[grecy]

> A $350 borderline unusable computer is no bargain. I think people are starting I catch onto this.

I agree 100%.

Many friends and family have cheap and crap laptops that continually crash, and last only a year or two before being replaced (for another cheap, crap laptop)

As time has gone on, you can see they are slowly realizing this is no bargain, and are starting to look at the expensive end, and towards Apple.

[freehunter]

The problem is people buy cheap, crap laptops, notice they are cheap and crap, and hear that the Macs are not cheap but also not crap. They then run out and buy a quality Macbook for $2300, completely ignoring the fact that it's not that Apple makes a better product, it's that Apple makes a product that exists in a market these people have never even considered.

Quality Windows laptops exist. I sold my HP Envy for almost as much as I bought it for after a year of solid use. It cost me $1000 brand new, and there was almost nothing the Macbook could offer besides OSX that could do anything but match it.

Yes, Macbooks are better than $300 laptops. But you know what is also better than a $300 laptop? A $1000 laptop, and the extra $1300 in your pocket. Your Dodge Neon is a piece of junk, true, but before you shell out cash for BMW 5-series, why not take a look at the Ford Fusion?

[jsz0]

For what it's worth Apple's laptop line starts at $999. I totally agree that a $1k+ PC laptop is going to be fine too but I think the confusing part for consumers is it looks basically the same as the $350 model so it's harder to make this leap of faith to the $1k+ price-point. Apple just doesn't sell a laptop cheaper than $999 so there's nothing to really compare it to.

[grecy]

> Your Dodge Neon is a piece of junk, true, but before you shell out cash for BMW 5-series, why not take a look at the Ford Fusion?

Excellent point.

I'm not saying people that are sick of cheap/crap laptops need or must go and buy an Apple product. I'm saying they start to realize buying something more expensive works out better in the long run.

When looking at something more expensive, Apple's products come into the picture (but are not the whole picture, obviously)

While we're here, lets not exaggerate too much. Apple makes exactly one laptop for $2300, and it's probably the fastest/most feature packed laptop ever made, without a competitor right now. Lots of their laptops are $1200 - $1700, which certainly is more expensive than the competition, but again, we've already decided we're willing to spend a little more for higher quality at this point.

[Tmmrn]

Fastest? Most feature packed? You can get notebooks with a HD 7970M and 16GB Ram for ~2300$.

[pooriaazimi]

I'd pay 400 dollars just for MacBook's lovely, lovely multitouch glass trackpad (I'm not kidding). I can't imagine my life without it (I'm not saying envy your was a bad machine or anything; just saying MacBooks offer more than just OS X).

[freehunter]

The Envy line has a giant multi-touch trackpad as well. It's not glass, but it's a nice smooth plastic, and it's huge.

[taligent]

And seriously what is going on with the trackpad situation on PCs ?

I am not joking that PowerBooks from 5+ years ago wipe the floor with every single PC laptop I've used so far. Is it really that hard to get the texture and responsiveness right ?