I have always seen this as the official "Mac/OS X" thread so I'm just going to post this here.
It was late 2008 and my GF wanted a new laptop. The Macbook Pro had just been announced and she was trying to decide between the MBP or any Windows laptop. I had just bought myself a MBP myself but it wasn't the newly re-designed unibody. Of course I felt like a schmuck. "I should've waited!" So I sold my then 3 month old laptop for the newly re-designed unibody. How did I validate my decision?
Well, first, the magnetic lid mechanism/latch. I had a 17" Powerbook, and after that, the 15 inch MBP. Both were pre-unibody. And the one thing I always disliked was the lid latch. It would always hold down the middle of the lid but the sides of the lid wouldn't be as flush. Giving the impression that the middle was being "pulled down". It looked uneven and I was worried about flex on the body. The latch itself would also degrade over time and require multiple "pushes" to release or atleast, a hard push.
Second, the actual aluminum body. Pre-unibody, the aluminum wasn't very strong. I would rest my palm or arm beside the trackpad and overtime, the aluminum above the superdrive would sink in. Eventually, the superdrive would have a hard time ejecting the disk. This was on the 17" Powerbook as the superdrive is facing the front.
Third, the trackpad. Pre-unibody glass trackpad, the trackpad was like any other trackpad on any other laptop. So it would degrade the same way as well (shiny, glossy after a while, hard to use..etc). Plus, no multitouch.
I thought to myself, "Well the new unibody MBPs fix all of this. It should last me forever!"
Anyway, my gf decided on a high spec Windows laptop and I went with the newly released late 2008 unibody Macbook Pro. She spent 1500 compared to my 2200 for the 15" MBP. In her words, "Your laptop has worse specs. You're just paying 700 more for the Apple tax. I made the smarter decision."
Going on 3 years now, and my MBP is going strong as ever. It's truly amazing. The trackpad looks brand new. It's still silky smooth. And the multitouch gestures for Expose made my GF jealous from DAY ONE. The aluminum body is strong and sturdy, no scratches and no dents or "weak spots." When the lid closes, the whole lid is flushed with the body. OS X has never crashed, I never had to defrag, run Spybot, or run any anti-virus software. The most I ever had to do in regards to maintenance was clear the cache on my Safari. 2 finger scrolling is so useful and so is 3 finger left and right to go "Back" and "Forward" in Safari/Finder.
My now ex-GF (now friends)'s laptop was 2 years old before she "had" to replace it. It takes forever to boot, and when it does, its slow as hell. She has to do all kinds of "maintenance" and scans to make sure her laptop runs "optimally". The glossy finish of the laptop's exterior got a ton of scratches and micro scratches (neither of us cared for cases). It looks like a black car after 2 years of use. Her trackpad looks like she went to KFC and slathered a chicken breast over it and left it there for 3 days. The glossy finish also gives the trackpad a grippy texture and makes navigating with the trackpad a chore. It never was (even new) as silky smooth as my Macbook's, and it lacked multitouch. She was using a mouse after 6 months of having it.
She bought a 13" Macbook Pro a year and she loves it. But, here's the thing: Her Windows laptop cost her 1500. Add the cost of the Macbook Pro and she has spent 2700+ for her laptops while I'm still cruising on mines 3 years going.
Thats just the most amazing thing: The new unibody MBPs are so easy to live with, and are so durable. I love them. It might be lower spec then the competition. Haters might like to hate on Apple for being Apple. But that "Apple tax" comes right back to us in value, durability, ease of use..etc etc. Its one of the few "luxury" items that I can validate it's extra cost.
Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there. I WAS about to sale my MBP before all this hit me.
but i have 900+ cycles and often it will shut down at 40%