Quote from american comments:

“I bought my 17″ MBP C2D in March 2007, it still looks new. Keys aren’t worn down, no flex still. Wrist rest is still as new as the day I bought it, trackpad has no sign of wear.

This laptop replaced my 17″ Dell Inspiron 9300 that was only a year old. That laptop’s rubber feet had come off and needed to be glued back on a few times; the bottom was getting a bit worn, the trackpad was worn out in the middle, and the wrist rest had worn down to the plastic and were a different color, the spacebar was a different texture where my thumbs wrested, and the screen had a blue line down the one side and a red line down the other. Speaking of the screen, the lid wouldn’t stay in one position, typing too hard would make the lid fall backward.

I paid about $1000 for the Dell and after a year it felt like trash. I paid $2400 for my MBP and it stills feels new. To me, that is worth the extra money; my laptop is going to last me for at least another year and then will probably get passed down to a family member and still be a viable workhorse. So, is it worth it? Heck yes.”

You buy a cheap laptop, treat it like crap, and sure enough its not going to last as long as an expensive laptop you treat like your first born