to the op - definitely get it in japan. i was over there for two years and for some reason put off getting a new laptop until i got back, then got totally stung on the price. the stoopid thing was that i'd compared prices before i left but still didn't get it there. aaargh.

with the nz$ as high as it is now the change totally isn't getting passed on to the buyer. i emailed renaissance (the guys who run apple in nz) and they said that it's to do with the cost of making nz specific adaptors, and that they bring them in through australia which means that the exchange rate differences get diluted with each step, and kinda ummed and ahhed and that was about it. sounds like a gip to me, but. someone must be making a f@<&ing killing off us...

also, you'll find that external hard drives etc are a hell of a lot cheap in japan - around half what you will pay in nz.

the educational discount might be a bugger to get, but good luck with it. if you're studying in a j university (ie have a student id in japanese) then you should be sweet, but if the id is in english you might not have so much joy. definitely worth a shot but it might not fly.

sminch