Actually, PC World got a laptop that was faster than the MBP. The Eurocom D900C Phantom-X, which was tested after they printed the article. But the $5158 US price tag will probably make many reconsider....really fast.
Concerning the Macbook, you can sure find something cheaper. And better. I can price a XPS 1330 for cheaper. But it comes down to what you want. After how-many-years of Windows, I was ready to get away from Windows. Linux was one alternative. But the marketplace started opening up to Macs when I started looking. And since my experience with Macs was limited, I felt this was a better choice. Thankfully at time, Macs started using Intel chips, so it made my hardware comparisons easier. When I actually started using OS X in the field, I found it to be quite a pleasant experience and not so bad once I started using it. Another thing that sealed my deal was Boot Camp. I could run Windows on the Mac so if i needed to run certain applications that needed a native Windows environment, I could easily switch to Windows.
But that's not to say OS X is not without its flaws, but I found the Mac side of things generally easier to deal with than a PC.