not Mac bashing but wow...

I know this thread is closed, but I do want to put in my opinion of the matter .

Regarding the price premium, there is a price premium for Macs when you look at bare specifications, in the sense that for the same price, you can get a more powerful non-Mac computer if you only look at processors, RAM, HDDs, graphics cards, etc. There's no doubt about that. But there are a lot of extras that come with Macs that most Mac users will consider justifying its cost, while others will say its not worth it. That's an opinion, and no opinion is "wrong". Some will say the power of the BMW engine will make it worth it, while others settle fine with any $20'000 car. Neither decision is a wrong choice, its a personal opinion; the second one may have saved $40'000 to spend elsewhere, while the BMW owner will have considered it money well spent.

In regards to the display, the Apple Cinema Displays do use S-IPS panels, which are better quality in various aspects to TN panels, which are the displays you will see at a brick-and-mortar store or from the regular Dells.

To give you a sense of the higher cost of S-IPS panels, this is a 20-inch standard display from Dell.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...etail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-4687

At 20.1-inches, it is $399, and just about a month ago I remember it was $499. So while Apple's Cinema Displays are expensive, they are of higher quality, and those in the production business that need near-perfection love these displays.