Today, after 10 years, Me and PC have mutually agreed to go our separate ways.

After flirting with an iPhone for a year, it’s time to pledge my committment. So long Microsoft, it’s been real - Hello MacBook Pro!

Since then I’ve received a few messages of brotherly encouragement, although one friend was nice enough to jarringly declare he didn’t believe I could go through with it because “you don’t have the good taste to be a mac person : )” - thanks Stu, I know you’re just saying that to guilt me out of turning back, but there’s no turning back now.

I set about researching where to buy a Mac and the general concensus was that new model Macs never really sell below retail, so you might as well buy it online from the Apple Store of from the usual suspects like Next Byte. Well, I found that a little hard to swallow, so I did a bit of research and it turns out there are a few places where you can pick up a brand new, latest edition Mac for significantly less than retail - I’m not talking a paltry $50 or $100 off, but a sizable discount that would make the effort worthwhile.

And the winner is?

Well, actually there are a few that offer below recommended retail price. but the winner (purely in price terms) was I-Tech Group. Click here for the I-Tech catalogue and see for yourself. For Example, today they’re offering the new model 17″ MacBook Pro for $3042.00, compared to $3299.00 on the Apple store, saving about $250. (The online store may not be as sexy as your new Mac will be, but if you’re after value then you might need to stick it out one last time).

Another notable mention was Mactofront, who was able to offer below retail prices and had pretty good customer service to boot.

If you’re really serious about your haggling, there’s even a few fanatical sites dedicated to telling you where and when to buy a mac to get the best deal like Mac Rumours Buyer’s Guide.

If this is all sounding a bit bargain-basement for your Mac sensibilities, you can always check out Ye Olde Apple Store instead.

Now, if only there was an easy way to buy a Mac in US Dollars instead of Australian Dollars…