'Salon': Macs are cheaper than Windows systems
"The present article is an attempt to prove to you that, on price alone, the Mac is not the BMW of computers," Manjoo writes. "It is the Ford of computers. I am not arguing that the Mac is cheaper only if you consider the psychic benefits conferred by its quality. Rather I'm going to illustrate something more straightforward: Even though you may pay a slight premium at the cash register for a Mac over a comparable Windows PC (a premium that gets slighter all the time), it will cost you less money -- real, honest-to-goodness American dollars -- to own that Mac than to own that PC.
"Why this should be has to do with an economic truth that has not recently mattered much in the computer industry, but that, in an age of eBay and unyielding obsolescence, is now crucial. It is resale value. Macs fetch far more on the aftermarket than do PCs -- and after years of use, you can offset that cash-register premium by selling your Mac for a better price than you could your PC."
You can read the complete article -- and follow his reasoning -- [url=http://machinist.salon.com/feature/2007/11/07/mac_price/index.html]here[/url].