Fwiw, all the hardware manufacturers control their build quality standards, its just that some have higher standards than others. I can tell you that the difference between my T41 Thinkpad (made by IBM) and my T61 Thinkpad (made by Lenovo) is readily apparent in the build quality and parts performance.

 

I support 70 laptops as part of my job (Along with 800 desktops) and have never seen one of them have more than an average amount of parts fail. We just replaced all 70 after 3 years, and I think i had to replace a memory module on 2 of them and a mobo on a third. The laptop that I personally got rid of after 3 years was also used 8 hours a day, 40 days a week for all 3 years, and was a Dell laptop which isn't even awesome build quality, and costs about 1/2 of its Mac equivalent. Same usage applies to almost all of the other laptops. Alternatively, my sister has had her Macbook for a year and has several keys that stick constantly or don't pick up keystrokes, and her trackpad is so bad that she uses a mouse instead.

Honestly I think that people pay so much more for their Mac machines that they are much more cautious with them, so you see less abuse which means they tend to last longer. Yes, there is something to be said for an aluminum casing ect, but if you spend the same amount on a PC as you do a Mac laptop, you can find many things that are built just as well, minus the aluminum casing, and have much better specs/features.

 

If you're comparing entry level machines, then yes this is very true. I've your going up to machines that run $1200+ like most Macs then you're getting much better parts and quality. Aside from the screen, I've never been really impressed by Sony machines. I had a Sony for about a year and had keys fall off and a HDD fail, and I've seen several other issues with their laptops. I've had several HP and Dell machines for 4-5+ years that I never had any issues with.

 

I dunno man, that's not as cheap as I was hoping.
Antek case - $120
Gigabyte motherboard - $135. But no longer available. What's a replacement that'll work with Snow Leopard?
Intel Core 2 Quad-Core 3.0GHz Q9630 - $330 Just the CPU is more expensive than your entire build? What parts did you use, exactly?
ATI Radeon HD 5670 - $80. Same as in the iMac. The 9800 GTX+ listed in the article is only offered as a refurbished unit right now. The ATI is cheaper, at least.
8GB RAM - $90 x 2 = $180
1TB HDD - $80
CD/DVD - $33. Although NewEgg doesn't sell any Pioneer CD/DVD drives anymore, it seems. Again, the question is which model will work with OSX? I'll just assume any, and put in the Pioneer's former price.
10/100/1000 NIC - $12

Parts not discussed in the article, but I'm adding since this would be a replacement for a laptop:
Samsung 27" LCD monitor - $350
Keyboard and mouse - $30 to $110.
I'm debating whether I should add in the cost of speakers, as well.

And finally OSX - $29 is for upgrade disc, which sounds like it doesn't actually include a license, so $100 for the "Mac Box Set."

I dunno man, we're talking $1450 to $1530 here, which is way off the mark of $300. (Consider that the CPU alone costs more than that.) And doesn't include much (if any) warranty. Not to mention the time it takes to assemble the components, which not everybody has the skill for so they might have to pay somebody for it or cajole a family member, and the hassle of returning parts that might be DOA... Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't say I'm too surprised that somebody who's not technically savvy would be willing to spend an extra two- or three-hundred bucks on a 27" iMac, even if it only comes with 4GB of RAM and a slower 3.2GHz Core i3.

Is throwing your $300 hackintosh in the face of your sister similar to throwing a $10k Civic hatch with engine swap and turbo into the face of somebody who just purchased a Cayman S? Yeah, the Civic can be faster and cheaper, but...

 

The problem, which has persisted over the last five pages, is that everyone is looking at a Mac as a pile of parts. Plus, the people that state they can build their own PCs are discounting their time and materials cost to actually build the thing, not to mention, its not such a trivial task if you are not experienced with building computers. Saving a couple hundred dollars by building your own is savings that are quickly wiped out if you value your time searching for and buying all the parts, and then building and loading all the software and drivers. This is the whole reason people buy preassembled computers in the first place - unless its a hobby or your job, why would you want to do that?

Macs are much more than hardware components. There is also the quality of construction, and the software and operating system, and unmatched user support and training. When people use and fall in love with Macs, its not because they can see the Nvidia card, its because they love how the UI "just works" and allows them to do things.

 

I meant that Windows doesn't control the build quality of the hardware their OS gets put on.

 

Your definition of build quality must be different than mine, as like I've stated, I've seen hundreds of different models of laptops and none of them have the build quality of a MBP.

I'll use a car example again, it's like comparing a Genesis to a 5 series. The features might be there, but the 5 series is more than the sum of it's parts, be they objective or subjective.

Even the high end Mac posers (Adamo, Envy) don't have the same quality, which is mentioned in many reviews, yet the costed about the same at one point.

And remember, most people aren't OCD like me and consider build quality heavily when buying Macs, they pay for the OS and support.

 

^They also typically make a living off PC's and will derail any comments about a Mac being superior in any way.

I'm not an Apple fan, I'm an MBP fan .

 

Very true, and a good point explaining system stability of computers.

 

I'm gonna call half on this.

If we go with the assumption that Apple is a design and "personal-techonology-system-aggregator"* company attempting to go into advertising, and not a "computer company," you find that the build quality is something people DO clamor for. . .

. . . just not in the same way you're thinking. Apple goes to IMMEASURABLE lengths to be at the edge of industrial design. Good industrial design openly invites the customer into handling and using the product. Great industrial design goes one step further and leads the customer to a particular use model. To that end, Apple is a gold standard.

It's not "build quality" in the conventional sense.

The perfect example of this rolled by a few weeks ago. My mom wanted a new computer. I told her that at this point, OSX and Win7 were going to solve 99% of her problems with equal aplomb (for her). She cringed at the thought of using Windows ever again (the reasons are not germane to the discussion; trust me); she wanted a Mac.

I told her that the baseline MacBook would be more than enough firepower for what she wanted to do. So, off to the store she went.

She calls me a week later. She did not buy a MacBook, she bought a 15" MBP. She held the MBP. . . it felt more solid to her. The screen was clearer (and being older, that's a big deal); and. . . the big one. . . the keys lit up. . . which was also a HUGE deal. I could care less being a young cheap bastard, but for Mom_In_Trunk, it was hot shit.

Do Windows netbooks have similar/same features? Yes, as features. However, are they designed with that kind of fanatacism to design? I tend not to think so at all. Apple spent the money on design, and it made the sale.

She has since started using it, and has bought nearly every Apple software widget under the sun. She'll no doubt get an iPhone when her contract comes up for renewal. Is it that substantially better feature-wise? No, but Apple spent the money on UI and design, and made the sale.

Design makes a difference.

*Yes, people use Macs at work. . . However, as the shrewd have often noted, you win on the low-end, and work your way up. Apple has repeatedly tried to get into the server market, and has failed. It's not fiscally compelling given their business model. Give it time.