Brick I went to iBuyPower and I configured this. It's less than the Mac and a LITTLE more than the others they are showing you. They have a financing plan just as Dell does, and I truly believe this ( or another configured one on this website ) would be your best Bang for the Buck...
http://www.ibuypower.com* SPECIFICATIONS *
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Case ( Battalion-101 C-90S 15.4" 16:10 Wide Screen WSXGA 1680x1050 LCD TFT Notebook w/Li-Ion Battery, Universal AC Power Adapter, Deluxe Carrying Case Original Metallic Silver/Black 2-Tone Color )
Processor ( Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6600 (2x 2.4GHz/4MB L2 Cache/1066FSB) )
Memory ( 2048MB(1024MB X2) DDR2-667 PC5300 [Notebook Memory] Mushkin )
Video Card ( Mobility 512MB NVIDIA 8600GT PCI-Express 3D Video (C90S) )
Hard Drive ( 120 GB 7200rpm Serial-ATA-150 Super Slim Notebook Hard Drive )
External Hard Drives [USB 2.0/eSATA] ( None )
CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive ( 8x Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + 16x CD-R/RW Combo Drive [C-90S] )
Sound Card ( 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard )
Fax Modem ( Build-in 56K V.92 Fax Modem [Notebook] )
Network Card ( Build-in 10/100/1000 Network LAN [Notebook] )
Mouse ( None )
USB 2.0 Accessories ( Build-in 3x USB 2.0 Ports [Notebook] )
Flash Media Reader/Writer ( Build-in 8-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer [Notebook] )
Carrying Case ( Free Deluxe Carrying Case )
Operation System ( Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium + [Free 60-Day !!!] Microsoft Office 2007(Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access ....) 32-Bit )
Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner ( None )
IEEE-1394 Fire Wire Card ( Build-in 1x IEEE-1394 Firewire Port [Notebook] )
USB Flash Drive ( None )
TV Tuner ( None )
Video Camera ( Build-in 2.0 Mega Pixels Digital Web Video Camera )
Headset ( None )
Internal Wireless Network Adapter ( [Free !!!] Wireless 802.11 a/b/g 3945 Mini-Card )
Warranty ( Warranty Service Standard One(1) Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )