Apple MacBook Pro 13.3" Display 4GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive $1,000 :( @ frys B&M starts 8/3

I have asked seriously many times what the advantage is of buying a tiny (13.3") screen computer, with 4 GB RAM and a 500 GB HDD for $1000 when you can get so much more hardware for sometimes less than half that price. For my inquisitiveness I have been called everything from a "troll" to a "moron in a circle-jerk". I've been called worse by better so that doesn't bother me. I'm a big boy. What bothers me is when people say that because the Mac weighs less, is pretty and gives the owner a false sense of coolness it justifies the price.

I have a Dell laptop with a P4 Core Solo processor I bought in 2005. It got a RAM upgrade to 2GB shortly after purchase and has had nothing else done to it. My mother-in-law and 3 children under the age of 11 use daily. My wife has had her HP desktop for over 6 years without issue. Her $550 Compaq Laptop still runs fine after 5 years and my HP laptop (won it in the giveaway Slickdeals had in 2009) just turned 3 years old last month without any problems. Those are definite pluses I see with PC ownership. So let me ask again, how can I justify spending twice as much for so much less computer?

For those who complain a lot about Mac(s) especially Laptops; for pure travel/moving around/on the go what other laptop beats MacBooks in terms of Screen Quality, Size, Weight and Battery Life?

name them and see the price.

the problem is many of us use the laptops as Desktops;

Screen Quality, Key Board, Track Pad, Battery Life are the essential to Mobile computing ... and Flash Storage (SSDs as in MBA).

we can complain that MBP not coming with SSD as standard; I think it will eventually happen (like rMBP, MBA)

The HDD in a 13inch MBP is easily user upgradeable to an SSD without the MSATA "new form factor" tax.

yup I know; what was i saying SSD prices gone down considerably (you can find top of the shelf Samsung 830 256GB for $200, it is going to cost apple even way less); so Apple should make SSDs as default

but then again, there are guys who thinks 500 GB (5400 RPM) > 128GB SSD with out knowing the benefits of the SSDs offer.

Worst laptop? Depends, worst is subjective. I think their worst laptop is the one that you can't upgrade two years from now. That would be the Macbook Air line and the Retina MBP. Just saying.

I'm not a Mac owner, but I have to respond to this. What you're saying is, "I get a lot of food for the money at McDonald's". Fine. Great to hear it. That said, some people want a particular kind of food, of partcular quality, and are not necessarily looking for a gut bomb meal at the cheapest price.

Overprice? You don't consider resale value, do you? Mac is the best value compare to any window notebook.

I figure they'll discontinue the 13inch MBP and put a retina in the 13inch MBA instead.

Lowered clocked GPU and heat will not allow retina display in MBA

Less room in 13" MBP also but at least it will have space for fan, cooling elements

Worst laptop? Depends, worst is subjective. I think their worst laptop is the one that you can't upgrade two years from now. That would be the Macbook Air line and the Retina MBP. Just saying.

"Best Value" can only be judged by the product owner. So while I found the $800 Amazon Warehouse 2011 MBP deal to be the "best value" for me as an Apple user, it's ridiculous to say that a $250 Acer is somehow NOT a good value just because you have an irrational bias against an OS you don't even use.