Once again it’s my time to blog and, mentally encumbered by a big personal decision, I’ve decided to write about it and hopefully bring my dilemma to an end.

Yes, I’m talking about the purchase of a brand new laptop. I’ve had my old Dell for almost eight years now and other than the ten pound frame, the recent localized failure of my motherboard, the external wireless card (remember those guys?) and the inability to download any more music (literally there is no more room on my hard drive) it’s served me quite well. Why have I waited so long to replace it you might ask? That’s a good question. There’s money and the occasional avoidance of life’s little inconveniences, but mostly I’ve been unwilling to compromise my philosophy to meet that of a brands. Now that my music collection is at stake, this has escalated to the point where a decision must be reached.

My statement of brand philosophy is directed at Apple. Even though their pricing model is poor compared to just about any other brand (actually every other brand) in the market, I’m leaning towards a MacBook Pro. After weighing the pros and cons between Macs, Dells, Sonys and a handful of other PC brands, my decision is coming down to the industrial design. All other features seem to be pretty comparable across brands, but Apple’s design of the hardware is simply superior in my opinion. There are no plastic pieces waiting to be detached from the main frame of the laptop, the internal disc drive eliminates the otherwise high chances that I will once again hit the open disc drive and cause it to never close again and finally the weight and dimensions of the MacBook are lighter and sleeker than any other model I’ve seen. A frequent flier, I need a laptop that I can carry around with me easily and that won’t break when I shove it into a backpack with a million other things.

My only concern then is with Apple’s approach to customer service and their general philosophy regarding customers. I’ve had some issues in the past that, although very subjective, make me hesitant to jump on the Apple bandwagon. I’ve had three different iPods over the years, all of which very conveniently seem to reach a point of no return just after the two-year Apple iCare package runs out and at which point I’ve been told several times by Apple employees that my negligence and not their product is the cause. (Apple employee: ‘Without a warranty there’s nothing we can do to help. My guess is that you were probably using the iPod in a way that broke it. Did you ever go running with the iPod? Me: ‘Yes I did, but you sell armbands for running with an iPod and you advertise consumers doing this.’ Apple employee: ‘That’s true but you’re not supposed to do that because it messes up the hard drive. Maybe you should try a Nano?’)

So what to do? I’ve always considered myself to be a person who gives the benefit of the doubt so after numerous talks with Mac owners who are very satisfied with their service I’m ending this debacle. Apple, I have selected you as the provider of my next decade of online experiences. Like any consumer of any brand in a capitalist society, all I’m looking for is the perception that I’ve received a higher quality product and service than what I would expect to get somewhere else. After all the marketing and positioning, this perception alone is what can make or break a brand.