if you or someone you know, actually knows what they're doing you can buy you parts based on their compatibility with the OSX86
HCL, get yourself a dual booting sno leopard/win7 machine. better than the usual "best of both worlds" solutions. osx is a better software environment hands down imo for normal work/surfing/banking/hdmovies, win7 for compatibility and games. when it comes to desktops, and the higher end laptops there is definitely a huge apple tax to be paid, although the basic macbook is a far better put together piece of kit than the comparible notebooks. the new h(ips) screens on the imacs are beautiful, but with a 2560x1440 resolution wtf can you really do with an ati4650 or 4850 un-upgradable vid card, besides photo editing?