No one is claiming the iMacs are expensive. Just their laptops.
They are, I believe they use IPS panels in the larger MacBooks(I know that my little 13" isn't so good screenwise, no better than my old $850 Dell at any rate). The one thing that a lot of people tend to ignore, for MOST manufacturers, any laptop not 15.6" or larger is generally a premium line. Look at the Sony Vaios, they get more expensive the smaller you take them.
Now, that doesn't totally excuse the price but frankly, we KNOW that Apple enjoys taking a large margin on their sales. Always have, always will. At least they're pretty:biggrin: