Anecdotal at best. Far better data sources, including Consumer Reports, indicate fewer problems with the brand than most others. This has been posted so many times and for so many years that I can't really see how anyone can question it.
Even if you don't like CR, arguing "5x" more repairs (hopefully you support at least 5x more Macs by volume than anything else?) is silly.
Just browsing and happened to see this...and I also happened to have looked at CR ratings. They didnt say apple was better, in fact they said that all the brands ended up comparable (but no asus in the survey?).
Personally Ive seen several apple laptops break (sister/brother and a freind), a few with bad hinges and one just seemed to die (wouldnt boot anymore, I tried to fix it). While my dad is still using an old Dell mobile p4 laptop with an ATI 9700 series GPU in it and my mom is using a Dell centrino laptop with an Nvidia 8400m. Ive seen an acer die and a sony as well (again sister/brother, they have an asus thats doing fine now). Had a couple of asus laptops including a refurbed gaming laptop (Nvidia 9800m) thats still going strong 2 years later despite heavy use and being banged around all over the world.
Wouldnt say Im a fan of any one particular brand, but subjectively it seems dell and asus have held up better over time. Asus in particular has put out some firsts in laptops and some interesting models and competitive prices (and the default warranty is great with included accidental coverage). The dells were purchased because of the specs for the money.
Right now dell and asus are at it again. XPS 15 with a 100$ off code (google the latest one) you can get the base unit i5-2410 2.3-2.9GHz 500GB-7.2K 6GB GT525M and great 1080p for 794$ backlit keyboard for 40$ more (834$). You can also check the outlet with a 20% off code.
That base unit for 794$ has a much faster CPU more RAM bigger HDD and a GPU nearly as fast (cool enough to OC faster) as the old Asus gaming laptop while running cooler/quieter having a much better screen (vs a poor 13x7) speakers and chasis (has metal parts) better conectivity and much longer battery life (like 2x). That old asus works great, and this would be better. As long as you dont smash on it with a hammer I dont see why it wouldnt be good.
Theres also this asus gaming unit, i7-2630 2-2.9GHz 500GB-7.2K 6GB GTX460 and 1080p and backlit for 800$ after rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230027 spec wise its "better" than the dell with a better CPU/GPU but its gonna be bigger heavier and even with the bigger battery probably shorter life unplugged (no optimus). Got a rebate hassle and might be overkill and the improved specs probably aint worth the other trade offs to your wife. Personally I think Id take this one...but the difference is really only that this can run the newest games with much higher settings (the dell can still run them OK).
In the 800$ range these are the best Ive seen to date. Ive got nothing against apple, but I dont see them being worth the trade offs (lesser specs/performance and/or more cost). If were were looking at ultraportables things would be different.