First, $1700 for a laptop is too much. Either Mac or PC.
I do not see the point of buying a $1000+ laptop to do schoolwork, go online, watch some videos, etc.
Second, I always wonder what will happen if OSX opens up and allows you to run it on your own hardware. I think BSOD or Beach Ball of Death (is that the name?) will appear very very very often.
It's like little kids in a party, one or two can easily be handled, try to manage 15+ kids correctly and you are bound to run into problems.
And you cannot say you have a party with only 1 or 2 guests.
Hopefully you get my metaphor.
Thrid, one of my favorite myths is the no-virus/super_protected myth.
Read this:
http://www.itwire.com/content/view/23941/53/
To those that say that Windows gives headaches, it is slugish, etc (like in the Mac ad). I don't know what you are doing with your PC. I run every application I need, I install new applications to test out (now starting to use VPC), I have software that I don't use (other family members use), and I never run into problems. No headaches and no slugish performance. I just make sure that what needs to be running is running and what should not be running is not.
Maxor127, I know that based on the hardware of some Macs, some current games can be handled, but the price you pay for it is more than what you pay with a PC.
Core i7 2.66Ghz Nahalem: $280
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB)DDR3 1333: $115
EVGA E758-A1 LGA 1366 Intel X58: $300
EVGA GeForce GTX 285 1GB: $320
Other Things(Case+HDD+DVD Burner+etc): ~$500
Total: ~$1500
Those specs are for a quick build close (actually better) to the 1 CPU MacPro.
The differece is $1500 PC vs $2500 MacPro. Are you really willing to pay $1000 for an OS?