I think you have some excellent points here.  My situation is a little different than yours, but I'm running into the same sorts of concerns that you expressed.   I have a house full of Windows 7 machines and have recently been looking to replace a netbook that no longer serves my needs with something more substantial.  I set my criteria and looked at the current available options and at this point, I keep coming back to the 13" MacBook Pro. I have yet to find anything in the PC world that is really close to the specs and the performance of the 13" MBP.   I can find similar battery life, but the CPU is significantly slower and there is usually less RAM and drive space.  I can find similar specs, but the battery life is rather short.  I can even find a Sony laptop that is similar in almost all respects to the 13" MBP, but the Sony is almost double the price of the Mac.  For the criteria that I set for this purchase, the MacBook Pro seems to be the perfect machine.

Your Thinkpad for example has the slower AMD processor and based on reviews seems to average about 5 hours of battery life.  (Which from your write up seems to be perfect for your needs. Which is fantastic)  Once I configure a Thinkpad with a similar processor and upgrade the specs to be close to the MBP it ends up being very close in price to the MacBook Pro.  So for me its not a clear cut savings to go with the Thinkpad.  (And the Thinkpads are not available in stores in my area either, so I'd be ordering blind as well. Which I think is really a problem with something that ends up being as personal as a laptop.  It needs to feel right, and that's hard to get a feel for mail order.)

So I am faced with a dilemma.  I dont currently use OSX, and I really like Windows 7.  (And all my currently licensed applications are windows applications.)   I am also frustrated with Apple for all of the reasons you listed above.  I like the hardware and I like the technology.  I have issues with the attitudes and the conduct of the company. "You dont get Flash support because we decided you dont need it."  I also have issues with the arrogance in their marketing.  "We dont make a netbook because they are useless, you need to buy an iPad instead."

So the question for me becomes, do I try to ignore the company behind it and buy the hardware that best meets my individual criteria.  (And just put Win7 on the MBP to run my existing software.)  Or do I buy a machine that does not meet all of my criteria, or possibly a more expensive machine that does and feel good about not supporting a company that has a corporate attitude and a business philosophy that I disagree with?

If there were 2 machines that were equal in price and similar the choice would be easy, I'd stick with the PC.  Sadly, it really does seem like the MBP does not have a direct competitor on the PC side of the fence right now.

Great article though!