We have all seen the various ads where Apple uses vague concepts such as, “Macs are cooler” and “Macs are easier to use”, to push their wares. We have all seen the cheap shots they take at Bill Gates by having a geeky and technologically inept twit touting Windows, only to admit that Macs are cooler in the end.

Well now Microsoft decided to run some ads specifically targeting Apple, and unlike the former’s unsubstantiatable statements, Microsoft attacks Apple where it really hurts, on price.

Macs on average are about twice as expensive as Windows based machines, running on the exact same hardware, and now Microsoft is driving the point home. In the ad, Microsoft compares a $972 Dell laptop to a $1999 Mac with virtually the same hardware. Apparently Apple’s legal department called Microsoft to get them to stop running the ads, because they lowered the price of their PCs (oops I mean Macs) by $100, making the ad technically slightly inaccurate. The end result, however, is that Macs are still hundreds of dollars more expensive, and seeing as how Apple just tipped their hand, Microsoft has every intention to ratchet up the ads even more.

How does it feel to have the finger wagging in your face now Steve? Let’s do some LSD and talk about it.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/16/apple_asks_microsoft_to_pull_ads/

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=3157

I’ve had the new MBP, fully loaded, for 3 days and I’ve made a few observations.

Trackpad: The new trackpad is definitley a cool concept. New gestures, huge real estate and a slicker texture make gliding around almost as much fun as skating on a frozen pond. However, push clicks don’t register as effectivley as they did on the previous model trackpads, and the overall sound of the pad seems clunky, high-pitched and downright cheap by comparison.

The Screen: Back lit LED screen. The new screen is really, really sharp and vivid. I am a graphic designer, and let me tell you, the colours on this sucker pop like you wouldn’t beleive. Is it accurate? Probably not. I’ve been having a tough time calibrating it, but it does look spectacular. The gloss doesn’t seem to bother me too much either. I guess, if I had the choice I would probably ask for a Matte screen version, but… Apple doesn’t care. Quick shout out re: the Hinge issue that’s I’ve seen floating arround the Apple support site. Yes, when your’re lying in bed and have the MBP on your knee at a 45, the lid does close. The hinges aren’t bad by any means, theyre just… different.

The Keyboard: Back lit chicklet style. What can be said? If you like it you like it. If not… Apple doesn’t care. I think it’s pretty cool. The keys seems more spaced out to me but I could be seeing things. Other than that, I would go so far as to say that the plastic used on these keys by comparison to my previous MBP are of a much cheaper grade of plastic. Also, getting dust or hair under them is more of a nuissance than before.

Overall Design: Overall, the 4,1 MBP / Late 2008 unibody Macbook Pro, is really sexy looking. It may take some getting used to but I’m sure in time I will love it more than its predescessor.

I ran a few Xbench tests with noth system side by side. I will post the results when I get some time. I can confidently say that the new Macbook Pro beat its predescessor in every single benchmark. No question.

However, the 320Gb 7200 Hitachi in my new MBP lost horribly to the 320Gb Seagate I bought seperatley and installed myself. Hitachi vs Seagate. Seagate FTW.

I am noticing that the track pad is certainly not as responsive to push clicks as my previous MBP. However, I think this is largely to due the fact that the size of the “click-able” area is so enormous. It does seem that, overall, the new MBP is composed of cheaper grade aluminum and plastic components and does have a clunkier click sound than its predecessor.

In all honesty, I think I like my old (4,1) MBP better then the new (5,1) one. Only time will tell I guess.

The Vaio has 4Gb DDR2 RAM, 2.2Ghz Intel Duo Core, 2 x 150Gb Hard drives, 17″ high-res monitor and HDMI/Blu-Ray. According to the specs, this system is a MONSTER. However, the reality of the situation is, Vista is a nightmare, SONY packs so much bloatware onto the system that it’s always crashing due to proprietary VAIO software and overall, the performance using Adobe CS3 and gaming is horrible.

My dual core AMD FX-60 running vista blows this thing out of the water in my opinion and that shouldn’t be the case.

I’m fed up and I’ve decided, after some serious deliberation, that I am going to buy a MAC. Why? I hate Apple and everything it stands for! But, despite my deep sense of loathing for the fruit, it seems to be true that even Vista runs better on a MAC.

This leads me to a difficult decision. Do I buy the Macbook Pro 15″ or 17″ ? Do I spend the extra $300 to upgrade from a 2.5Ghz processor to a 2.6Ghz? Or, do I make the smart decision for the money and buy the iMac 24″ with the 3 GHz processor – which is actually a cross in architecture between the Extreme 9100 and a Nehalem, intel’s unreleased chip.

Macbook Pro 17″ w/2.6GHz $ 3681.40

Macbook Pro 17″ w/ 2.5Ghz $ 3418.25

Macbook Pro 15″ w/2.6Ghz $ 3232.93

iMAC 24″ w/3.06GHz $ 2836.30

What do I do!?