We know Dell felt left out of
all the fun today, but rehashing that months-old MacBook Air manila envelope commercial with the
Latitude E4200 just isn't the way to snake attention from Apple -- especially not when everyone's focused on new
iPods, not Macs. Plus, Lenovo played this riff a hundred times better with the X300
back in April, for crying out loud -- and worst of all, the envelope is noticeably bulging and crappy because the E4200 is way thicker than the Air. Seriously, don't you think it would've been much more effective to leak details about that
Zing-based music initiative, or hell, even announce that rumored
Dell-branded cellphone? You can't steal the narrative if you're not telling the same story, guys. Video after the break.
posted Sep 9th 2008 6:58PM
Thats pretty funny
When I saw the "D" coming out of the envelope, I envisioned the rest of the letters to follow as,
"o-u-c-h-e"
"More substance and less air" LOL! Classic! I love it! :)
Dell Latitude = Slightly bigger but more productive....
MacBook Air = ........Air?
It reminds me of the Mccain campaign.... and how theyre using the mantra "change" now.
Does it disturb anyone that these companies competing with Apple show a total lack of originality when they advertise? I remember when Dell had the Dell guy. Now that was sorta original. What happened, Dell? You used to be able to come up with better stuff. Now the best you can do is rip off a very popular commercial by showcasing a laptop with a smaller screen, a stunt that immediately reminds people of the original, obviously superior Mac commercial.
Man, I'm getting sick of these lame companies. Makes me ashamed to be a PC user.
wait....so their point was to show the smaller resolution you get?
Well that's all I got from it.
it is a nice looking laptop
http://www.dell.com/content/products/superview.aspx?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz&xdb=Z2xvYmFsOnByb2R1Y3RzOmxhdGl0OmZsYXNoOmxhcHRvcF9sYXRpdHVkZV9lNDIwMF9zdXBlcnZpZXcjcmVnaW9u
@Paul:
Depends on which Dell guy. The one guy they had went to college and got busted for drugs. So I can see why they aren't using the "Dude, you're getting a Dell" guy anymore.
I don't, he could have connected with potential high school and college students customers
"Dude, you're getting a Dell"
Yep, clearly a stoner line to begin with. ;P
Ahahaha; I wasn;t thinking the thing about the D but when I read Zing (this being my first time) I couldn't help but thing of iPog + Zune... Two letters from each; Dell's on a roll.
Oh Engadget, do not be sad that the E4200 has more substance and less air than the Macbook Air.
Yeah! I'm totally STOKED that the E4200 has a way smaller screen than the MacBook Air! Way to go Dell! You really showed those losers in Cupertino!!
Oh, wait a minute...
damn - engadget editor wrote with anger there -
talk about bringing us the news!
i didn't know this was 'lets flame dell' site!
lol i like that ad.
Same here. Like someone else said, it was "cute". I would say it's a good ad that is certainly memorable.
i wont forget it - and wouldnt buy an air anyway.
@Jagster:
guess who made it first
"it was cute"
...but not cute anymore.
Lol. Actually, I'm failing to see the point they are making. The MacBook Air has a larger screen, yet is ultra thin, so you'd think that the Air is therefor better than the Dell.
When the finger was pushing open the screen, I thought I saw the screen flexed.
Engadget is full of Mac leghumpers.
Seriously.
What was the point of this write-up other than the usual running defense for Apple against those big bad meanies that dare to mock them?
I don't think so, you should have a look at Gizmodo's page, you might get eye cancer; now that is too much Apple fanboyism.
It's not OK for Dell to insult Apple by bringing out a smaller product and point it out mockingly.
But Engadget blows its load all over every new Mac VS PC commercial.
I get it now.
I think it's quite cute! The ad and the notebook, for that matter.
Haaa! I thought Apple was making fun of Dell until I realized it was the other was around. Poor Dell. Just keep shutting down factories, and stop trying.
What are you smoking? Or maybe you just need bifocals...
I don't care much about Apple, but I will say it seems the only reason the E4200 is smaller than the air (smaller not thinner) is because it has a smaller screen. Although, I would still choose it over the Air because I want something that doesn't have to compromise, at least not as much compromise as the Air.
Like an MacBook, for example. Or a MacBook Pro for another. I totally agree.
yep, XD
Dell has a CD-Rom, Mac Air doesnot
Hahaha...horrible.
Wow, that's brutal. They need to push it's strengths instead of pandering to the ultra-slim crowd, because that envelope really doesn't do it any favors.
Nilay, I like this ad. Lighten up, nothing Apple released is "OMG i got to have". Those new Ipod's just don't appeal to me. I like the last generation better.
Someone need to get fire if this is a real ad. Are they advertising MBA or that dell?
Someone needs a brain if they couldn't tell... especially after all the hints that were in the article.
i read it as sarcastic rather than literal
Damn that actually looks good (following the read link). Now to persuade the other half I need a new notebook ...
How original, How...look at us we can do it too!. I still smile everytime I look at my Macbook Air. and to comment on ^^, there are no compromises....The Dell is nice, however it has [cue Thunder]VISTA!!!! [/cue thunder]
Given that vista may be heavier on a system, its greatly outweighed by the fact its a far more powerful machine. Vista's biggest munch on resources is HDD, unless you have at least 4GB RAM. So the 7200rpm, 160GB drive in the one my dads getting will kick a macbook airs ass in performance.
The only reason apples boot so fast is
1. EFI
2. Proprietry on specific hardware = able to remove about half the stuff from boot as a typical OS. Including linux.
Given that vista may be heavier on a system, its greatly outweighed by the fact its a far more powerful machine. Vista's biggest munch on resources is HDD, unless you have at least 4GB RAM. So the 7200rpm, 160GB drive in the one my dads getting will kick a macbook airs ass in performance.
The only reason apples boot so fast is
1. EFI
2. Proprietry on specific hardware = able to remove about half the stuff from boot as a typical OS. Including linux.
Which makes it compatible with about 95% of all software in the world, I'd consider that a plus.
The Air does look nice, but yes there are compromises, no Ethernet port being one, and no optical drive being another. (check here http://apcmag.com/macbook_air_top_10_things_wrong_with_it.htm for more) And of course I knew someone would bring up Vista...sure it had a TON of problems when it was released, but a lot of them have been fixed with SP1. I personally haven't had any problem with it, and it looks just as nice as Leopard IMO. But still, to each his own, :-) I wouldn't mind having a MacBook or MacBook Pro, just not the Air. (course I'd still probably (read as: would) take it if someone was offering)
Ye, the no ethernet alone is a killer for me. I do alot of network setups and network setup over wifi is a HUGE no no.
the reson osx is better is you can install over 4 gb of ram without having to only being abal to use 2.5gb, with other cards (or more ram installed) as is the case with vista and any other widows machenn
thats why my g3 800mhz i book runs faster than my dual core 1.5 ghz vista machean
"the envelope you used is noticeably bulging and crappy because the E4200 is way thicker than the Air."
And its also more useful by the same factor. Seriously, the air is a fashion statement, the new latitudes are good, solid buisness laptops. My dads work has one on its way to him in the post right now to replace his old inspiron 1400 that took 7 minutes to boot and took 34 seconds to open internet explorer (i couldn't reformat or anything due to their gay IT department).
So bassically:
Latitude = Useful workhorse
Air = well.... full of air :P
P.S. not that Im bothered about being first, but I claim first if their has already been a post when i submit as there were no comments when started typing this, I saw it 20 seconds after it was posted.
You know that the Mac Book Air has a full blown Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz chip right? Spec for spec I believe the Mac Book Air matches or beats this model Dell laptop.
Yeah the MacBookAir doesnt have a optical drive but thats not the point, the point is having a real capable lap top as thin, light and portable as possible - if you want an optical drive and a larger hard drive and dont mind a little bulk then you really want a regular MacBook.
Can we get a price on the E4200 please!!!!
Why?
Nilay Patel made it clear that they dont want to actually talk about the machine, that they are more pissed that they made fun of Apple in an ad, and that because their were some new iPods today, you know that one hour long presentation, that Engadget could NEVER be bothered to be "distracted" by talking about such a stupid machine.
That is until they actually did in this post, if only to bash it.