I was comparing Dell to Apple. Just had to go back to Dell and make sure.
I have a simple macbook, 13.3 screen. Comparable Dell costs more (xps 1330) - about 30% more... The dell also had a slightly slower processor than mine, slightly larger hard drive. And no iLife sweet...
When I compare iMacs to similar Dells, I see the same thing. But I always start with the mac, because they don't have as many options...they just dont...and it is hard to line up the options.
You can certainly build a PC cheaper. But when the one you build compares to a mac, the mac price is quite comparable...if not cheaper...
The example I gave was a Dell desktop, and desktops was mainly what my post was about, but I can address your example.
The 13.3" Dell is a not very popular and thus is an over-priced model. And 13.3" is not a popular size of laptop in general, so 13.3" PC laptop models by any manufacturer are rather pricey. If instead you compare the commonly sold screen-size models in laptop PC's, which are 15.4" first, and 14.1" second, then you will find that you can get a PC laptop much cheaper than an Apple laptop in commonly sold size of comparable specs.
Here is a desktop configuration of a Dell Inspiron I just configured at Dell.com:
Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600 (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition - English
MONITOR No Monitor
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 500GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™
OPTICAL DRIVE 16x DVD+/-RW Drive
VIDEO CARD Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB
SOUND Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
KEYBOARD & MOUSE Dell USB Multimedia Keyboard and Dell Optical USB Mouse
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader
MODEM & WIRELESS 56K PCI Data Fax Modem
OPTIONAL PORTS IEEE 1394a Adapter
Cost after $300 coupon code is $864 with Free Shipping
Add my new Sammy 24" monitor for $400 for a Grand Total of $1264.
From Apple website, just now:
MacPro
2.8 gHz Quad Core Intel
4GB Ram
500GB Hard Drive, 7200 rpm
23" Flat Panel Display
Total Cost: $3798.00
The specs on these two machines are pretty close. The apple has a faster processor, 2.8 vs 2.4 for the Dell. But the Dell I priced out with a gorgeous Samsung 24" monitor, vs a 23" Apple monitor. The hard drives, ram, and video cards are identical in my examples.
The cost of the Apple desktop is exactly 3 times as much as the cost of the virtually comparable spec Dell desktop. So even if you want to pooh-pooh the larger monitor in my Dell, and toot the faster processsor in the Apple, it does cost 3 times as much. If the Apple is worth that much more to you, I have no problem with that, but the fact is, the comparably-equipped PC is, in fact, way way way less money. So much so, you could buy 3 of the Dells above for the same money as one of the MacPro's. And if you run dual monitors, like I do, you apparently have to buy Apple's proprietary over-priced displays, which I see are 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 times the cost of a comparable size flat panel monitor for a PC. Apple may in fact, have a nice desktop product, but it's way way out of range of what I am willing to spend.
I rest my case.