> A cheap laptop is $299. The cheapest macbook is $1299.
You get what you pay for. You cannot compare the kind of computer Dell sells for $299 with the kind of computer Apple sells for $1299. When I need most mobility I got myself a $199 Asus Chromebook-like Windows box that now runs Ubuntu beautifully. It's cheap plastic, but I won't be terribly sad if it breaks.
Last time I bought a Mac, it was slightly cheaper than a similar Dell and much cheaper than a Thinkpad, which I'd have to reinstall and, possibly, deal with compatibility issues.
I bought a MacBook Pro once because I believed comments like this. Had lots of hardware trouble, boot problems, had to have it serviced multiple times. Never again. I'm just fortunate that I live in a country where consumer rights are strong and where if you bought a computer and have the same problem three times or so with the service people unable to fix it, you can return it for a refund. Still was a huge time waster each time the machine broke down, though.
This is odd. Apple's customer satisfaction is very high and my personal experience, from multiple Macbooks, is almost flawless. My wife had a minor issue with the trackpad of her MBPr13 and that's all the trouble we ever had with those machines. She won't even consider a non-Apple computer.
