Here’s Scott Finnie’s analysis for High-end and mid-range laptops and desktops:
High End: Assuming that you want a high-end notebook PC designed to work, play and be your everyday machine with style, the MacBook Pro is a surprisingly good value. The models that I compared it with, the Sony and the Dell, had some extras here and there, but they were also more expensive. The key to the perception that Macs are more expensive is that Apple offers very few in-between models.
Mid-range: When you configure low-end and midrange notebooks and desktops, you’ll find that except at the very bottom of the heap, Windows machines are roughly comparable in price to Macs. There are fewer Mac models, so if your needs vary from what Apple has decided on, you may find a Windows model that costs less for you. But Apple’s choices make a lot of sense for most people, and when you do the point-by-point comparison, Apple is actually a better value for some needs.
Or, to summarize, there is no brand that is more expensive than the other by default unless you’re a simplistic idiot.
[tags]mac, apple, osx[/tags]