the virtual PC has existed for a long time since the days of the imac, but gotta warn ya it's incredibly slow and not really efficient, plus it hangs pretty easily. most mass commers in my school, as i have noticed, use a lot of ibooks and powerbooks, so i guess it's pretty common to have one if you're going into that faculty. if you already have another pc at home then get the mac, lasts longer too due to the stability.
i studied in NP, getting an available power plug during breaks is almost impossible, just like finding an empty to have lunch coz we got too many students and too little places to chill. Mac's batteries last longer than Pc, my Pc went from 4hrs to 1hr in just a few weeks of use, which is really annoying.
Np has got firewall on some sites, if you're uploading from somewhere, it maybe restricted. signing into MSN messenger is a lot of trouble. plus not everywhere on campus can get good signal strength.
yeah you're right about the warranty thing. my laptop started to break down only in year 3, and i got to change all the parts for free. But my other classmates had to pay, it depends. However, i find that the authorized vendors sell us really no-good laptops too, so it breaks down pretty easily. Most hard core users, like using it more than 5 hours everyday, their's break down really easily. but depends on your luck. if you get a good one, then it'll last long, if not, see you at MeL. haha.. their service isn't really good and takes pretty long to fix things (1 week to months). so getting a mac is much worth for money, IMO.
i think mac is more value for money all along. i would have gotta an ibook if i wasn't in business..
anyway, bummer you're choosing a PC.. do get toshiba then 
