I purchased a MacBook Pro last year. I bought it refurbished with the educational discount. I was also able to buy the Apple Care protection plan. It's a phenomenal computer! So much so that I get very aggravated with my work pc (though that is in part also a server issue).

If you are the type of person who can pay off something in a year, you can take get Apple financing and no finance charges if you pay it off in the year.