I am completely sold on Mac now. Bought my MacBook in 2009 and after 4 years it still outperforms the brand new HP laptop i have from work, in every department.
I found a quality PC laptop out performed and lasted a Macbook We bought 2 laptops in 2009 one Macbook £999 and a Asus UL30a with option of SSD £700
The Apple plastics cracked around the edges changed under warranty twice in the first year the battery life dropped down to about 20 mins after 3 years and finally the logic board (mainboard?) failed last year.
The Asus is still working fine and has always been quicker booting and opening programs etc than the apple due to the SSD even though the cpu is slower the apple was quicker doing video editing the Asus battery is not as good as it was when it was new it now only lasts about 7 hrs down from 10+.
I have found Pound for Pound a quality laptop is better than a same value apple product.
But a £1200+ macbook pro will be better than a £399 cheap laptop.