Survey Says Microsoft Winning Mac vs. PC Battle
Laptop hunters is having an effect!
By now we’re very well acquainted with the back and forth game that Apple and Microsoft play with their television ads.
Apple’s ran those “I’m a Mac” ads for years, which hopes to convince the customer that Macs are cool and easy to use, while PCs are for boring accountants who like being riddled with computer problems.
After years of that, Microsoft recently launched a reported $300 million ad campaign that includes the Laptop Hunters television commercial series. The Laptop Hunters series shows fictional – but somewhat realistic – shoppers looking for a notebook. The running theme in each ad is that the MacBook is too expensive and the PC is the better buy.
Those ads are working.
At least that’s the findings of a study done by BrandIndex, who asked 5,000 people whether or not they believe they get good value for their money from a PC or Mac.
Apple had its highest BrandIndex rating in late winter, according to Ad Age, with a score of 70 on a scale of -100 to 100 (zero means neutral). Apple today sits at a much lower rating of 12.4.
Microsoft sat near zero in early February to a value-perception score of 46.2 presently, noted the report.
The shifts found by BrandIndex in value-perception are interesting in that Apple fell as Microsoft rose. Could this be attributed to Laptop Hunters? Perhaps, which also strikes at a particularly price-sensitive time in the consumer market.

There, I fixed it for ya.
sneakypete -
I'm not really sure what you're referring to in terms of "Apple bashing" since we didn't say anything to "bash" Apple. We just reported what's going on.
It's also ironic that you're accusing the editor (me) of bashing Apple and being anti-Apple, when I wrote this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/apple-mac-leopard-windows-vista,1985.html
Which was slammed by almost everyone who commented in the article.
For the record, I have a Mac, so the basis for your complaint is completely off.
/ Tuan
This is a report of a study done by BrandIndex. Don't be a jerk...
Especially if it comes with Linux instead of Windows.
There, I fixed it for ya.
I am currently using MS powered PC's. However, that would change if some company did it better and offered me better value. I would jump ship quick. I jumped from AMD to Intel with the release of C2D.
If someone proves me wrong.... and shows me better value somewhere else. I would appreciate it. I am a heavy HTPC user and avid gamer. These two things make earning my business very difficult for another company other than MS.
Mac users tend to be more enthusiastic about defending their buying decision. That is what I find funny.
If someone proved to me that I would be better served by another company for less money. I would thank them.
Being a fanboy or fanboi of any company is pretty stupid.
For the record, I have many hours on OSx. It is a pretty solid OS once you get used to it. I personally don't see any value in OSx over Vista or Win 7.
I really dont like how hard macs are to use also, my friends ask ME all the time about macs when ive only used the a tiny bit, and they own them.
After yet two more Apple bashing stories today ("Survey Says Microsoft Winning Mac vs. PC Battle" AND "Apple: Careful, Our Earbuds May Shock You"), I will not return to your website again. While I used to enjoy your site's informative articles on hardware, I'm tired of the anti-Apple slant of your featured stories (particularly the headlines which are designed to appeal to your obvious WinTel majority readers). After reading the phony spin of your "news" reports, I then move to the story comments where I have to read dozens of Microsoft fanboys rail against the Apple empire at about a 20:1 ratio. And now I'm about sick of it.
You, your website and your MS idiot fanboy readers can all kiss my as*. I hope Tom's Hardware dies a quick death and ends up in the Internet dustbin like all the other completely biased but now irrelevant websites.
Its about time they did something for all those vendors they've been strangling all these years.
sneakypete -
I'm not really sure what you're referring to in terms of "Apple bashing" since we didn't say anything to "bash" Apple. We just reported what's going on.
It's also ironic that you're accusing the editor (me) of bashing Apple and being anti-Apple, when I wrote this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/apple-mac-leopard-windows-vista,1985.html
Which was slammed by almost everyone who commented in the article.
For the record, I have a Mac, so the basis for your complaint is completely off.
/ Tuan
This is a report of a study done by BrandIndex. Don't be a jerk...
I love my Mac, but if someone's strapped for cash & wants "bang for the buck", a PC is in my opinion a better option. I use my Mac for everything, and love it...but if you know what you're doing, you can get a LOT for your money by building your own PC. I had done that for almost 2 decades, and just didn't want to do it anymore...and honestly have fallen in love with the services Apple offers (MobileMe coupled with a Mac, PC, and an iPhone is an amazing combo)...but it's not for everyone -- at least when times a tough.
Should have just let Sneakypete get modded down to -20 and not worry about it. Remember the rule: "Don't feed the trolls."
For a person who knows little of computers you're much more likely to luck out with a Mac than a PC. PC manufacturers range from very high quality to down right garbage, where as with a Mac you're basically guaranteed a certain level of quality no matter what you buy.
For experienced computer users however, I believe the majority of us are more than capable of picking and choosing a good quality system (or building our own from reputed good quality vendor components). Its for these users where Macs are really a tough sell, unless they have a very specific usage in mind.
What an idiot... I've never seen any kind of flaming comment on TH directed toward an editor like this, even in Intel/AMD review articles. But at least the guy was a newb and not a long time TH registered member, according to his profile.
The TH community is much better off without this guy.
As usual, TH bends the way the wind is blowing... bringing more $$$. The idiotic add on the left side, which is stubbornly following around the page, is tale-telling.
They are fighting just for themselves. m$ won't give a $hit for any of those manufacturers, if they wouldn't bundle m$ crap.