Where that may hold true is in areas where the “street” value of an item is so much higher than what it originally went for. For instance, I’m a comic book collector and I will only pay so much for a back-issue of certain comics. Whereas I might be willing to pay $75 for a Superman #75, you would probably think someone is crazy to spend that much on a comic book. Or how about the people who are willing to spend twice what the retail value is for a Nintendo Wii when they were scarce? Yes, people will definitely try to convince themselves that they got what they paid for in these cases.

sure beats making picturebooks with iphoto.
im a pc.

Every time I come to a board frequented by Applephiles, I am reminded of this phenomenon.

However, to say that they are well crafted is a bit of a fallacy. Why are they focusing so much on the hardware with these ads? Not only that but why are the hardware differences they are focusing on so skewed? Your average computer buyer is kind of being led on with these ads. Microsoft is greatly misrepresenting themselves because they’re not talking about their products.

Think of it like this when it comes to all of Microsoft’s advertising efforts since Vista came out…

They tried to make themselves look hip with the Seinfeld ads. That failed.

With the Mohave experiment, they tried to convince computer buyers that the problem isn’t Microsoft but you. That failed.

With the “I’m a PC” ads, they tried to convince buyers that Apple is typecasting PC buyers. That failed.

Now they’re trying to convince everyone that, although Macs are so sexy and cool, they’re also expensive and that a cheaper PC is “good enough”. In a way, they’re kind of digging their own hole with these ads. “Good enough” doesn’t cut it for many people. I think a lot more people these days want quality and a lot of bang for their buck. You buy a computer to solve problems, not create them.

What is completely missing from any of these ads is Microsoft’s products. The only ads I have seen that are well thought out and effective are the Microsoft ads showing kids doing stuff on Windows Vista computers. Those are good ads. All this other stuff though is doing nothing for Microsoft.

But this ad is probably not targeted at me. Or many of the people reading this blog. It’s a well crafted ad that is (one of) Microsoft’s answers to the “I’m a Mac…” campaign.

Consider the target for the ad.

Buddy Scalera
http://wordspicturesweb.com/?p=257

So, while the HP might have better specs and is cheaper than the MacBook Pro, that doesn’t mean that the HP is a better deal. At least on paper, the HP would look to be a better deal to the average consumer. But, like you said, the difference is in quality and design. Personally, I find the MacBook Pro to be a laptop of higher quality and design. My experience with Apple has been that they do their best to really run their computers through their paces to ensure that the hardware is rock solid. So, yeah, it costs more but I think the extra cost is justified because it means that the laptop will hold up better and will last much longer than the competition.

-Funny sidenote the HP store sells an HP Mini as an accessory aka companion PC with the HP HDX, which can run as a Hackintosh. :)

All this said – the design build of an Apple product and color resolution is superior to the above HP product with the new Dell Adamo coming close to mimicking the MacBook Air, which is a tip of the cap towards the ID folks at Apple. The weight of the desktop replacement HP is at 8.7 pounds, while the MacBook with a smaller screen weighs in it at 6.6 lbs a 2 pound difference not including their charging bricks. When you pickup and feel an Apple laptop you feel you are getting a quality product and something you can establish a relationship with. The battey life is debatable on how you use it I never got the claimed 8 hours of the MacBook Pro maybe closer to 4.8 even less if I am video editing. Still good for a long flight, even better with an external battery pack for the coast to coast flights, it also fits better on a plane than the HP and and can even use an Intuos at the same time. :)

Personally if I were to buy any a new laptop, I would wait until the I7 based laptops come out alter this year in both PC and Apple flavors and maybe with USB 3.0 and both flavors should be sporting a newer OS as well.

Again it all comes down to personal budget, needs, lifestyle, and preference.

Also, regarding price, Apple sells premium computers, not budget computers, so yeah you pay a premium price. However, to say that Apple’s computer are 50% more than the competition isn’t accurate. I’ve debated this very issues over and over again. If you were to configure a laptop or desktop with the same processor, same amount of RAM, same hard drive, same chipset, and the same features, you’ll find that an Apple computer will only be about an average of 10% more than the competition.

Looking at Dell’s laptops, spec for spec, the only one that even comes close is their XPS line of laptops. I configured up an XPS M1530 with specs as close as I could get to a MBP and ended up with a laptop priced out at $1972. Even then, the specs don’t match up. The FSB of the processor is 800 Mhz instead of the 1066 Mhz for the MBP. Plus, the Nvidia video card in the MBP is much better and more current (NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT in the MPB vs. NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT in the Dell). Those two specs alone easily make up for the $500 difference in price.

All I’m saying is that Apple sells premium computers with premium components. They don’t sell budget computers, period. As such, there really isn’t a major difference in the prices between Mac’s a PC’s. Problem is that your average buying public can’t see that due to the overemphasis on price and features. Just because a laptop has a 17″ screen doesn’t mean that you’re getting a “good” 17″ screen. There are difference in screen resolutions and quality. Same applies to other specs.

As I’ve said before in other comments, you get what you pay for.