The new Macbook Pro looks beautiful and really will set the standard. Hopefully by the time they introduce the new Macbook Pro 17 they will eventually include Blu-Ray, card reader and much larger capacity drives.

Chris Matthews, Stourbridge, UK

When you buy a PC Laptop you get a generic operating system. Apple products have operating systems that are optimised to the specific hardware. If you buy a Mac (highly recommend) buy the Apple office package rather than the microsoft eq. for macs, it's much cheaper, quicker and compatible.

Dan , Manchester, United Kingdom

I've had six Dell PC's in the past 12 years - All have slowed drastically within 6-12 months - all signs point to cheaper quality components which don't last as long as the more expensive ones - this is how Dell keeps it's prices low. I'll try a mac next.(and yes, my dell laptops have cost £1k)

Pritesh, London, UK

I think That this is a really cool laptop that's coming out and it don't cost that much to but I like it and keep coming out with these cool computer's and phone's

Keep up the good work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Ieshia, Washington D.C., United States

Pah! For the price of a Ferrari Enzo, I can get 30 Yugo's and still have change!

I hope the sarcasm in my above comment is apparent. It is completely absurd to compare a Mac with a PC, because the MAIN differentiator between the two is not available on ANY PC for ANY price; it's called OS X.

Jacqui Goldstein, Liverpool, Wngland

For the kind of money you pay for a Mac, you can get a high end Dell Precision Mobile Workstation, which has even better graphics, more ram, a faster processor, and a 3-year on-site warranty, plus it can run all the latest 3D games fully rendered and also support the latest 3D CAD Software!

Richard Owen, Llandudno, Conwy

I second exactly what R Wayne, Jon and David Stone say. As a mac user, I will only ever recommend mac OS to anyone. I had been a windows user since 1997, and was never once impressed by it - I switched to Mac OS in June and haven't looked back.

Jake, Lincoln,

@Egor - read the article again!
I for ones am glad for the higher prices - keeps the wingers and know-it-all's (i.e. David) away - Asus EEE PC - you must be joking.. Same like cars, where would be the fun of owning a Mercedes if the ones in the council estates could effort it?

sean, Dublin,

I use both Macs and PCs. PC are perfectly OK for routine office admin work but fall down badly for any graphics intensive activity. If you make your living as a professional photographer where time is money, a mac pays for itself through its reliability, speed and ease of use.

Steve, London, UK

You want a pen? Look at all of those fools who buy pens that cost vastly more than a basic BIC.
People don't just buy whatever is cheapest, very many purchase based on how things look and feel to use. Apple concentrate on making the look and feel of their machines appeal to these buyers. Job done

steve, London,

I just use a pencil and paper. Why apple charge so much for a piece of plastic and some designer chips i do not know. I'll not go running to the shops either.
(you have been reading another pointless, biased and time-wasting comment)

mark, London,

Reading the comments, I shook my head. I'll bet many have never used a Mac. If they did, their opinion would be much different. I've priced Macs and PCs (and use both), and the cost differential is actually very similar when fully outfitted. The big difference: the Mac OS. It's far superior.

Brian, Irvine, California, USA

Meanwhile Apple are still using the faulty 8600 nVidea chips in their top priced 17" pro machine but now they've made the high resolution screen, that makes many menus hard to see as it makes everything smaller, the only screen option. It's not good for the pros.

Thalia, London,

Why this out-dated pretence by Macusers that the new PC laptops are so much more difficult to use and unreliable? My family have had no problems with the new Sony Vaio range. Macs are good but I wish they would stop feeling the puerile need to run down the opposition all the time.

Robert Cookson, Milton Keynes, UK

I have a MACBOOK Pro and a G5. The G5 needed two new logic boards and the MACBOOK PRO, although less than one year old, has had its hard drive replaced. I am therefore not sure where this reputation for reliability comes from. Each time Apple told me my expectations are too high - phooey

Paul Lamarra, Vannes, France

For 95% of home/small business users, 95% of the time a £300-400 laptop (+Open source software) will more than meet their needs and people are realising it. That is the slice of the market Apple miss and I'm surprised, particularly in the current economy. 95% of users couldn't care less about the OS

Simon T, Edinburgh, UK

Apple is good, but i still think it's a waste of money, why buy something that costs £300 more to do the same thing? I do agree they are more reliable and better quality, but not by far. If i was rich then a Apple it is, if your normal, then i wouldn't bother with an Apple. their not that good.

Sunny, Coventry,

A Pc or a mac? a laptop that will die or a laptop that will last years?. I have owned a few mac laptops and they never failed me, I gave them to friends and family whenever I upgraded and they all still work perfectly. There is no chance of the same being said of any other laptop... Buy a mac !

Graeme Lithgow, london, uk

Apple's not really charging twice as much. If you take the Dell XPS M1330 and kit it out with the same spec as the new £1149 MacBook it costs £1029. It has a bit more RAM and hard disk, but the MacBook has iLife software and faster graphics and RAM.

Mike Scott, London,

Most people are missing the point, you can't compare a Mac to a windows based PC. They are both computers but a Mac is reliable and easy to use, good design is a bonus. You pay a few pounds more but it works and if you are that strapped for cash buy from America, there is no import duty on laptops.

David Stone, London, UK

I will not go running screaming to the shops...I have no apple products and will not pay over the top for designer plastic and expensive adds....the truth is you can get much more spec for your $..with other manufacturers on every product range.seeing this ITstuff is obsolete as you are buying it

WILLIAM, NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND

People seem very touchy about the prices, who cares, people are willing to buy them, to pay a premium for a well build reliable computer, sales are growing, if you want a cheaper computer buy one, sales are going up not down - agreed on the US-UK difference though, same in the iTunes store...

Matt J, London, UK

I agree with the comments against David, Eee PC can't be compared to the Mac Book Air.

They're in totally different classes.

The people that buy Mac Book Airs are in the class of people with more money than sense.

James, Highbury,

Actually, the Air is more like 3x the cost of an Eee. Just got a dell XPS 1330 fully kitted with LED screen, 3yr accidental care warranty for less than the cheapest macbook. Was even thinking about cancelling the dell, but 300 pounds to bring the apple to the same spec as the dell is well....

Dave , Birmingham, UK

What a let-down! I've had a MB, bought in 2006 (!) with firewire, C2D, 2GHz. The basic new one has the same processor speed and no Firewire! All this for the price of 4 netbooks. What should I do with my Fw-based external HD or my Mini-DV camcorder?! Where is the fun? Now the MB Air makes sense!!!

Andras S, Northington,

David Mudkips, you really think the Asus EEE has the same specs as the MacBook Air? That's like comparing a Skoda to a Jaguar.

Clive X Parker, Key west, USA

Not 'laptops with touchscreens' Steve!! An A5 iTouch please. Or are you worried it will undercut your laptop sales?

The success of the Kindle and the Sony eBook reader proves there's a market. Whats holding Apple back ?

Tim Chaffe, Auckland, New Zealand

I'm extremely disappointed. Lowering the price in the US by $100, yet raising it by £20 seems wholly unjustified.

alex, Colchester,

Actually David the rip off, like all good rip off's you don't see coming. You can buy a cheap PC and by the time you've upgraded everything just to get it to run it's own supplied OS & Word you've spent a similar amount. Always the same with Windoze machines - half loaded, half baked, half price!

Jon, Bournemouth,

Apple's product is well-engineered, stylish and reliable - but it isn't better *enough* to charge twice as much. Given the way the economy's going, I think the day of digital bling is well and truly behind us. Can Apple wait 5 years for the rebound?

Julian Morrison, Reading, UK

Err David, I use the Air, and have used the EEE PC, no comparison. It's like saying the loaf of Kingsmill is the same as the long-life foiled packed Sainsbury's own: no comparison.

Farrukh, Woking,

come on! seriously how can you compare an eeepc to a macbook air? they are not the same spec are they really

Gavin, Jersey,

No mouse button? I hate tap-to-click (turn it off on all my laptops) - one more reason to stay away; the specs are ridiculous for the money, as usual with Apple; and there are prettier laptops around now, too.
Gestures? A two-finger gesture perhaps.

Egor, London, UK

Nobody is making you pay that money, David, but some consumers choose quality over cheap, poorly manufactured goods. You get what you pay for.

R Wayne, Leicester, UK

Skoda or Ferrari - I know which car I'd choose to drive if given the choice.

roger jones, Manchester,

It's outrageous how high Apple pitches the UK prices compared to the US ones.

Chris Irwin, Horsham, UK

Complete ripoff. You can get a laptop with those specs for no more than £800 from elsewhere.

The MacBook Air costs more than twice as much as the Asus EEE PC, with exactly the same specs, yet it is larger.

David Mudkips, Reading, UK