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I build my own PCs for < $400 with stuff I buy from Newegg, and upgrade at will.

And buying Vista Ultimate costs $200 for system builders, $400 retail.

By the time you include a legit OS and some of the basics, you get into the price range of a Mac. Of course, if you use liberated or open source software, you can keep the costs down. But you can easily spend another $150-$250 on antivirus/antimalware/firewall software over the 3-4 years you own the machine.

It's not the price of parts or the hardware, it's the total cost of ownership.

BTW, go try to price yourself a quad-core 2.66 Xeon machine. You'll find, if you work hard, you might save $100 over Apple's price for Mac Pro. And Mac Pro has AppleCare and a solid OS.

People should understand that Apple really isn't interested in becoming Dell or Gateway or HP. Apple is for people who want something that just works and who are willing to pay for it. I'm not sure why a premium price for a fully integrated experience is so bad for computers but is considered fine or even good when you have such choices on, say, purchasing cable/satellite TV/internet as a package. Or to choose premium vehicles with all the goodies on them. No one ever pretended that Cadillac was for the masses. Why hold Apple to that standard when they've never targeted the cheapest-is-best computer market?

Why would I need vista ? XP Home that I have had for a number of years is good enough for me. I connect through a wireless router which means my PC is immune from attack. Anti virus ? Don't need 'em. I don't install random stuff or open random email. Still, McAfee is only $35 or thereabouts.

When you buy readymade new stuff you are paying a significant amount for labor. I never pay for labor if I can. eg I am going to change all 4 struts and the springs in my car next month with parts I bought online -- at home. The dealer gets zip.

But you can easily spend another $150-$250 on antivirus/antimalware/firewall software over the 3-4 years you own the machine.

Not for PCs. There are numerous very good (in some cases better than paid versions) and totally free for home use antivirus, antispyware, and firewall programs available for XP, and many of them are already Vista-compatible. Interestingly, a quick search indicates your statement is true for Macs; a brief search of Google and Download.com found very, very few such programs for Macs and all required paid registration. It looks like you're in for about $110 to get just one antivirus, antispyware, and firewall program, but I don't know whether they have to be renewed annually for updates. I also don't claim that there are no such free programs, just that the basic searches that I did (similar to what I would do if I were actually setting up a Mac) found none.

I'm not sure why a premium price for a fully integrated experience is so bad for computers

Time is an important part of the value equation. The problem with most pro-Mac articles is that they so grossly exaggerate the negative experiences everyone supposedly has on PCs that they lose all credibility. They also ignore the huge time costs of converting to and learning an entirely new operating system from the one that 95% of people have used for many years.