Originally Posted By: Dignan
And nowhere in your reasoned, logical explanation why you chose the Air over a netbook do you even touch upon the issue of spending FIVE TIMES as much money.

I value functionality and am willing to spend money to get what I want. The only reason I looked at netbooks is due to their size. I could have spent $325 on some cheep netbook (1/5th the price of my Air). Then I would have spent at least $1000 on a decent laptop to actually meet my needs, one that wouldn't be as slim or as light as what I got. Then I'd own two devices I wasn't fully happy with, and one likely to be sitting unused.

I also tend to look at things in a total cost of ownership method. I'm willing to pay more up front to ensure I also get a system that will meet my needs down the road. My MacBook Pro lasted me for nearly 3 years as my only system, including as my PC gaming machine. It now lives on as a family members machine, and will likely meet their needs for at least 3-4 more years. It's also running an operating system I trust for them to use online, reducing my time spent supporting their issues. Could I have bought a cheeper system? Sure. But it would have cost me more money in the long run.