We Need a Better PC
Not disagreeing with the premise, but just want to plug a machine I am very happy with.<p>I was a lifetime mac owner (since OS 9) and my 2010 Macbook Pro finally broke down this year.  It made it that long because I doubled the RAM, replaced the battery, and replaced the HDD with a hybrid drive.  Finally the battery puffed up and exploded.  I brought it to the Apple Store and they were beyond useless.  The new MBPs are not modifiable in any way, and Apple's customer service is not what it used to be.  So I decided to get a non-Mac for the first time in my life.<p>I ended up with an Asus Zenbook UX305LA.  It's a 13" 1080p screen, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Core i5 processor.  Cost me $749 and I dual-boot WIndows 10 and Ubuntu (spending 95% of my time in Ubuntu).  It costs about 50% what a similar specced Macbook would cost and is similar size/weight to the Macbook air.  Build quality is fantastic (open with one hand, good keyboard, glass trackpad, etc).  The battery life is not quite as good as a 13" MBA but better than a Macbook Pro.  Overall I am extremely happy with it.<p>Considering that my last MBP cost me $2200 up front plus ~$300 in repairs over time and lasted me ~4.5 years.  That's about $500 a year.  This machine cost $750.  If it lasts over a year and a half, the experiment is a success.  So far it's been nothing but great.