You don't seem to get the ads at all. They're not just about prices, they're about CHOICE *and* prices. Sure, a MBP 17" isn't comparable with an $800 Dell but the point is that the customer wanted a 17" laptop, and Apple doesn't have any 17" laptops other than the MBP. If the customer wants a sub $1000 notebook, all they have is the bloody whitebook with its thumbnail sized screen and jumbo pixels. None of the laptop hunters wanted a 13" so they had to compare with whatever Apple had to offer in terms of 15" and up, and all they have in that range is MBP 15"/17".
So when is the comparison "fair"? Should Apple's competitors be forced to only compare to the 13" whitebook because that's the only consumer laptop Apple can be arsed to produce?
What do you think PCs ship with? A bare bones installation of the most basic version of Windows? All computers come loaded with a bunch of toybox applications for managing photos, creating DVDs and all that hobbyist crap. The value of iLife is absolutely zero to me personally, I'm on my third Mac and I don't use any of the iLife apps (no, not even iPhoto). When I buy a new computer I install Adobe CS, Office and a bunch of audio apps and plugins and that's where I spend my time. All I need from the system itself is file management and a versatile media player.