Oh, I've been in the business for a long time and have used many, many different types of machines. Everything from (very) cheap eMachines to IBM Thinkpad to Dell laptops; I've used them all and all I can think about is how lacking they are. I'm a professional programmer, I make my living with these things, they have to work correctly, all the time. My father was a mechanic and he had to purchase a lot of his own tools. Did he get the $3 screwdriver from Harbor Freight? No, he purchased the $45 one from SnapOn, and it was worth every, single, penny. I feel the same way about my tools. The chair I'm sitting in is a 10 year old Aeron and it works just as well as the day it was made. Sure it costs more than the $90 "office" chair at Staples, but I sit in it all day every day and it doesn't make my back hurt. It was worth every, single, penny.
If the price is so important, I have a €1800 Fujitsu laptop from work and could name no issue. It even works perfectly with Linux. Consumer devices are not necessarily bad but often the price increase from that to a business tool is worth it, as you say. I just find the Apple praise weird when people often never used an equivalent non-Apple device.
