Originally Posted by L5->R5/CR
To be honest I've never attempted to price out a MacBook or an iMac. They aren't the level of computer that I use/suits my needs.
When I got my MacBookPro it as a 5% premium. My co-worker just ordered a Dell, he specced it out to be of at least the same level as the MacBookPro he wanted (but he decided he was going to run Linux and not OSX) and saved 7%.
The laptop we want for my girlfriend will be a premium of 8-10%. But this is all on the higher end, not on the basics.
It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that for cheap laptops PCs are much cheaper then Macs. Doesn't make them better (or worse), but it does make them a better buy.
I prefer Macs, and working in imaging and video, a lot of the applications that I need for jobs are either Apple only, or are optimized on Apple computers.