Dilemma

I guess there really isn't much of a point to posting this on here, but I figured I'd post it anyways to see what you guys think I should do.

I'm currently taking an Advertsing course and we have to rent MacBook Pros (last year's model) from the college for the three years of our course. They're great computers and, now that I've used one for a year (I'm going into my second year in September,) I'll never be able to go back to a WinTel system. But, the ****** thing is that the tech support at the college requires us to turn our laptops in for a week or two every summer, and they reformat it. So, it's hard to actually have anything on it because everything needs to be backed up, or it'll eventually all be lost.

So, I've been considering buying an iMac (the 2.0ghz model with the 17" monitor.) I wouldn't mind a desktop of my own because I hate using my parents' Dell PC (Windows is the Devil) and I'd like to be able to have my own desktop computer, or my own computer for that matter (we do get to buy the MacBook Pros at the end of our course, for $1, though..) I just don't know if it's worth spending $1500 on a new computer when I already have a MacBook Pro. The only reasons I can think of are the fact that it'd be "cool" to have one, I'd be able to put all of my music on it without worrying about it being wiped, and that it'd be a cool status symbol. I don't think those are good enough reasons to warrant a purchase though.

So, I'm confused as to whether I should actually get one or not. Is there anything I should consider about other advantages of an iMac desktop? Or, do you think it'd be pointless to get one?

The decision is up to you in the end, but if it were me, I would go nuts having to format my system and loose my stuff. I would want my own system for my own usage. It's just the way I am. Can you afford the iMac without any hardship? If so, I would say go for it. In the end it's up to you, but that is what I would do.

Yeah; I haven't put anything too important on this MacBook Pro because I don't want to risk losing any important data. Most of the stuff on this thing is just schoolwork. If there's anything really important that I need to save, I'll use my parents' PC, but that is usually just a rare event. I'd much rather use my MacBook, but it's also a pain in the *** to pull it out all the time.

I've been working at an automotive assembly plant throughout the last school year and this summer, so I've saved up quite a bit of money. So, it's not exactly the money that's a problem - it's just that I don't want to waste that substantial amount of money.