I charged tax if I pick it up at the store ?

If you buy from Apple regardless if online or not, you have to pay sales taxes as they have stores everywhere.

If you want to avoid the taxes, you can buy new from a online Mac reseller which doesn't have operations in your State, of course they only sell new, not refurbished.

If your worried about a $84.07 in taxes, then you seriously need to reconsider getting a Mac at all, because there is AppleCare which you need FOR SURE, then a carrying case, and software and backup drives and other things that go along with a computer that add to it's price.

Also once a year, you will almost absolutely have to upgrade the operating system and upgrade third party software, paying more again.

$1000 doesn't buy a very powerful Mac, it's like the dumpster end model that will be hot and slow down sooner than the more powerful models. You won't be able to 3D game very well if that's your goal.

However $1000 will buy a very decent Windows 7 laptop with all the extras and still have some money left over, it won't 3D game well neither, but it will be a decent machine, and it's OS won't change next year requiring a paid upgrade like OS X does.

If you spend $1000 one can get a good basic Windows 7 3D gaming tower and upgrade it over time, if 3D gaming is your goal. Windows lasts a decade between verisons.

If you buy a Mac and wind up having to learn Windows for your job or school, then that's ANOTHER cost as Windows costs for a license, then the pain of Bootcamp or MORE MONEY for virtual machine software, unless you choose the free VirtualBox.

I think a Mac is slightly out of your budget if your worried about $80 something dollars.

Heck Dell makes their computers in Texas, should be dirt cheap there, free shipping easy. 😉

If your sure about a Mac, then go for it, welcome to the club. 🙂

Yes, Texas has a state sales tax with add-ons for local governments.