The first PC I ever owned was an Apple IIe in the early 80's. I stayed with Apple up thru Power Mac's in '96-97 until corporate needs required a switch to MS win98. Apple was going thru a tough time about then and aftermarket software makers were deserting them in droves. I became a defacto MS guy with windows 'putters, phones, ect. I also became the family "IT guy" dealing with crashes, constant windows updates, making new devices like cameras, printers, scanner and whatever all work. Not to mention the added expense of updating from Office '97-2000-2003-2010. Have you ever noticed that MS are REAL proud of Office?
Then last December I swapped out my 2+ year old windows 6.5 phone for an iPhone 4S. WOW! The difference was stunning. Like going from a moped to a Connie 14 stunning. Just like everyone who had an iPhone had told me: "it just works". Even though my win 6.5 phone was barely 2 years old and they had still been selling them long after I purchased mine, MS had already closed the "My Phone" website that offered back ups for contacts and photos. A few months later, they announced the discontinuation of "Marketplace" and any app you had paid for would no longer be available. There was NEVER one single software update made available in the 2+ years I had the phone and there were plenty of bugs. Their support, in a word; SUCKED.
By contrast, even an iPhone 3GS, which is pretty ancient by cell phone standards, is still fully supported by Apple. And that means fully: software updates, service, training, you name it. I expect my 4S will remain a viable phone for quite awhile.
By February it was becoming necessary to replace my old win XP machine. It occurred to me that I no longer need to conform to corporate lackey-hood so I did some shopping and found the same thing mentioned here, for the same processor, hard drive size, amount of RAM a Mac always lost out to a windows box on dollar cost. The sticker shock nearly caused me to ignore Mac's but I'm really glad I dug a little deeper. I found you shouldn't benchmark MS/Apple computers that way. You need to realize that a Mac comes not only with all those similar guts encased in a machined from solid billet chunk of aluminum, but they are pretty much fully loaded with everything you need software wise. That very expensive Office with Outlook email client you have to buy for a windows machine? Mail is already loaded on every Mac. iPhoto? Its on there. iCal, Address book, iMovie, Garageband? All there. The only programs I had to buy for the iMac were Pages (Word) Numbers (Excel) and Keynote (Powerpoint) and each is available separately for $19.99 and you can load it on multiple (5 or 10) computers. And guess what? Just like the iPhone, it all just works. And its soooo much easier to use. The best news? I am no longer the family IT guy.
And again, if needed the support is incredible. Imagine having Murph like support for your computer/phone/ipod or ipad. It's that good. Live near an Apple store? Enjoy free classes on any of the software mentioned and on how to use your device. Apples phone support is based in the USA with people that speak english natively. Buy an Applecare warranty and receive many extra years of coverage on your device. Buy a One to One package and receive just that, one to one training on any of their software and help on your special projects.
Good luck finding any of that on a HP/Acer?Gateway/whathaveyou box.