Pretty much apple being dicks would be my guess.

Is it true that they all clap when you buy your first Mac at an Apple Store?

Yeah, you gotta buy the high end one to get the 2.13. That's Apple for you :(

i got $200 off my macbook last year greazy, and a further $80 or so off my ipad

It's because of how the macbook airs are built

they don't use normal ram sticks like other macbooks/laptops, everything is soldered on to the motherboard

I guess Apple could make a heap of different variations of ram/cpu/hdd size but that would be a PITA so they've just kept it simple

Pro.

buy an air if you want a machine that is good and portable but not hugely powerful
buy the pro if you want a good laptop, still very portable but nowhere near as light as an air

In same boat actually. Everyone seems to suggest getting the 13" 128gb model with 4gb of ram. I would on;y be doing work or watching you tube or web browsing. I have a desktop PC if i want to play games or do anything else. A large amount of the speed on the Air comes from its SSD which obviously adds a huge improvement.

Though you could just add a SSD to the Pro. But i like the ultra portability facotr of the Air thats why i am leaning towards it.

I just bought a 13" Pro on education store (they dont even check if ur a student) then bought an OCZ 120gb SSD for $250, installed that and put the 5400 rpm hdd that came in the macbook pro into an external case to use as my backup. Also got a free 8gb ipod touch which i sold for rrp as billy previously suggested.

I never even turned the computer on with the 5400rpm in it but can tell u with the SSD it's silly fast. Boots up in 17 seconds, everything works instantly, fantastic.

Also bought a case from huzzk.com which is really good and free shipping, 2 day delivery.

Chose the MBP over the Air as I wanted something that can handle all my needs both at home/office and on the road.

Pro

I was in the same position and went with the Pro. I take it from home to work. I drive to work so it's not like i'm lugging it around a lot, but I like to be able to move around a bit with it when I'm there. It may not be super light like an Air, but it still has a nice slim profile for moving around.

No firewire on the air, no gigabit ethernet (I use this quite a bit for move files around, it's a lot quicker), no backlit keyboard. Chuck in an SSD and it will kill the Air for speed. The Air has a bit better screen res and it's really unfortunate it's not and upgrade for the 13" Pro, but that's about it. Unless you're commuting on a train or a bus I'd go the Pro.

The Air is also mid to late product cycle. I'd expect a new sandy bridge based Air not too far away.

Have PM'd about instant discount super coupon code!

greazy scope out this thread from a couple of weeks ago regarding the best MBP options: http://www.ausgamers.com/forums/general/thread.php/3026127

Yeah I'm getting a pro. Still no clue about the ipod rebate.

Just checked out that thread about MBP. Did the price of SSD hdd's go up or something? 128gig is $320.