[dangus]

#1 reason: I can get a PC for $400.

[MrLee]

You get what you pay for..... we own 4 Macs and would never waste money on a PC....

[coon2000]

Yep, then buy another one next year when that one dies.

[antiRepublicrat]

#1 reason: I can get a PC for $400.

I wouldn't want a $400 PC. I wouldn't want a $10 chef's knife either. It's like getting a $20 hooker -- you get what you pay for, and often far more than you wanted.

[Spktyr]

As an IT consultant, I love those $400 PCs.

They generate an average of $1200 in support fees (i.e., money that goes in my pocket) per year. Per machine.

Don’t want to see me on a monthly or weekly basis? Don’t buy a PC.

I don’t recommend that people buy those. But they always seem lured in by the $399 price tag and they don’t listen. Then they complain about the bill.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"#1 reason: I can get a PC for $400."

Not with a legal copy of Windows, probably. And I'd bet there's a bunch of "sweat equity" that goes into such a purchase. Not everyone has the time, desire or skills to be an uber-geek.

Meanwhile, you can get a Mac Mini for not much more, and it's a heck of a great machine.

Besides, you're talking price. Let's talk value.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

#1 reason: I can get a PC for $400.

Exactly.

The author's assertion that low cost PCs are often subsidized by bundled application software that is included with a new machine is a weak argument at best.

I am writing this on a Core-Duo PC running XP Pro SP3 that I paid $800 for and it came with zero bundled software.
I have had zero problems with it and would never dream of paying over $2000 for a Mac that isn't going to perform any better or do any more for me than this machine does.

"It's all about the Benjamins" has to be sitting right at the top of any list of reasons why people eschew Macs.