What I'm finding is that the price premium for Apple vs. PC laptops seems to be more like 175% to 200%, and that's a little much.

I've got to disagree with that. You get what you pay for and apple has been pretty competitive with their laptops for the last few years. Compare the prices and specs to any big name PC manufacturer's laptops and they are pretty damn close. Toshiba's Tecra series for example is pretty comparable spec for spec with apples powerbooks and apple's prices are better. Of course if you are shopping for your laptop from "Crazy Joe's Bait and Computers", things may be a little different.

-Mike