I'll throw my 2 cents in again for open source and a kit. Newer kits like the prusa i3 are not very hard to put together and the amount you learn while doing so is invaluable to learning to print. You may be able to print right away with your Makerbot but if you are not handy enough to build a reprap then you are not going to be happy when your $2000+ closed source printer starts to go south. I really don't see the appeal of a Makerbot at all but I'm certainly biased towards open source printing.

BTW, I do see the appeal of Macs over PCs but I did spend many years working on PCs before switching to Macs so I do know what to do when my Mac breaks down.