Mac Forums

Hi. I will be attending uni this October and I would like to know people's opinions on getting the refreshed Macbook Pros i5 models that were released a bit earlier. I've always been more of a Mac person and love the flexibility of being able to run both Windows and the Mac OS X. My course will be Management, and I would be looking to take up some modules that involve Actuarial Sciences and Senior Marketing, so I wouldn't need hefty specifications as all I would doing on the computer would be word processing jobs. So the MacBook Pro i5 2.4Ghz baseline model would fit my needs more than enough.

Question is, when would be the best time for me to purchase it? I heard Apple has special offers for students during each Summer, but dont they normally have the Education Discount anyways? If I Order online, how (if needed) would I prove that I'm eligible for the discounted price? Mind you I will not have my Student ID until I actually attend school. Lastly, how does the rebate stuff work? The Apple online store says I get mail-in rebate if I purchase one of their HP Printers along with the Macbook, do they mail you back the cash or something?

Thanks!