If you have plans for peripherals, plan on paying 3x as much for the Apple-compatible items than PC. Also, if you are going to need ANY software on top of what the Apple comes with, you had better be rich.
That said, if you ARE rich and don't need cheap software or peripherals, GO APPLE! They are far more predictable and simple computers to use.
That was true when Apple used proprietary hardware interfaces. Now you can pretty much walk into a CompUSA and pick up any peripheral that supports a laptop and plug it right in: printer, hard drive, you name it. There are exceptions (high-end graphics boards), but few that apply in the case of a laptop. Memory costs about the same.
Please provide an example of a current Apple Macintosh peripheral that is 3 times the price of a PC peripheral. I don't think you can.
Software pricing is comparable.