Convince A Potential Mac to Windows Switcher...

Yesterday, I wrote about falling out of my love with Apple products. Granted, at the time I wrote that I was pretty annoyed and not fully realizing that there are problems on the other side to. I try a lot of devices, and I still totally believe that the iPhone and iPod Touch are a couple of the best media products on the market. For $279.99 from Amazon.com, the current 32GB iPod Touchrepresents a much better value than the $289.97 Microsoft 32GB Zune HD. The iPod lists for only $10 more than the Zune HD and yet you can get it for $10 cheaper though Amazon.com. What is the difference? The Zune HD has an OLED screen (beautiful inside - terrible in sunlight), HD output (NOT an HD screen, just HD output to an HDTV), and HD Radio. The iPod Touch has the App Store - which gets you more digital internet radio, games, social networking, productivity enhancers, and other random conveniences than you can imagine. All at very reasonable prices due to intense competition in the App Store.

However, despite their increasing excellence in the portable media scene, I'm no longer convinced the Mac computer platform is substantially better. With more problems in recent Macs I've owned - and Windows 7bringing Windows much closer to feature parity with Mac OS X Snow Leopard- I'm increasingly convinced that it comes down to hardware quality and price. I won't deny the beauty of Apple computers. The unibody design is unmatched, the backlit keyboard amazing, the glass trackpad a true joy to use, etc. And the price is very reasonable compared to the full list price of Windows computers - roughly the same. The problem is that you can get Windows computers at a discount. How substantial? Well, that's where you come in.

Here is the challenge - using a reputable vendor such as the computers section on Amazon.com, Newegg, ZipZoomFly, Staples, OfficeMax, or another well-known and trustworthy company of your choice; I would like you to convince me that I can get a better deal if I buy Windows for my next computer. I just don't know yet.

Here are my requirements:

- Price under $1200 - the amount my new MacBook Pro cost. The farther under you can go, the better.

- Screen 15" or smaller with good color gamut - I know, hard to tell - but if you can provide evidence that the screen produces the excellent color the new MacBook Pros do then that would be a huge plus

- Large trackpad - no tiny 1.5" impossible-to-use-comfortably trackpads allowed

- Attractive build design. No ugly batteries coming out like tumors, no clashing colors or excessive cheap textured plastic/vent holes/etc. Bonus points awarded for pink or metal :) And pink anodized aluminum, which I've never seen in a laptop, would be like a zillion bonus points!

- At least 5 hours rated battery life

- Free upgrade to Windows 7

And the nice-to-have (bonus points awarded):

- Backlit keyboard

- 5GHz Wi-Fi support

- Multi-touch trackpad

- Webcam

- Blu-ray support (I know, it's not in my Mac - but remember, you're supposed to be convincing me Windows is a BETTER value not the same)

So there it goes, who is up for the challenge of convincing me that my next computer should be running Windows? Post your responses and suggestions to my comments. Thanks!

Mark