The usual cultist chant is that Apple only competes in the high end. Very cute but.....
I have posted I bought a perfectly good Compaq Intel dual core laptop computer for $349 last Christmas. It does what I need it to do. It is quite modular with easy to replace DVD writer, removable hard drive and upgradeable memory.
15.4" wide screen. My guess is I would have to pay at least $1000 to get an Apple laptop with 15.4"screen
In fact---->>> http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore has laptops starting at $1099 with a pathetic 13" screen. Lame boring laughable
(I assemble/build my own Windows desktop computers)
I am thinking of building my own Windows XP machine -- would be my first. Are there any websites you could recommend with current information and recommendations for building your own computer? I found such a website or two, but they are several years outdated, so the information is basically useless.
I think this sort of thinking serves only to point out the obvious differences between a Mac user and a PC user. The $349 machine you purchased undoubtedly does what you want it to do. Great. Continue to do that.
My Mac has made computers fun again. Sure I pay a price for that - but as someone who has worked with just about every piece of computer history (from the Xerox STAR to the latest Suns) and everything in between, I just wanted a home machine that allowed me to do anything I ask it do to, not crash, not collect virii, and not have we tearing out my hair or spending hours trying to tweak performance out of it.
What I've gotten in my Mac Pro is a machine is is as solid as a rock, plays music or converts DVDs with the same level of simplicity, plays nice with all my other machines (Suns, Linux, and yes, even my Wife's Vista-running Dell), and is fast without requiring me to continually clean up registry entries and such.
I would highly recommend that before getting all non-linear about a stupid computer, try one - you'll find that Apple store folks to be really great and very helpful.