If you are not in a hurry, maybe you could think of buying a refurbished Mac. I've got a big 27'' iMac 20% off, last time I bought one.
One of my best friends was a studio manager at the La Voix de Jura newspaper. Responsible for buying and maintenance of Mac and PC equipment. He told me pc is 50% cheaper initial investment, but obsolete twice as fast. And if you look at time lost for bugs, virusses and user unfriendlynes, PC's in the end work out simply more expensive than Macs. Unless you live in Asia and get paid 2$ an hour. Like those 85% PC ownwers someone wrote about earlier.
If you like quality, versatility and plain fun in everyday use... buy a Mac. That said, my 1.5 year old iPad is the best machine I bought in the last 20 years. Even is there is a much better one now. And when I had a problem with line appearing on my screen, they just gave me a new one. Even personalized it for me, like my old one, for free.