Well my intention is not to reprise the usual Mac v. PC debate.
Ah, but you have!
Not sure you can compare specs as from my user's point of view the Mac is easier to use
That was probably true in 1998. Studies have shown Windows XP to be about as easy to use as OSX. And Vista to be as easy or easier.
Compal and Asus make most laptops, including Apples, from roughly the same components. Actual reliability of Apples equipment is no better than any other first tier laptop. I'm also fairly sure you'll get a much shorter lifespan from a used/refurb'd notebook than a new one.
and has superior customer service with the (additional cost) 3 year Applecare agreement. I'll leave the actual specs to those who know that stuff.
Since I know about that stuff, suffice it to say the Apple machine is slower, has less storage, and will do less work before slowing down.
You can buy 3 year extended warranty/tech support from almost anyone. Dell offers direct access to their 2nd/3rd tier support. Apple does give better quality hand holding to technical neophytes, at a cost of hundreds to thousands of dollars.
I've got phone support (and they actually answer) for three years, support for peripherals such as Airport, and incredibly fast service the one time I needed a fix (Airport died, called them and the new one was at my door less than 24 hours later; this is almost 3 years after its purchase).
About the same as what you can get from anyone. Heck, you could keep the money for the tech support and if anything happened to the computer, you could just throw it out and buy a new one and still have money leftover in your pocket. And a new fully modern machine.
So, you want to Dongle to get a Mac (interesting website, not sure I'd be doing that to a new machine) or do you want a Mac? That's the choice I guess, my recommendation stands. Actually, I'd recommend new over refurbed but the original post was looking for cheap.
You wouldnt stick something into a USB port on a new computer? Pretty conservative. Actually you dont need to even do that. There are well published instructions on how to get mac OSX to run on pc hardware that isnt apple branded. Its just a little extra work up front.
But I dont think its really worthwhile to bother.
Plus...unless I'm mistaken...Orchidflower is a PC user, not a mac user, so changing to a completely different OS at a substantially higher cost to gain really nothing measurable doesnt sound like a great recommendation.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/five_reasons_why_vista_beats_mac_os_x
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9075000
