Comparing Apples to Apples ... (no pun intended :-)

...it's more like comparing Apples to Windows.

"Apples are more expensive."

That was the first thing I thought when my friend suggested I consider buying a Macbook. In my research into laptops, I've heard several other people say that same thing.

Are Apples more expensive than Windows.

Yes ... and no.

You have to compare similar system ... or as close to "similar" as you can get with between Windows Vista and Apple Leopard Operating Systems (OS). Strictly financial comparison between the two are somewhat difficult.

Yes, you can go to your nearest Big Box store (Best Buy, Circuit City) and buy a laptop for under $1,000. It's gonna be slow, but it will be under $1,000. If your a worker drone working in a mind-numbingly huge corporation, then it won't matter if you work slowly. No one will probably even know.

But it's different for me.

An an entrepreneur/multipreneur, time is money when I'm working. The more I can get done in any given period of time, the better off I'll be.

It's the difference between chopping down a tree with an ax or a chainsaw. Both cut the tree down, one just does it far faster. Entrepreneurs need fast tools, and by the time I customized a Windows Vista laptop (from Dell or HP or Sony or wherever) to have approximately the same specs as a Macbook, I was going to have to speend anywhere from $1,300 USD on up ...

... which put me in the same price range as the Macbook.

When I visited the Apple store and saw the software included free on the Macbook (iMovie, garageband, etc) ... software that cost anywhere from $1,500 - $3,000 for the equivalent Windows Vista-based software (on TOP of the price of the laptop),

... one could almost argue that the Macbook is actually a MORE financially sound business expense for the small business entrepreneur.

At least that's the conclusion I came to.

Let's see if it bears out.