HP Laptops
I just finished reading an interesting article in the NY Times about the problems plaguing Dell Computer. The article makes a big deal about HP’s new The Computer Is Personal Again campaign, so I thought I’d check out the laptop offerings from HP.
No. I’m not in the market for a new PC laptop. My employer is a loyal DuLL buyer so I work on the latest in boring grey plastic laptops. But it can’t hurt to see what the other side of the OS divide is using, can it?
It really can.
For example, the HP Compaq nc8230 Notebook PC offers displays with the following characteristics:
- 15.4-inch TFT WXGA,
- 15.4-inch TFT WSXGA+ Wide Viewing Angle or
- 15.4-inch TFT WUXGA Wide-Viewing Angle
Does anyone know what this means?
Compare this with the display offered on the new 15″ MacBook Pro:
- 15.4-inch widescreen display 1440×900 resolution
(Note: Exact wording was copied and pasted from the respective companies’ online stores.)
Even the names of the HP laptops are sinister sounding: HP Compaq nc8230, HP Compaq nw8240, HP Compaq nw8440 or HP Compaq Presario V4000T. Where do these companies come up with these names? Who can possibly feel loyal to his nw8440? Who wouldn’t switch to an nw8550 or even an nw8640+ should one come along?
When was the last time you heard someone say: “I love my nw8440!”
On the other hand, when was the last time you heard someone say: “I love my PowerBook!”
Comments
I think this criticism is a bit unfair. What you describe is the manufacturer’s model number, not the “name” of the product. The name is Compaq Presario (or HP Pavilion or whatever). Perhaps not the greatest names, but neither are they random numbers as you suggest. Of course saying “Compaq Presario” is completely meaningless (is it a PII? An AMD64?), but so is saying “Powerbook” (is it a G3? G4? What’s the clock speed?).
I also suspect the reason Apple hasn’t fallen into this trend is because they quite simply do not have the extensive product line the larger PC makers typically have. Whether or not this is a good thing is arguable, but it’s certainly a reason for the difference in how products are specified. It can just as easily be argued that giving many wildly different products the same name is more confusing than a string of numbers.
To turn the tables a bit, let’s also not forget one product that Apple generated a lot of models of (the iMac) and consider how users are supposed to differentiate models:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58669
Suddenly a model number starts to look like a really good idea. Good luck finding useful information on Google or parts on eBay using that information.
And of course, anyone who “loves” some melted sand and alkaloids sandwiched between layers of hardened petrochemicals really needs to get a broader perspective ;-)
Cliff, while I’d agree Apple sticks to a name with a tenacity that would make a Rottweiller envious, the upshot of this plan is that people definitely know what they have. Ask my Mom what kind of computer she has, “I have an iMac”. But this is the third iMac she’s had: a Bondi Blue Rev B, a 500MHz DV, and finally a Core Duo iMac.
But to my Mom, she’s always had an iMac.
There’s an inherent barrier that manufacturers have to overcome when they ask you to part with $1,500 to $2,000. That barrier is expressed in the question I’ve heard from friends when they buy PCs, “Am I buying the right computer?” That’s hard to answer with specifications like the HP laptops. What exactly is the difference between WXGA, WSXGA+, and WUXGA? I’m certain someone knows, but I’d doubt any of HP’s customers do.
That’s why Apple’s old store layout was so perfect. They listed iMacs, G5s, PowerBooks and the rest in three categories: good, better, and best. Almost anyone could grasp that. The new layout doesn’t have the same explicit grouping, but it’s pretty clear the machines get better as you go across. In the iMac section, you have “17 Inch” and “20 Inch” as the major descriptions of the two machines. Who can’t grasp the fundamental difference between these two machines? The rest is largely immaterial to the average purchaser — and can be configured on the next page.
There’s definitely an advantage to being able to uniquely distinguish one model from another, and frankly System Profiler does a decent job for my needs. I will agree that it would be very nice to have the About This Mac window display the exact model name & number, but it’s really easy to get it.
Ok, what’s so hard to grasp about WXGA, WSXGA, WSXGA+ and WUXGA? These are “traditional” one letter abbreviations that go back to when the first standard for monitor resolutions was introduced. GA stands for Graphics Array and was first coined by IBM in the late 80s, when they introduced a standard for their analog monitors, called VGA (V for video). X is for extended. S for super and U for ultra. Thus today we have ultra extended graphics arrays. and W is for wide, as in wide screen. Basically these abbreviations tell you what resolution the monitor / tft has. WSXGA+ is 1680 x 1050 pixel and WUXGA 1920 x 1200.
To me those letter codes are completely logic. And I am a HP customer, typing this response from a HP compaq (model nx7000). Currently looking into buying a nw8440. Did I mention I was female, too. And very satisfied with HP.
PS: I admit that I had to look up the historical background on Wikipedia.
t, congratulations (seriously): You’ve picked the right computer manufacturer for you.
Although I’ve been developing software for PCs since 1988, I’ve never understood any of the VGA derived acronyms after SVGA. I also am not totally convinced all manufacturers use exactly the same resolutions for the same acronyms (after all didn’t SVGA include 800×600 and 1024×768).
From a customer standpoint, don’t you think it would be better to be explicit and say “Our laptops support 1440×1024 on the LCD and up to 1920×1200 for external displays”? Then there’s no confusion…