This morning I moseyed on over to the online Apple Store and purchased a stock 15” Aluminum Powerbook with 512MB and a Superdrive. I got stock just in case I need to do a trade-in (all those stories of white spots on the screen make me a little nervous). I’ll probably wind up adding some more memory in the near future, depending on the performance. And I used the online Apple Store for the education discount we get since Barb is a full-time teacher, saving ~$450 on the computer and Applecare. (No physical Apple Stores near us, unfortunately.)
I also picked up a D-Link wireless router from newegg (nothing but good experiences with them) and a USB Kinesis-Ergo keyboard from Office Organix (no dealings but good prices).
The only downer is the estimated shipping time for the laptop: 10-15 business days. Ouch. The countdown begins...