How a security freeze saved me from buying a Mac

In the year since I ordered a permanent security freeze on my credit reports, I've had my share of inconveniences. While it's great to have complete control over who can access my credit reports, a security freeze can really bog down the loan approval process. Most recently I was unable to take advantage of a 12-months same-as-cash "instant credit" offer on apple.com that would have delivered that iMac with the stunning 27-in. LED screen into my sweaty little palms. But maybe that delay wasn't such a bad thing.

At the time, I was sick and tired of troubleshooting problems on my Windows XP laptops. The Mac has a reputation for having fewer security and configuration issues and greater stability. But it was that wonderful iMac screen that sold me. I had to have it!

However, I didn't want to lay out the $1,699 all at once. So I signed up for the Barclaycard Visa, which would carry the purchase for up to 12 months interest free. "Decisions can take as little as 30 seconds!"

Not for me.

As I expected, the form didn't allow me to tell Barclays that I had a freeze in place before clicking the submit button. Sorry, came the response, but something is wrong. We'll get back to you in ten business days.

So I called them. I swam upstream through the brutal currents of the automated attendant system until I finally reached a live human, only to hear that she could not help me. While she could see the pending application, she was powerless to add a notation to it or otherwise intervene in the sacred ten-day process. I would just have to wait.

So I did. And while I did, I started thinking about what else I could do with that $1,699. The impulse purchase vibrations were beginning to attenuate just a bit. Two weeks later -- yesterday, in fact -- a notice came from Card Services. "In order to obtain your credit information through the credit bureau we need to verify information provided on your application," it said. I called the toll-free number, asked which of the three credit reporting agencies they wanted to use and told them I'd unlock it and call back with a limited-time access pin.

The problem is that, two weeks later, I'm not so sure I want the iMac anymore.

That's not such a good thing for Apple, whose marketing thrives on overstimulating the part of my brain that has to have it now. In fact, the success of the new iPad may depend on that initial consumer knee-jerk reaction. The iPad is a device in search of a raison d'être. What device niche can it replace? And if it can't replace anything, what practical use does it have that makes it worth the trouble and expense of having yet another screen around the house that I have to maintain and buy apps and accessories for? Right now, the primary reason to buy it is "Because it's really, really cool." Practically speaking, most people need to buy another category of computing device about as much as they need a third leg.

But they'll want it anyway.

Fortunately for Apple, people like me who like those same-as-cash offers will trip up over a security freeze and have two weeks to think about it are still in the minority.

But think about it -- I did. And lately I've started thinking less about that gorgeous Apple iMac display and more about a shiny new Windows 7 laptop. The new machines are more stable than Vista was. Unlike the with the Mac, intense hardware competition driven by low-price vendors like Acer has greatly reduced laptop prices. This week's Staples specials, for example, offer an Acer Aspire AS7740-5691 (17.3-in. screen, Intel Core i3, 4 GB RAM, 320GB hard drive) for $549.98. Even if I added a 24-in. widescreen LCD panel for $199.98, I'd be under $750. That's $950 less than my iMac dream machine, and the Acer unit is almost half the cost of an entry level MacBook, which comes with a tiny 13-in. screen.

So I have a decision to make. Do I buy what I want? Or settle for what I need? What would you do?