This past December, I was given a Dell Precision M4500 as my new work computer. "OK," I thought, "no biggie. When I travel, I tote my iPad for anything personal and entertainment-oriented. I can do this." And I was right. I can do this, but I certainly don't enjoy it.
For this argument, I am speaking specifically to what I will call the UI hardware: the plastic, glass and metal bits that me, as the user, directly interact with. The stuff "under the hood" is irrelevant to this. For the sake of no argument, I'll call that a draw: it just works for both.
Man, what a cludge this Dell is. The keyboard is clunky and unresponsive compared to the Mac, and who the hell uses the ridiculous keyboard clit anyway? I grabbed pliers and popped that piece of crap out after only a day of it constantly being in the way. Please don't suggest disabling it via software. Despite following the instructions to the letter, IT DIDN'T WORK.
As for the touchpad, how shall I put it? It sucks. Seemingly half the time, tapping it gets no response. The other half of the time, it interprets a tap as a tap, hold and scroll, wildly selecting anything on the screen. Worthless. After going mouse-less for 6 years, it would be tough to go back, and I don't want the added headache of making sure I have one in my travel bag all the time. I'm very sorry Dell, even at half the cost, it's still not a bargain. For me, I might think it a deal at 20% of the cost.
If there ever was an argument for Mac over PC, the software world isn't where the argument lies; it's in the elegant engineering of Apple's products. Software is a sad second place to hardware in this two-horse race.
I use a computer 8-10 hours per day. It used to be a pleasure to tap, tap, tap on the keys with the Mac. With the Dell, it's torture. I am not surprised at the difference in share price over the last 10 years, or that Apple is currently the most valuable company in the world with a market cap more than 14 times that of Dell. Sure, things won't stay that way, but Dell sure isn't going to close that gap with crappy UI hardware.