Apple is actually the more stable product. PC's are not. It has to do with the programming. We use to joke that Steve Jobs was a programmer and Bill Gates was a businessman. Gates just hit on the right model for sales. Jobs programmed better computers.
As for price, you might want to try Universities in your area. When they replace their old equipment ie Macs for brand new Macs you can get the old dirt cheap and as I said, Macs are more stable so it makes less difference. Example our local University use to sell the previous generation of Macs for 200.00. They were about a year old. And they sold them as Works so if they didn't, you got your money back.