College-bound Kids Don't Plan on Buying Macs
Apple is losing out on the back-to-school crowd this year.
An awful lot of people have a problem with Apple's pricing. Whether you think Apple fans are "drinking the Apple Kool Aid" or paying an "Apple Tax" we can all agree on one thing: Apple computers are pretty expensive. So then, is it any wonder that kids starting college this September don’t plan on purchasing an Apple-branded laptop?
A study by consumer electronics site Retrevo says that the majority of college-bound students are not considering a Mac this year. So what are these students looking for in a laptop?
Well, the 300+ surveyed told Retrevo that they wanted longer battery life, smaller size, and a lighter laptop. The company reports that that 34 percent of laptop buyers will purchase netbooks, and 49 per cent will buy full-sized Windows-based machines. 58 percent of the students planned on spending less than $750 and only 18 percent had a budget over $1,000.
Apple is this year offering a free iPod Touch with the purchase of an Apple notebook or desktop as part of a back-to-school offer and for the first time, allowing parents of students currently attending or accepted into a public or private Higher Education Institution to take advantage of the deal when buying a laptop on behalf of their son or daughter.
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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duckmanx88 guess they're going to have to remove that Power Point slide of "#1 laptop choice for college students!" at their keynote.Reply -
mcnuggetofdeath lol. to the above. 300 does not a survey make. I know that im starting my freshman year of college this semester, and Ive got an eee pc with ubuntu 9.04 on it. (Would be running Sabayon but my external dvd burner died 5 months ago). For my part ive gotten as many of my friends as i can to run different linux distros, and set them up with both personal and forum based support. With a good distro and a cheap Acer youve got a solid laptop for cheap.Reply -
bk420 LOL. yes macs are expensive. At least most universities have abundant amounts of computer labs and network access in every dorm room. I think people want cheaper full featured computers than fashion designed crappletops.Reply -
timaahhh If only 18% are willing to pay more then 1000 bucks for a laptop (prolly a decent chunk of those are gamers) then the number of people that can get a good apple laptop are limited.Reply
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yesca_mezcal Apple? I`d rather have a Lenovo any day, never had a problem, and rarely see them broken in my line of work. As for Dell and HP and Acer, it`s a lot more common.Reply -
Aoster87 It seems like many people are buying netbooks these days, so this does not come as much of a surprise to me.Reply -
haunted one The typical student would most probably be familiar with Windows and may not want to switch to a new OS.Reply