Another “Laptop Hunter” Ad From Microsoft

I do PC support at an Advertising Agency where Pc's are out numbered by Mac's 3 to 1. There are 2 pc techs to 5 mac techs. I get a giggle everytime I see our local Mac Vendor stop in to pick up broken Mac Book Pros that are to be repaired or replaced. I thinlk to myself "they just work" and if I hear another advertising faggot tell me that I'm going to crack his skull.

Look I have Mac's and yes they are very cool, but they break just as much if not more than PC's and if you think otherwise than you are living in a fantasy world.
 
xxaaqq said:
Mac advertising still works... or at least word of mouth does.

My roommate just spent $2500 on a MacBookPro. He pretty much does email, web and about once a year, some special Valentine's day photoshop for the ladies. I tried to tell him that he could save... oh... $1500... and still get a 17" DVD playing laptop but he said he didn't want to bring it home and have it crash or have all kinds of crappy software on it.

Anyway, on the same day, I had two Dell Optiplex GX620s delivered that I bought for $250 shipped (total... for both...) from eBay. P4 3.2HT 1GB 80GB. Complete boxes (no peripherals or software). Even support low profile PCI Express cards.

Anyway, I have a wireless network... things that can connect to it include... Wii, PS3, PSP, iPhone, various USB wireless adapters, a PCI Express wireless adapter, my Dell, various other PC laptops. The one thing that can't connect to it? A brand new $2500 MacBook Pro.

I'm not anti-Mac. I'm certainly not against other people spending their money on it. But for my money, I can get so, so much more with some simple PC hardware and software.
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Most Macs are bought of stupidity really. Just like you described, there is the belief among ignorant tech consumers that Macs "Just work" and don't have problems. Just like this story.

I know a lady in my company that just bought a Mac, spent $1200 just to surf and keep her photos. $1200 FREEEEEKING DOLLARS!!!!!! A high end netbook would have been right up her alley at about 1/3 the price. In the words of the immortal Bugs Bunny, "What a maroon!"

Sure people can spend money any way they like, but I have yet to know one Mac buyer in the last couple of years that made any way near a sound decision in the purchasing process. Not saying that there are valid and sound reasons for buying a Mac, just that most people that buy a Mac do it out of ignorance more than anything else. Sorry!;)

Microsoft needs to jam this price issue right down Apple's throat till they choke on apple sauce!
 
heatlesssun said:
Most Macs are bought of stupidity really. Just like you described, there is the belief among ignorant tech consumers that Macs "Just work" and don't have problems. Just like this story.
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I once worked with a client, great designer, not-so-tech savy, that had an aging HP laptop (bought 5-7 years old, but still powerful by todays standards) and was convinced he needed an iMac. He said, and I quote, "Macs don't get viruses", to which I promptly replied ROTFLMAO. And he then replied, "yeah, I take that back, that did sound snooty and unrealistic."

/not-serious

I think Apple fans inhale some sort of anabolic-steriod-vapor, from the shiny plastic, that re-wires their neural-paths and cause lapses in judgement.

:D
 
xxaaqq said:
Mac advertising still works... or at least word of mouth does.

My roommate just spent $2500 on a MacBookPro. He pretty much does email, web and about once a year, some special Valentine's day photoshop for the ladies. I tried to tell him that he could save... oh... $1500... and still get a 17" DVD playing laptop but he said he didn't want to bring it home and have it crash or have all kinds of crappy software on it.

Anyway, on the same day, I had two Dell Optiplex GX620s delivered that I bought for $250 shipped (total... for both...) from eBay. P4 3.2HT 1GB 80GB. Complete boxes (no peripherals or software). Even support low profile PCI Express cards.

Anyway, I have a wireless network... things that can connect to it include... Wii, PS3, PSP, iPhone, various USB wireless adapters, a PCI Express wireless adapter, my Dell, various other PC laptops. The one thing that can't connect to it? A brand new $2500 MacBook Pro.

I'm not anti-Mac. I'm certainly not against other people spending their money on it. But for my money, I can get so, so much more with some simple PC hardware and software.
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Your roommate spent way way too much for his needs, he'd have been much better off on a Macbook if he really did want a Mac. Its bizarre though that his machine can't connect to your network, I've never had any issues connecting to a wifi network in OS X (or Windows 7 for that matter, Vista is still dodgy with that for me sometimes). Only device I've ever had problems with is a Nintendo DS since it doesn't support all security types.

The main reason I have a Macbook Pro is for Final Cut Pro and sometimes playing Left 4 Dead or TF2 when I'm on the road (side bonus), but that's it. If I was just doing web/email/writing I'd probably have a Macbook or Macbook Air. Hell, even if I was still running Windows only I'd still have a Macbook, best keyboard outside of the Lenovos, best travel accessories period, and best trackpad period.

Main drawback aside from the Windows GUI would be power management, but hopefully Windows 7 gets it closer to OS X. I've had both Vista SP1 and W7 installed on my MBP, I have yet to test battery life since I've only used W7 while plugged in, and the actual speed of the OS is about the same as Vista. GUI is obviously a huge improvement over Vista's.

http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3540&p=10 http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=3435&p=13

But yeah, no idea why he bought a laptop that was designed around pro apps like video editing and photography. No reason to drop that kind of cash if you don't have to.
 
heatlesssun said:
I know a lady in my company that just bought a Mac, spent $1200 just to surf and keep her photos. $1200 FREEEEEKING DOLLARS!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Someone I know bought a fully loaded 24" Mac "just for web browsing!" I knew this person very well and so asked c'mon why did you buy it? He just looked and said "Well they look cool and stuff!"

I just laughed and replied, "No you've spent £2000 simply on a masturbation aid!"

Guy went bright red.

Once again the topic of conversation was changed quickly.
 
If you notice, the 3 ads so far are all for retail laptops and I'd think that any future ads will do the same. Why? Because that's where Apple has made the biggest inroads. About 16% of all retail laptops sold in the US are Macs, far higher than their overall US share (which is larger than its international share %).
 
"this computer needs to be fast cause we need to look up stuff and get out the door"


Can these commericals get ANY worst

16.4in screen "this makes it good for games"

OMG...
 
Vermillion said:
I think MS did make two great points in this ad though: gaming and Blu-Ray. They should add cost and size to that and really stick it to Apple.
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I think they're trying to focus the ads.
First one was about price,
Second one was about capability,
Third one was about features.

They have many different ways to put a good hard slam on Apple: Two, as you said, are Gaming and Bluray. Others include more options (overall theme of the ads), more selection (again), wider price range to fit all budgets (they need to hammer this one in), more COLORS... So far, they're doing it right. Focus on everything *but* the software. Apple fanbois are getting in a tizzy because they know the old argument is true: You can ALWAYS find a better deal somewhere else and get more of just what you need or want compared to what Apple says you're allowed to have at that moment.


pxc said:
If you notice, the 3 ads so far are all for retail laptops and I'd think that any future ads will do the same. Why? Because that's where Apple has made the biggest inroads. About 16% of all retail laptops sold in the US are Macs, far higher than their overall US share (which is larger than its international share %).
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I don't suppose the fact that Laptops exceeded desktop yearly sales total for the first time in the last few years, and have continued to do so each year after since might also have something to do with it. ;)

People like laptops. Desktops have certainly fallen by the wayside in consumer preference, except in those who want a better price or upgrade options. I switched to desktop replacement notebooks about 5 years ago myself. Every model I've gotten so far managed to exceed what Apple was offering at the time AND cost less.
 
pxc said:
If you notice, the 3 ads so far are all for retail laptops and I'd think that any future ads will do the same. Why? Because that's where Apple has made the biggest inroads. About 16% of all retail laptops sold in the US are Macs, far higher than their overall US share (which is larger than its international share %).
Click to expand...

Which while it makes sense, is still kind of odd to me if we were focusing on what provides the best Windows experience. If I was forced to go with only one desktop, it would be Windows (dual booting OS X *cough*) and I would keep a Macbook Pro for my notebook and Final Cut Studio. Windows has terrible power management, a worse UI and window management (although Windows 7 is 10000x better than Vista in that regard), and flat out runs slower on the same hardware than OS X does. The advantages of OS X honestly makes it more compelling for notebooks than it does for desktops in many regards. On a desktop, power management doesn't matter, you can just muscle your way past OS speed issues with a desktop CPU and components, you can always have a second monitor with you, so Windows will work a-ok for you there.

Hardware on the PC consumer laptop side is generally worse as far as keyboard, trackpad, etc, (minus pricier Lenovos and some business class notebooks) but that isn't the fault of Microsoft, blame for that lies fully at the feet of Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. I'm still hoping that they step up with something that is higher quality and price competitive, but if the awful Dell Adamo is any indication then I think we'll still be waiting.
 
Spaxspore said:
"this computer needs to be fast cause we need to look up stuff and get out the door"


Can these commericals get ANY worst

16.4in screen "this makes it good for games"

OMG...
Click to expand...

On the basis of the intelligence of the ad alone, yeah, it's pretty terrible. It's rare to find a decent ad though, I think all the creative ad writers move onto beer commercials :p

It fits nicely in with the rest of TV though. 95% of everything on TV is garbage, the ads have to be too :)
 
techrat said:
I don't suppose the fact that Laptops exceeded desktop yearly sales total for the first time in the last few years, and have continued to do so each year after since might also have something to do with it. ;)
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Laptops don't outsell desktops by some ratio like 3:1. :p It's still not too far from 1:1 in units. People like laptops, but they almost equally still buy desktops too.

It's not an incredible leap to link retail laptop sales, where Apple has the most market share gains, with the (so far and I think future) exclusive focus on laptops.
 
MisterSparkle said:
It fits nicely in with the rest of TV though. 95% of everything on TV is garbage, the ads have to be too :)
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Dude, motherfucking truth, these fanboy ads from Apple and Microsoft are both stupid as hell, any nerd rallying behind either of them needs a fucking lobotomy.

And I'm saying this as someone who has actually worked on advertising for both companies (fortunately it was for the iPod and MSN, not their muckraking pieces of crap ;) ).
 
pxc said:
Laptops don't outsell desktops by some ratio like 3:1. :p It's still not too far from 1:1 in units. People like laptops, but they almost equally still buy desktops too.
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Well I help a lot of folks buy new PCs and I havent seen one buy a desktop for over three years now. Its all laptops.

If you go into the local PC shops round where I live the shops will have maybe one or two dekstops and a dozen or more laptops on show. Its the laptops folks want to buy. Those old Packard Bell 3Ghz single core P4 desktops just killed the desktop.

I also dont recommend desktops anymore either unless folks are serious about gaming. Very few are. They say "nah I got a Wii/360 for that!"

The only reason I keep the rig in my sig is cos I still like a round of BF2 and play Eve Online. Hardcore gamers are a minority. The day of the desktop is gone.
 
skyline889 said:
I'm not a hardcore gamer but I am a media enthusiast and I'd never trade in my desktop.
Click to expand...

Again another minority in the computing world.

Compared to the millions that just browse, use Amazon and twitter.........
 
daglesj said:
The only reason I keep the rig in my sig is cos I still like a round of BF2 and play Eve Online. Hardcore gamers are a minority. The day of the desktop is gone.
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I don't own a laptop.....I dont have a use for one...
I do have 6 desktop systems though.....the day of the desktop is hardy gone.....maybe for you, but you are certainly not the majority.
 
skyline889 said:
Which is why hard drive capacities are getting ever larger as each year goes by...
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Thats only due to marketing and because..they can. The folks I sort out (Joe average types) hardly ever use more than 30Gb. Its rare that when I back their data up it takes more than a single layer DVD. Its just the never ending push of technology, whether the masses actually need it is another matter entirely. Most dont need more than a 1Ghz CPU but thats another story.

There are billions of terrabytes of unused HDD space out there.

I'm just relaying what I find as a regular PC/IT consultant repair guy. Joe/Jane Average doesnt wasnt desktops anymore.

If you got a desktop and you like em, stick with them by all means.
 
daglesj said:
Well I help a lot of folks buy new PCs and I havent seen one buy a desktop for over three years now. Its all laptops.
Click to expand...
I'd agree with that. Especially contributing to this, is the cost of a laptop about equals the cost of a desktop nowadays (Again, in the areas they can fill... Not talking about home theater PCs, Gaming, etc).

skyline889 said:
Which is why hard drive capacities are getting ever larger as each year goes by...
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Thats more because (as above) they can. They're so freaking cheap, why not stick a 360GB in every new desktop? I don't even know if they really manufacture stuff less than 160GB anymore even, at least I haven't seen one in quite some time.
 
TechieSooner said:
Thats more because (as above) they can. They're so freaking cheap, why not stick a 360GB in every new desktop? I don't even know if they really manufacture stuff less than 160GB anymore even, at least I haven't seen one in quite some time.
Click to expand...

daglesj said:
The only reason I keep the rig in my sig is cos I still like a round of BF2 and play Eve Online. Hardcore gamers are a minority. The day of the desktop is gone.
Click to expand...

You're talking about pre-configured desktops, daglesj was talking about all desktops in his first quote. The days of the Dell and HP beige/black boxes might be gone, but that has been true for many, many years. That doesn't however mean that the desktop pc is dead; the "consumer" market is just evolving (e.g. the iMac, the Studio Hybrid, etc) and the professional/enthusiast market is just reaching it's peak (5 years ago, if you had told me I could get all the power of the rig in my sig for as little money as I paid, I'd have thought you were crazy).
 
I wouldn't give up my desktops for anything. When at home, I need speed and power for games, big ass screen so I don't go blind trying to read stuff, I real keyboard for lots of writing. I wouldn't buy a preconfigured pc or mac desktop because they both suck and are a waste of money. Even if I couldn't build my own, I would still go to a local computer guy to do it. This also means no apple.

I use a laptop for mobility and browsing while laying on the couch, but nothing too intensive. Why would I expect to be able to play Crysis on it unless I like it hot and to play a 3 fps, if it could even play it. And I sure as shit am not going to edit videos on it either.

Most people buy laptops as desktop replacements for their home but they will never notice the power difference between laptops because they are only doing the basics. This gets us back to the same point, a mac might be great but why the hell would you spend that much money when a $500 pc laptop will meet the needs of 99% of all home users. Ignorance and believing the BS the ads tell you. I do have to say as a business Apple kicks ass, I would love to be able to add a 0.10 cent upgrade (it looks cool) to my product and sell it for $1000 more.

The ad is extremely effective for Microsoft, Apple, Sony, HP, and Best Buy, look at how much play it gets around here.
 
Guys, the thing to remember is that this is a computer enthusiast website. Therefore, virtually all the folks here will have a desktop unit they are totally proud of. However, we are still the minority of computer users. We are not the norm.

The vast majority of PC users dont want to have to sit in the spare bedroom or study to use the computer. They want to use it in bed, on the sofa or at the breakfast table. And when you can buy a device that lets you do that in a package that costs $500 and weighs 5lbs why would you buy a desktop?

When I go out to fix a desktop PC whilst I'm getting it fixed, the owner always says "Well I want to replace it soon with a laptop anyway, they are just so cheap". Or words to that effect. I'm not surprised when I see the piles of crap tucked away in their spare rooms. No super custom neon cases or 24" LCD screens here, just ugly beige or white boxes with crappy no-name 15" LCDs that they bought 4 years ago as a cheap bundle from the Mega Mall. Thats the norm.

The average level of gaming excellence is Solitaire.

Now I know many of you will be going all MrT here saying "Crazy fool!" But just think of this from an angle other then your own.

Say for example I was posting on a Horse Owners/Enthusiast site and I said "Most of the general public does not want to own a horse!" Thats a perfectly reasonable statement.

But I bet within 5 minutes I'd have half a dozen folks saying "Thats rubbish, I love my horse! I'm a cowboy! I ride it every day!!!"

Well of course you do, you are a horse enthusiast/owner. Most folks arent.

Most folks dont have six desktops either.
 
daglesj said:
Guys, the thing to remember is that this is a computer enthusiast website. Therefore, virtually all the folks here will have a desktop unit they are totally proud of. However, we are still the minority of computer users. We are not the norm.
Click to expand...

+1 you are right on.

with that said Apple laptops are still a ripoff.
 
This is what we really need to see in the next ad, and I agree with others that there needs to be more specifics:

Situation: Mom and son (or whatever group you want) walk into the store, like Best Buy - it works because they have good prices on laptops and a great selection, including Macs, priced at exactly the same price the will be at the Mac store.

They have $1500 to spend on a laptop, kind of like we saw.

While looking at the Macs, this is what happens:

Mom: "Hey, look at these Macs, they are really awesome looking!"
Son: "Oh wow, you're right. The screens are bright and they are really thin."
Mom: "Hmm, this one is $1600 and this one is $1300, what's the difference?"
Attractive Best Buy Employee: "The $1600 one has a faster processor, bigger hard drive, and lightup keys"
Son: "The keys light up? Oh cool ... but there's only two USBs?? And what happened to the firewire? Didn't Sarah's old macbook have firewire? And what's this ... "
Best Buy: "That's display port."
Mom and Son: "What? What's that for? Does that work with anything else?"
Best Buy: "No, it doesn't really work with anything. And Sarah's old adaptors won't work, either, you'll have to buy new ones, and now they're $10 more expensive."
Mom and Son: "Hmmm..."
Best Buy: "But it's still really cool looking!!"

Then they go to the Windows laptops, and the following takes place:

Son: "Oh look at this one, it looks pretty nice."
Mom: "Yeah, and it is only $1000. How does this compare to the Macs we looked at?"
Best Buy: "It's not as pretty and the keys don't light up, but it still has a 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo and a 250GB hard drive."
Son: "Wow, look at this: 4 USB ports, firewire, and HDMI ... but what's HDMI? Is that like display port?"
Best Buy: "Well, sort of, except it will work with pretty much any HDMI cable and pretty much every flat panel TV ever. HDMI is universal."
Son: "This one USB port looks funny. What is that?"
Best Buy: "It's e-SATA. Now you can have external hard drives that perform on par with your internal ones and share the SATA interface. E-SATA drives can outperform USB and firewire 400 drives, and are growing more common."
Mom: "Wow that makes a lot of sense."
Son: "How come these new Macs don't have e-SATA or HDMI? And how come they got rid of firewire, and still only provide two USBs??"
Best Buy: " .... Those are really good questions."
Mom: "Hey, this one also plays blu-rays! That's awesome. Your daddy will like that when we're on the road."
Son: "Blu ray?"
Mom: "You know, the new high definition movie format your dad keeps babbling about? They look awesome on our HDTV. Blu ray is the best format for all the new movies."
Son: "How come the Macs cost more, but don't have that ability? Can I add it on their website?"
Best Buy: "Not that I know of. And we really don't know why either. The Macs have good processors and integrated graphics, so they could easily handle the job."
Son: "You really pay more and get less with the Mac. Mom, let's get this HP/Sony/Whatever instead!!"

Cheesy commercial music and MS guy handing them money ...

As much as I like some of my Apple products I've owned over the years, lately the company has been seriously pissing me off. It's time to stop "playing nice." Microsoft is on the right track, but they need to release THIS COMMERCIAL word for word, because this is what people need to know: What are you really gettin' for your money? LESS. Do LESS. Work with LESS. Be compatible with LESS. But somehow it COSTS MORE.

Amen.
 
SirKronan said:
As much as I like some of my Apple products I've owned over the years, lately the company has been seriously pissing me off. It's time to stop "playing nice." Microsoft is on the right track, but they need to release THIS COMMERCIAL word for word, because this is what people need to know: What are you really gettin' for your money? LESS. Do LESS. Work with LESS. Be compatible with LESS. But somehow it COSTS MORE.

Amen.
Click to expand...

Agreed. More specifics would be great and really bring the point home :D
 
SirKronan said:
This is what we really need to see in the next ad, and I agree with others that there needs to be more specifics:
Click to expand...

You could also maybe add in a bit about fitting a larger battery too.

Maybe even the fact that a lot of new Mac folks install Windows on their Mac as one of the first things they do.

Mom "You mean it wont run all our old software? So to get some of our old software we like using, we'd have to buy Windows again and install it on the Mac?"

Or something to that effect.
 
If it's an Air, I'd love them to say something about REPLACING the batteries, since most start going south after a year or two anyway.
 
SirKronan said:
This is what we really need to see in the next ad, and I agree with others that there needs to be more specifics:

Situation: Mom and son (or whatever group you want) walk into the store, like Best Buy - it works because they have good prices on laptops and a great selection, including Macs, priced at exactly the same price the will be at the Mac store.

They have $1500 to spend on a laptop, kind of like we saw.

While looking at the Macs, this is what happens:

Mom: "Hey, look at these Macs, they are really awesome looking!"
Son: "Oh wow, you're right. The screens are bright and they are really thin."
Mom: "Hmm, this one is $1600 and this one is $1300, what's the difference?"
Attractive Best Buy Employee: "The $1600 one has a faster processor, bigger hard drive, and lightup keys"
Son: "The keys light up? Oh cool ... but there's only two USBs?? And what happened to the firewire? Didn't Sarah's old macbook have firewire? And what's this ... "
Best Buy: "That's display port."
Mom and Son: "What? What's that for? Does that work with anything else?"
Best Buy: "No, it doesn't really work with anything. And Sarah's old adaptors won't work, either, you'll have to buy new ones, and now they're $10 more expensive."
Mom and Son: "Hmmm..."
Best Buy: "But it's still really cool looking!!"

Then they go to the Windows laptops, and the following takes place:

Son: "Oh look at this one, it looks pretty nice."
Mom: "Yeah, and it is only $1000. How does this compare to the Macs we looked at?"
Best Buy: "It's not as pretty and the keys don't light up, but it still has a 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo and a 250GB hard drive."
Son: "Wow, look at this: 4 USB ports, firewire, and HDMI ... but what's HDMI? Is that like display port?"
Best Buy: "Well, sort of, except it will work with pretty much any HDMI cable and pretty much every flat panel TV ever. HDMI is universal."
Son: "This one USB port looks funny. What is that?"
Best Buy: "It's e-SATA. Now you can have external hard drives that perform on par with your internal ones and share the SATA interface. E-SATA drives can outperform USB and firewire 400 drives, and are growing more common."
Mom: "Wow that makes a lot of sense."
Son: "How come these new Macs don't have e-SATA or HDMI? And how come they got rid of firewire, and still only provide two USBs??"
Best Buy: " .... Those are really good questions."
Mom: "Hey, this one also plays blu-rays! That's awesome. Your daddy will like that when we're on the road."
Son: "Blu ray?"
Mom: "You know, the new high definition movie format your dad keeps babbling about? They look awesome on our HDTV. Blu ray is the best format for all the new movies."
Son: "How come the Macs cost more, but don't have that ability? Can I add it on their website?"
Best Buy: "Not that I know of. And we really don't know why either. The Macs have good processors and integrated graphics, so they could easily handle the job."
Son: "You really pay more and get less with the Mac. Mom, let's get this HP/Sony/Whatever instead!!"

Cheesy commercial music and MS guy handing them money ...

As much as I like some of my Apple products I've owned over the years, lately the company has been seriously pissing me off. It's time to stop "playing nice." Microsoft is on the right track, but they need to release THIS COMMERCIAL word for word, because this is what people need to know: What are you really gettin' for your money? LESS. Do LESS. Work with LESS. Be compatible with LESS. But somehow it COSTS MORE.

Amen.
Click to expand...

Display port is universal also, just as much as DVI and VGA. It is an open standard made by the same group (VESA). miniDisplay port was created by Apple and is Apple only.

I think about 1/2 the new Dell laptops I have seen recently had DisplayPorts. A few new Asus motherboards with onboard vide that we got at work had them also.
 
Exavior said:
Display port is universal also, just as much as DVI and VGA. It is an open standard made by the same group (VESA). miniDisplay port was created by Apple and is Apple only.

I think about 1/2 the new Dell laptops I have seen recently had DisplayPorts. A few new Asus motherboards with onboard vide that we got at work had them also.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I was definitely referring to the completely NON UNIVERSAL mini-display port on the Macs. Sorry for not being more specific.
 
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