I've just been looking at Macs

For the first time in a VERY long time.

I feel kind of dirty now. The designs are reasonably attractive but the prices.... the prices are why I feel soiled. Maybe I've enjoyed low cost PCs for too long, but I'd forgotten quite what the world of Mac finance was like.

I may need a new work laptop fairly soon, and like Randall, the though of owning the Mac I could never afford before ran through my mind. To rub salt into the wound it appears that Garageband isn't even included any more - this is the one app that would differentiate owning a Mac above a PC for me. At least M$ office is the same price as for a PC.

The one saving grace is the Mac mini. The spec is not impressive, but it's probably adequate for most purposes. Sure you'd have to use non-Apple hardware too, but it would probably work for general office and net use.

I can't tell you how disappointing this is. Dan - HOW hard did you say it was to upgrade these things yourself? What about an iMac - is it really a laptop than never closes or does it use 'normal' components?