Price comparisons have been done many times on these threads, and if you can find them (would have to go back and search them out), you’ll find that comparing like-for-like — the prices are the same ballpark, perhaps varying by a hundred dollars or so. Perhaps someone else can dig one up for you (i.e., one of those comparisons).
I’ve actually helped some relatives buy a couple of those cheap kind of laptops, that you’re talking about (one time helped out by standing in line overnight for a sale that was on... LOL..). And they are junk and trash and they break down and have all sorts of problems (and I’m talking about three different ones, over a period of time, that I know about personally with relatives).
But, the Apple ones that I’ve been familiar with don’t have those kinds of problems, are constructed very well, don’t break down like that and people are very happy with service if they ever do have a problem with them.
On top of that, when you have *any kind of problem* you can walk right into the Apple Store and get someone to help you directly. You ought to try that with *any* of the other laptops... fat chance! You’re more than likely going to end up on a phone line, going through push-button hell, trying to understand an Indian accent, and someone reading off a script who doesn’t know what in the heck you’re talking about... LOL..
Now, with those relatives that I was talking about, if there was a problem that had to be fixed, they would “SCREAM” because of how bad customer service was going to be and they knew it... LOL...
Apple has got them all beat — hands down, and their sales are what is showing it...
If Apple has support people who speak fluent English, then that would be an advantage for sure.
My experiences re: "They are junk" have not matched yours. I haven't personally had ANY hardware problems beyond a failed hard drive (could happen to any notebook) with any laptop I've worked with. I've supported dozens of them from Dell, HP, Compaq, Toshiba and Acer.
Though I don't like how the O/S and partitioning were set up, I've had no problems at all with my inexpensive Acer laptop, which is my most recent experience (approx. 1 yr old)
Anecdotal evidence can easily go both ways. I'm certainly not bashing Apple, as their quality is high and their reputation well-earned. I'm just surprised that the premium option would sell better in a difficult economy.