MacBook and MacBook Pro prices aren't too far out of line with their "PC" counterparts. I put "PC" in quotes because they're both PCs in their own right, with Intel processors inside. In fact, both can run Windows as well as Mac OS, and using Parallels virtualization software, you can even run both at the same time.
They're good machines; the MacBook Pro, for example, is basically the same as the Acer Travelmate notebook. In fact it IS the same, since they're manufactured by the same company - the MacBook Pro under contract to Apple.
It's the Mac OS X software and applications (iLife, etc.) which you're paying the extra money for. And these days it's not a lot of extra money, either, unless you're silly and pay the $300 premium for a black one...
Just ask Skuld. I heard she dumped the console game-processor lashup in favor of a Mac Pro constructed out of a soup strainer and some Xeon processors K1 brought back from the lab...
22-Sep-2006