavyMetal]

this is easy, 3 people in my family (who know nothing about computers) just bought a computer. they all bought celerons. reason why is simple, the best buy where i live has almost no athlons or durons out on display, at the time there werent really any PIII's either, in fact the only computers i seen more than 1 of was the PIV + SDRAM and celerons. and the average user IMHO judges computers like this:
#1 is it an intel, if not dont buy
#2 MHz

thats my 2 cents anyways

 

[MeldarthX]

*chuckles*.....what OEM? *VEG*....overclocked or stock speed.........bold statement there. Now it is true if would be a Dell, Compaq, HP, Gateway crap stuff.
But now what would you say stock speed build with a stock speed build from say from the people coined the term Gaming PC, aka invented the gaming pc.

Granddaddy of them all, Falcon Northwest? Heck even Alienware? though Alienware pcs are not quite as fast they are still nice machine.

Not all OEMs are made equal, some are just bad to the bone........and go for balls to the walls speed......

PS....anyone looked at Falcon's prices lately? They are nuts, I mean this is the lowest I've ever seen them
MeldarthX

 

[eden]

To be honest, not many people even know INTEL. I am sure of it, they only know Pentium. Just ask, Intel is just the add on TV they look at when aliens steal technology off someone's head...and then turn it to P4 chip with awesome pic rendering.

--
For the first time, Hookers are hooked on Phonics!!

 

[slvr_phoenix]

To be honest, not many people even know INTEL.

This is not only the sad truth, but the problem goes much further. I've worked with numerous family members and friends now, which I consider them all to be <i>average</i> consumers, and they not only do <i>not</i> know Intel, but most don't even understand that a PC from BestBuy can have the same parts as a PC from Dell, or as a PC from Gateway, or as a PC put together by a local small OEM.

The <i>average</i> consumer that I have run into thinks that Gateway, Dell, BestBuy, etc. makes every part inside of the computer! And no matter how you try to explain the concept to them, and how many times you try, they still don't get it.

So Quetzacoatl, given this, and given that most OEMs still work primarily with Intel-based systems, I would have to say my answers are:

1) From the mindframe of an average person, I'd probably end up buying an Intel-based system, not out of intent, but simply out of guidance from most major OEMs towards such products.

2) The average computer user has no freaking clue what MHz is, and even many "professionals" don't know what affects performance other than MHz. So the average computer user has no clue whatsoever about what affects performance.

However, Quetzacoatl, if this is meant to be a survey of the average people, then you can't use any information gained from this thread as none of us are average, and even if our survey results are meant to be from the average mindframe, there still aren't actual average people filling out your survey. So unless your survey is on what professionals think of the average user, this whole thread is completely unusable for your report.

If you're having difficulty getting survey responses, why not just grab a clipboard and go down to your local mall, airport, or other structure supporting a high person-to-square-foot ratio. Just ask people if they would kindly take a minute to answer a two question survey. You'll get snubbed a lot, but that's expected, so don't let it discourage you. By the end of a weekend you should still have a noticable improvement to your quota.

<pre>If you let others think for you, you're the
only one to blame when things go wrong.</pre><p>

 

[bront]

The average computer user has no freaking clue what MHz is

That's not quite true. Many consumers know that MHz is something to do with a computer, and some even know that higher is better. What they don't know is how different processors are. That is why Best Buy can sell 1.3 GHz Celeron systems still for a hefty price, and have consumers think they are getting a great computer.

However, the other thing to note about the "average" consumer, is that a high end celeron CPU is still more than enough for most of their needs. Many kids are happy playing Doom and Quake, and many of the games out today don't need an 8500 or GF4, or even 3, to run at acceptable levels. What your average consumer needs is a support line for questions and help, and a computer that will run stabily, so OEM manufacturers like Dell, Gateway, and HP are reasonable alternitives for them, even if they aren't the top of the line systems.


I do not like it Tom you see,
I do not like green PCB.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

That's not quite true. Many consumers know that MHz is something to do with a computer, and some even know that higher is better. What they don't know is how different processors are. That is why Best Buy can sell 1.3 GHz Celeron systems still for a hefty price, and have consumers think they are getting a great computer.

I agree, that most average users know that MHz has something to do with a computer, and they know the myth that higher is always better. However, do they actually know just <i>what</i> MHz is? Do they know that it is a measurement of frequency in terms of a million cycles per second? Do they understand that a 1.3GHz CPU is processing at 1,300,000,000 cycles per second? If they don't know that, then <i>I</i> think that they really don't have a clue just what MHz is. They might have a very loose and general concept of what <i>effect</i> it has, but that doesn't mean that they know what it <i>is</i>.

However, the other thing to note about the "average" consumer, is that a high end celeron CPU is still more than enough for most of their needs. Many kids are happy playing Doom and Quake, and many of the games out today don't need an 8500 or GF4, or even 3, to run at acceptable levels. What your average consumer needs is a support line for questions and help, and a computer that will run stabily, so OEM manufacturers like Dell, Gateway, and HP are reasonable alternitives for them, even if they aren't the top of the line systems.

I completely agree. In fact, a low-end Celeron system would meet their needs. Has anyone ever needed more than a P-133 to surf the internet? Would anyone need more than a Celeron-500 and a PCI Voodoo2 to play Quake3?

<pre>If you let others think for you, you're the
only one to blame when things go wrong.</pre><p>