As I have previously mentioned Microsoft has posted a ‘Mac vs PC’ website that is said to help users decide between Windows 7 Pcs and Mac computers. Now there must be a reason for this aggressive approach of the Redmond-based company. Perhaps it’s because the company’s shares have dropped about 2.5 percent in the opening hour of trading last week. A recently conducted study has proven that a larger number of college students will buy Mac instead of buying products from other companies with about 70 percent of incoming University freshman students bringing a Mac computer along with them. Fortune decided to gather some extra information and see of the study revealed the true situation of Apple’s sales amongst students. As a result, a study conducted by a research firm called Student Monitor revealed some pretty different figures.
According to that report about 95 percent of college students that were interviewed during this spring owned at least one computer. 83 percent were proud owners of laptops, 24 stuck to their desktops while 15 percent owned both. About 27 percent of the laptop owners had a Macbook while as little as 14 percent of desktop owners had a Mac. Most desktop users opted for either a Dell or HP which together represented about 45 percent of the devices owned by students.
So while freshmen haven’t been buying Apple products as much so far, they intend to in the future. The study also reveals that out of the people planning to purchase a computer in the near future, a remarkable 87 percent were going for a laptop. About half of these potential users revealed their plans to buy a Mac.
So for the next year there are two possibilities. Either campuses will be flooded with Apple’s laptops (which somewhat goes against the idea that the US is facing a rough economic period) or all of the students mentioned in the study intend to buy one of Apple’s laptops but will end up settling from some other product from another brand. It’s true however that Macbooks are believed to be the most popular laptops for students. There isn’t a shopping guide for freshmen out there that won’t mention the Macbook amongst the top three candidates for the ‘best college laptop’. Macbooks are also known for their extremely high price tags though.
At the moment the 13 inch Macbook Pro is Apple’s top selling product most likely because it features a significantly lower price (which makes it affordable for students to buy). On top of that it offers several other advantages like small form factor and high portability. The 10-hour battery life also allows students to keep their notebooks around and use them whenever needed without having to recharge. The Student Monitor results also show that Apple has taken Dell’s place in popularity. If back in 2005 Dell accounted for the 47 percent of users who were focusing on a certain brand for their future purchases, now Apple has the same percentage of potential customers. If you thought that Microsoft’s page about PC vs Mac was interesting, better also check out Dell’s Back to School – Apple vs Mac comparisons page which you can find here.
Through the page which was recently posted on the company’s website, Dell tries to convince it’s visitors that its desktop and notebook computers offer better value for money than 
Apple’s products. When it comes to laptops, Dell claims that the Cupertino-based company is charging twice as much for the almost the same specification sheet. Of course, as Microsoft did with their page, Dell also selectively omits certain important details that may be of use to people objectively comparing products between the two companies. For one, Dell’s Studio 15 notebooks which are compared to their Apple counterpart, the 15 Macbook Pro, appear to give considerably more performance although they are about $1000 cheaper. Of course, in the case of Dell all discounts are included whereas no discount whatsoever is encountered in the case of Apple (even though the company has its own discount system for education which also includes a free iPod until the end of summer). No mention of the quality of materials used, display quality or extra features you might want from a laptop either. But what about battery life where Apple’s Macbook shines with about 9 hours, with Dell trailing along at 5.5 and eight hours estimated usage time?
I’ve never been a fan of Apple and their products do sometimes appear to be overpriced. The only thing they’ve managed to catch me with so far was the iPhone. But the truth is Apple does offer products of superior quality mainly because of the clean cut, minimalistic designs and good materials used. While Dell makes a point of boasting its multiple color 
options for each product (I’ll admit that’s pretty nice and Apple might want to offer its customers the same), Apple makes a point of constantly boasting spectacular design. Of the two, most users will most likely choose high quality.
So while no one contests that Dell offers good products which should seriously be considered when shopping for a college laptop or desktop computer, the quality and performance of Apple’s products can’t be disputed either. High prices or no high prices Apple is slowly becoming more popular for students than Dell and Dell is seriously bothered by this trying to gather up some extra customers by making biased comparisons.
