Apple’s Use of Three

In the beginning of the year I’ve had two friends request assistance in finding a laptop for them. Both of them users of Windows based laptops and looking to find a laptop that is five pounds or less, decently fast, and will last a couple of years. My friends had budgets, one around $1500, and one around $1000.

I won’t deny it, I am a long time Apple user because I find their products to be a good fit and allow me to be productive. That being said, I needed to understand what my friends are comfortable with to ensure they buy a laptop that they’ll use and not be frustrated with.

One of my friends was set on purchasing a Windows based laptop because it was familiar to her and she wanted to be able to work from home with the laptop. I started a several week adventure to hunt down a Windows laptop.

I try to keep myself informed of the Windows, Linux, and Mac world, but I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know when I started this search. The first place I decided to look was CNET’s Laptops Review section. I was immediately bombarded with filtering criteria; Refine your results by cost ranges, companies, and product aspects. Selecting the $900 to $1000 option yielded 200 some odd options, holy smokes! The CNET ratings didn’t really inform me as a user why a given laptop was good, it enumerated the features as if just having the features was enough. Sad that some equate quantity to quality. Looking at a few other sites like PC magazines and other technology sites made me feel since the Windows market is saturated with different manufacturers, it was going to be difficult to get a recommendation. Even random selection of laptops resulted in a build to order price of greater than $1200 with a slow processor and Windows Vista, which I didn’t want.

I eventually took a different approach. I used consumer deal sites Techbargains and Dealnews to spot laptop sales. Then I would use Tom’s Hardware reviews and forum sections to find out the nitty gritty details.

The one computer that did come up often at the time was the Dell Vostro. There wasn’t much information on it, either folks stated they liked it, or that it was an Inspiron equivalent. Went to Dell’s website and built out a decent laptop with a 2.2GHz processor, 2GB of memory, plenty of harddrive space, a nice 14″ screen, a 85 WHr 9-cell battery, as well as a integrated camera. All for $1080.71. Perfect!

The frustrating part was that it took several weeks to get to this product because there were too many options, too much customization of products, and lack of good reviews. I suspect a first time buyer will end up purchasing a cheap laptop that will not meet their needs or an expensive laptop because the guy at Best Buy recommended it to them to sell more units.

Going back to my other friend who had a $1500 budget, I asked her what she was going to use it for. She responded back with email, browsing, writing documents, and photo editing. Spending a few minutes with her to explain the difference using an Apple product, she was willing to give it a shot, as well as visit the local Apple store to try before buying (smart!). The product selection process was fantastic thanks to Apple’s use of three.

Going to the Apple’s online store you have three laptops to select from. Each are distinguishable by their look and price. The MacBook fit into my friend’s price range.

Again, I am presented with three options. Do I want lower end MacBook with a slower processor, less memory, and a Combo Drive, or the middle one with an up to date processor, more memory, and a DVD burner drive? The side by side comparison with respective pricing helps you understand the value you are getting. There are many other benefits Apple can tout such as Leopard, but they stick with the basics.

Selecting the middle one leads you to a build to order screen if you want to customize your laptop. Majority of the time, you won’t, Apple has targeted the most common options already for you. Unfortunately in my PC buying experience, I had to always make changes to the specification.

This is the beauty of Apple’s use of three; provide the user with a low, middle, high options that are distinguishable.

* If you’re looking for a Windows based laptop, check out Dell’s Vostro as well as Lenovo’s Thinkpad. Both companies offer solid options for around $1000. Good luck!