>>but then I remember what I paid for my laptop that is twice as powerful as their MacBooks yet half the price, and then I feel not-so-clueless any longer.
I too remember a few good years ago, I visited this young guy who was doing his Graphics Artist studies. Hi father had bought him this you-beaut Apple Mac. and he showed me some stuff he was doing in a software package.
I asked how much the package was and was astonished to find that the package has cost about $25000 + graphics software was another $1200. Don't remember the app name but I knew that the Windows version cost about $.300
So I informed him that I had a computer at home that was significantly faster than his, had more disk space, more powerful graphics etc. and only cost me $4500. And why did he opt for a MAC? For that money he could have got a screamer of a PC. (These were the prices about 10-12 years ago :()
He refused to believe me and proceeded to explain how his Mac was better.
Anyway, I also informed him that if I needed parts for my computer I could easily source them very cheaply in the computer market rather than paying premium for MAC parts.
This is all a lot of hype about the MAC, I believe. PC users are now spoilt for price and choice, paying a hell of a lot less for more. Best to let MAC users live in their make believe world.