Aesthetics, performance and software are my considerations when choosing a computer. Apple has the best of all three where others only offer 1 or 2 in the list. I expect to pay for having this trinity of selling features, ergo price is less of an issue.

The key thing is I feel that I get what I pay for, whereas the average PC enthusiast probably feels they have to pour over details of purchase to ensure they're getting the best price for the best gear.

Inherently the PC user is trying to spend as little as possible and therefore gets what they pay for.

This is the flaw of Microsoft's price-war smear campaign: They are devaluing the primary delivery device of their flagship product.

The are saying to the world, "our product comes on cheap hardware, we are the low cost provider". That, as a position, will eventually become completely indefensible in the marketplace. The thing is they've created a fantastic barrier to entry. They've set themselves up to bleed slowly to death; and they're fine with it.

There is no denying Microsoft's success, but I am not prepared to subscribe to it at my own expense.