If you're going to get a Macbook, do not get one yet. Wait until mid-summer when Apple starts running their back-to-school promotions. I got myself a Macbook this most recent summer, and I got a free iPod Touch and a free printer out of it.

I love my Macbook. The new Macbooks seem especially nice, although I've only been able to test-run one at a local Best Buy. The extra-large touchpad in tandem with multi-touch is a huge step forward in usability.

However, if I were to do it over again, I'm not sure I'd get a Macbook. I originally got a laptop instead of a desktop because I planned on taking notes in class and because I feared I wouldn't have room in my dorm for a desktop, but I've discovered that I hate taking notes on a laptop in class and that, with a bit of clever rearranging, it's perfectly possible to fit a desktop in a dorm. Having a laptop is still nice since it's easy to transport home and back, but a desktop's not that much harder to transport when you have the whole back of a car to put it in.

So my recommendation would be to save yourself (a lot) of money and get a desktop, not a laptop. After you've been in college for a semester or so, if you find yourself yearning to take notes on a laptop during classes, get a netbook. Netbooks are very small, extremely portable, and cheap--cheap enough that the combined cost of a netbook and a decent desktop would be less than that of a good laptop such as a Macbook if you plan your purchases wisely.

And when I say netbook, I exclude the Macbook Air because of its extremely high price.