The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitati

The comparison isn't incomplete.

It's clearing referring to the limitations of a wristwatch. The possessive is used to do this in written english.

(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatchthat is wrong as we intend to refer to the limitations (hardware &software) which is plural and so should be referred to by those

(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch'sCorrectThe subject of the sentence is correct as we later on in the non-underlined portion expand on such computers. The possessive wristwatch's takes the limitations of personal computer.

(C) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatchthough here those correctly refers to limitations but the sentence changes the subject to limitations, while it should be the personal comp

(D) The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatchSubject has changed to limitations which is incorrect as we need the subject to be personal computer for making sense in the non-underlined portion of the sentence

(E) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatchsame error of that as in A + changes subject as in C

Isn't the comparison here between computer and modern wristwatch? Comparing limitation doesn't really make sense since it's sort of the same limitations right? Can someone confirm that?

In other words it's always like this

John, like Walker, has certain limitations.

Not like:

John has certain limitations similar to/like Walker's

So by that logic shouldn't B) have only smartwatch and not smartwatch's ?

AjiteshArun daagh generis hazelnut VeritasKarishma

Posted from my mobile device

There is no comparison being made between first computers and modern wristwatches. The sentence says that limitations of first computers are similar to limitations of modern wrist watches.

e.g.
John has severe limitations similar to Adam's and so is unable to join us for dinner tonight.

This is fine. Perhaps just like Adam has little babies at home and a wife who works in the night shift, John also needs to tend to his kids in the evening. Their limitations could be similar and that is all the sentence says. There is no comparison between John and Adam.

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.

Error Analysis:
- Subject 1 had certain problems ....compared with..... Problems of Subject 2. I will not definitively reject this answer choice before finding some dirt in the other possible answer choices.


(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch

(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
( Better construction than 1st: Now the construction is " Subject 1 had some problems which are similar to Subject 2's problems) - Correct

(C) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
( The subject "Severe hardware and software limitations" also becomes the subject of the verb "were" in the nun-underlined portion, which is illogical)

(D) The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
( Incorrect construction again)

(E) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch
( The subject "Severe hardware and software limitations" also becomes the subject of the verb "were" in the nun-underlined portion, which is illogical)

Hello Sir,

Can you please share a few more examples of questions which have a similar issue as in option C and D? I am still finding it difficult to understand the issue with option C and D.

Thank you !

Hi ShreyKapil08
There are 2 issues with option C and D.
1. A major issue is both options is change of noun.Take option C
"The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch"
What is noun here ?
The severe hardware and software limitations
And look at non underlined part of question " were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications".
If you read both sentence, they doesn't make sense together.

2. Another issue is the usage of tense.
The sentence require use of past perfect tense as there are two events took place in the past.
Hence use of "had" is necessary and use of "were" is not correct.
For more explanation on past perfect tense.refer below post.
https://gmatclub.com/forum/even-with-th ... l#p2508941

hence both option C and D can be eliminated.
I hope it helps

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.


(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch
Limitations are compared with wrist watch.

(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
This appears to be a correct choice. Lets keep it.

(C) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
This choice is not correct because the non underlined part of the sentence refers to PC. But PC is not the subject of the sentence.

(D) The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
This choice is not correct because the non underlined part of the sentence refers to PC.

(E) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch
This choice is not correct because the non underlined part of the sentence refers to PC. But PC is not the subject of the sentence.

GMATNinja @empowergmat VeritasKarishma

Hello GMATNinja @empowergmat VeritasKarishma

I could eliminate C, D, E but I was stuck between A and B and with some reluctance I eliminated A and chose B

Would request your help with this question to better understand the concepts behind this one

The non-underlined part of the sentence has 'were' which can refer to 'severe hardware and software limitations' (compound noun) or to 'personal computers'
But here the meaning of the sentence would become awkward if 'were' refers to 'severe hardware and software limitations'

If we consider 'severe hardware and software limitations', then the sentence would read as,
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so (severe hardware and software limitations) were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.
This is wrong, the meaning is incorrect

The sentence should actually read as,
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so (first personal computers) were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.

So options C and E are eliminated
D is also eliminated on the same grounds as C and E because of the use of possessive noun first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations

Thus, we are left with ABCDE

Between A and B, I was stuck and this is my verbal reasoning to eliminate A and stick to B

(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch
The subject error is gone - That helps
and
severe hardware and software limitations of first personal computer are compared with 'that' of a modern wristwatch
'that' here should be functioning as a pronoun but the noun here is 'personal computers' hence it will be wrong and we are comparing 'severe hardware and software limitations' (compund noun) hence a singluar 'that' is incorrect and it should be 'those' (I guess.....??)

(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
The subject error is gone - Same as A
and
now we have a possessive noun "modern wristwatch's" which I discarded in the first read because who we kidding, possessive nouns are mostly wrong.
But after eliminating A, my only choice was option B and hence the use of possessive seemed right
And it was not just because of PoE that B seemed right, it was also because of meaning

The meaning is established correctly by use of possessive noun which actually should be read as:
The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's (severe hardware and software limitations of modern wristwatch) and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications

Thus, BACDE

Yes, you are right. In (A), 'that' is incorrect. It stands for "hardware and software limitations" which is plural. So you need to use 'those'.

(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's (hardware and software limitations) and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.


(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch

(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's

(C) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch

(D) The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch

(E) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch


single subject two verbs. Answers (C), (D), and (E) all use the subject "The...limitations", which does not connect to the second verb in the clause "were unable to perform". This creates a Sentence Construction error, so these choices can all be eliminated.
Answer (A) uses the relative pronoun phrase "that of a modern wristwatch", while (B) uses the acceptable possessive case "a modern wristwatch's", which ends with an implied relative pronoun. Answer (A)'s use of "that", however, is incorrect: the pronoun antecedent is the plural "limitations", and requires the relative pronoun "those".
, only answer (B) grammatically expresses the intent of the original sentence.

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.


(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch - singular that should not be used.

(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's - This is correct.

(C) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch - Wrong Subject for the underlined portion of the sentence.

(D) The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch - Wrong subject.

(E) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch.

Also, had can be used here as had is used as a past event for were in the non-underlined portion. Computers had severe limitations first and so they were unable to perform calculations.

(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's What is the "wristwatch's" referring to if we expand this out?

(C) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch What is wrong with this answer choice?

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.

What was unable to perform the complex operations necessary? The first personal computer. The severe hardware and software limitations can not lead off the sentence because of what we have in the non-underlined portion of the sentence.

(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch

-- should be 'those of a modern wristwatch'

(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's

-- Looks good. Keep

(C) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch

Should be 'the first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations'

(D) The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch

- Doesn't make sense with the non-underlined portion.

(E) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch

- Doesn't make sense with the non-underlined portion.

(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch
(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's
(C) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
-cpus should be the subject
-v. tense: sentence conveys meaning that modern wristwatches existed sometime in the past during the time the first cpus were around
(D) The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch
-meaning: sentence now focuses specifically on the first cpu
(E) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch

I chose A, but can see why it is wrong.

Can't we make the argument that B isn't exactly the best answer either? what is 'modern wristwatch's' referring to? Presumably it's the severe hardware and software limitations, but that is not particularly clear.

The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch and so were unable to perform the complex operations necessary for today's processor-intensive applications.

(A) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to that of a modern wristwatch -> "that" is incorrect, It should be "those".

(B) The first personal computers had severe hardware and software limitations similar to a modern wristwatch's -> No errors.

(C) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to those of a modern wristwatch -> "The severe hardware and software limitations" is not correct subject for non underlined part. Incorrect.

(D) The first personal computers' severe hardware and software limitations were similar to those of a modern wristwatch -> Same as C. Incorrect.

(E) The severe hardware and software limitations of the first personal computers were similar to that of a modern wristwatch -> Same as A. Incorrect.

So, I think B.