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No.
I got my XPS for $980 last March. Peryn Core, 4 GB (DDR3 isn't even a factor since laptop cores don't run high enough clock rates for the difference to matter), 9600m GT, 1680x1050 (Upgrading to 1920 would've cost $50 more), and a battery that lasts 7 or so hours.
What you're ignoring is the fact that unlike Apple, PC retailers like HP and Dell frequently have sales. In fact, the vast majority of laptops sold by them aren't sold at the sticker price. The "Instant Savings" and such are just gimmicks when you consider that you can easily go on ebay and find hundreds of 25%-30% off coupons that occasionally stack with each other. What you're doing is comparing a sticker price for the MBP that doesn't vary (since they have such firm control of their retailers) and a sticker price for the Dell that is rarely ever applicable since they are constantly on sale.
If you read this thread yourself, you'll see that practically everyone has suggested the OP check slickdeals and such for deals on PCs, which just drives the point home. Even with your student discount, the Mac is priced higher than the hardware provided and software included would suggest.
Final Cut Pro costs twice what Premiere Pro CS4 does. So if you're a professional filmmaker and your company is willing to comp you for it, by all means, go for it. But the pieces of software overlap on the vast majority of processes used. For practically everyone who uses it, Premiere Pro CS4 is overkill. Just keep in mind that for the price of FCP, you can have the CS4 Production Suite, which will let you do far more than just film.
At the end of the day, you use what you use. I have a laptop that I paid far less for that runs just as fast. If Apple were to release a computer that costs the same and runs faster, I'd be on it in a heartbeat. But as it stands now, PCs are better values than Macs. No one is saying that Macs aren't capable laptops, I'm just saying that you could get more for the same money with a PC, which you fully admit yourself. If that's something you can't accept, by all means, keep bickering. But that's the point I'm trying to make. Not that PCs are inherently better than Macs, just that they're better values.
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