[defaultmike]

I'm the proud owner of the original 2.0GHz G5 PowerMac and of a 1.2Ghz G4 iBook 12"... or rather, was. I sold my G5, ad my ibook, which desn't have Applecare, just had an issue with its logic board that's gonna cost me US$ 700 if I chose to fix it. I've been meaning to buy a MacBook or MacBook Pro, but since I'm overseas (Brazil), the cheapest shipping + import tax option adds US$ 500 to the regular american price. Plus, it takes a minimum of 45days for it to get here.

I sld the G5 to get a new laptop, bt I don't know which one to get, or if I should wait til Core 2 Duo models are released. Yes, I do need it now, but regardless, it's already gonna take 45days to get here anyways... The main reasons to go Pro would be screen size, 15" would be the perfect compromise between size and portability for me. The video card would be a plus, but only for whenever I decided to play games in Windoze.

So, my options are.
A) buy the logic board for $ 700, it would take 30 days
B) buy a MacBook for $1300 + $500 - 45days
C) buy a MacBook Pro now $1800 + $500 (BH Photo deal) - 45 days
D) wait, and buy a MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo when it's released

Some of these options might be combined, specially since I can sell the ibook here in Brazil for $1100-1400. So, likely I will get it fixed, but I also wanna buy a new laptop.

[World Leader Pretend]

Looked into refurbs, or can you take advantage of an edu discounts? That would knock a bit off the initial price...

[defaultmike]

the only place I can purchase from is www.bhphoto.com because somehow they manage to get it delivered without having to pay th 60% import tax, that's why they charge a hefty "shipping fee" $500