When you build, you are your own tech support. I don't know why this is never mentioned as a con.

It's assumed that anyone who goes through the effort has enough savvy to troubleshoot their own problems, but plenty of consumers would just as soon call tech support, or in the case of Apple, just take their computer into the Apple Store. Less hassle.

For those who don't mind that, it's either because they're a hobbiest who enjoys the problem solving process or they have limited funds and want the most bang for buck when it comes to parts and performance and are willing to sacrifice their time in exchange.

You have a lot more leeway with desktop boxes in terms of space and packaging (you can build smaller systems using Shuttle PCs than any pre-build manufacturer barring the Mac Mini), but when it comes to laptops, any well designed laptop will be built around a custom made logic board designed specifically for the casing in which it will be paired with. Plus, I don't know anyone who actually builds their own laptops.

Apple laptops in particular are crazy efficient when it comes to design and layout. I've done teardowns on just about every professional Mac laptop since the G4 Titanium and the engineering borders on artistic.

It's a learning project like a hobby kit. In the end you should be left with something that's actually useful for work or play.

It's actually not a bad idea either to learn by taking an old computer and breaking it down to its core components (and reassembling it) to understand how everything goes together. Maybe not as fun as building a new computer, but if you break anything, hey; it's an old computer anyway.

If you stick with standard components it's actually a pretty straightforward process with more problems likely to show up on the software end of things assuming you don't receive any DOA parts from the factory.

because they're brainwashed.

I agree,apple is so over-rated,it's pretty sad really.

its amazing the extent to which apple fanboys are brainwashed. how do you come up with that stuff? your on planet earth right?

Yea, he's acting as if all windows computers = cheap computers.  My computer doesn't take 5 minutes to boot, and if I'd time, I believe its under a minute (I keep on most the time anyways), it doesn't sound like a vacuum cleaner...matter of fact, it doesn't sound like anything, and it doesn't look sloppy.  The bottom left portion does get a little hot, but it's not like it burns, its just slightly warm on your lap.

I'm just an unsatisfied customer of numerous laptops. My experience with dell, lenovo, hp and toshiba are disappointing. At some point I gave up on them.

The comparison was CHEAP Windows laptops, not a Sony Vaio or Alienware machine.

If you're looking to compare an $700 Toshiba versus a Mabook Pro, the Toshiba's form factor isn't going to compare well. It may be a relatively fast computer but its weight, thickness, screen, and design are going to be pretty bad at that price point. My sister has one and there are two floating around here at work and to be blunt, they're pieces of shit compared to a Macbook Pro. It closer to what I remember my old 1996 Compaq laptop feeling like than what I expect out of a modern laptop.

In short, you get what you pay for. Thick plastic computer with a shitty screen versus a sleek thin metal enclosed computer with a great screen. No one here is saying that all Windows machines suck, most of the arguments are "Macs are premium computers" versus "you can buy two Windows machines for the price of a Macbook!"

Yeah, you can. You can buy two piece of shit Windows notebooks. If you want to step into the Macbook's territory, you have to step up to a premium machine, which will cost a similar amount to the MBP.

Who in the world buys Toshiba? :P
 Though my family does have one and it's five years old and still runs very smoothly. It takes awhile to start-up and it's not the fastest computer, but again... it's 5 years and has been used several times a day every day. 

My $500 Thinkpad takes a minute to start-up(in fact I just timed it and it was exactly 60 seconds), makes no noise, and has never really gotten hot...

I'm not sure what kind of laptops you guys are using, but could it possibly be your inexperience??

I run an IT department for a small company and have purchased several laptops in the past year (about five, I think) on top of inheriting several from my predecessor. The brands include Dell, Toshiba, HP, and a Lenovo.

I don't think it's a lack of experience. If you buy a cheap laptop, it's not going to be as nice as an expensive one and it's probably going to feel, well, cheap.

And anyone who complains about laptop heat shouldn't be in the Apple corner. I mean, really... Jesus Christ, those things are like ovens. They're made of METAL, for fuck's sake. They're still great computers but Apple can't exactly get around the principles of physics just because they're Apple (though some in the reality distortion field would surely disagree).