Why you shouldn't buy a Mac

Unless, of course, you want to buy a Mac. In which case you should.

You can criticize the Mac Pro for being exceptionally overpriced, or you can criticize macs in general for being difficult to upgrade, but criticizing the Mac Pro for being overpriced and then throwing in that it's also "difficult to upgrade" is just silly. The main advantage of the Mac Pro over other macs is that it isn't difficult to upgrade.

A, the Mac is expensive myth. Including such insights that buying HD, memory etc upgrades from the manufacturer is pricier that getting them off the street. [You don't say].

Well, there have been tons of comparisons of similarly speced machines ON THE TOP END OF THE MARKET and the Macs come as cheap or cheaper. And the competition has had a hard time keeping up with the iPad/iPhone pricing.

For some reason people compare just the cpu model or the memory. Well, you think the machine aluminum body doesn't cost to design, buy and manufacture too? The tight innards design doesn't cost? The lightness doesn't come at a cost? That thunderbolt port? That blinking light when it goes to sleep? That someone though of adding hidden magnets instead of protruding latches to keep the lid closed? That the DVD drive is internal come for free you think? The glass touchpad with the multitouch surface that's not crappy like 90% of touchpads out there? And tons of other seemingly hidden details that their impact you notice all the time.

Compare a MBP to a Sony VAIO, not the cheapest plastic dell or a copycat design with shitty materials and QA.

Plus, here's why you'll do well to buy a Mac from someone I assume has no hidden agenda on the matter:

"Point me to a better laptop [than the Macbook Air]. Trust me, I tried. They don't exist. It's sad. They are all big and clunky." (Someone suggesting Lenovo) "no, Lenovo doesn't. I have the Lenovo X1. It's bigger, plasticky, and has worse battery life."

Linus Torvalds, on his Google+ page.

Meh, lots of people prefer Macs for whatever reason and if you use your computer a lot, it's worth spending a bit more for something you enjoy using.

That said, my current monitor is a great example of the "Apple Tax". It's a 27" IPS monitor (2560x1440) with the exact same spec as the Apple Cinema Display. Why the same spec? Because the screen in it is exactly the same. It cost me £450, whereas the Cinema Display costs around £900.

Granted, the cinema display has better audio and a nicer case - is it worth £450 extra? I'm sure some would say so however I like to point this out to people when they claim that Apple products are worth the extra money due to the quality of the screen, etc. There is some truth in that, yet the Apple logo on the back definitely adds quite a bit.

I don't know, I think that other than the SSD price a 27" iMac is a solid buy. Add aftermarket RAM, of course.