Need help deciding

Hey everyone;

I'm in the market for a laptop, as I am going off to college next year.
I have been a PC user all my life, and was just recently introduced to Macs. I have been really fed up with MS lately, espeically with Vista. As I was complaining to my friend that my 6 month old PC that I spent close to $1200 on could run Vista, he was quick to show me his 4 year old mac that ran OSX seamlessly. I was pleasently surpirsed, untill he showed me his new MacBook Pro, which really hooked me.

Anways, here is the dilemma I'm having; choosing between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro. My main concern in choosing a laptop is finding something that will last at least 4 years, something im now doubting a MS based notebook can do. On the one hand, I know im getting a better computer out of the MacBook Pro, and I dont mind spending a little more for quality, as long as it is justified. However, a macbook configured with the specs im looking for in a Pro (2gb RAM, 120gb HD) costs significantly less. Essentially im looking to justify spending an extra $600 or so on the Pro.

I intend to use this laptop mainly for school work- word processing, spreadsheets, internet and the like. I do most of my gaming on consoles, so the lack of a dedicated graohics card in the MacBook doesnt bother me all too much, but the fact that I often multitask makes me think i may need a better processor than the 2.0ghz one in the MacBook.

I havent been able to find too much on the battery life comparisons of the two laptops. I will be doing a fair amount of traveling (my school is 6hrs from home) and the extra battery life that i assume the macbook gets may be a plus.

thanks for your help.

The real difference between the MacBook and MB Pro is really the graphics card and the screen size.

I, too, am going off to college and will be buying a MacBook, because it suits my needs, which are the same as yours, more or less.

The MBP really is only useful if you need it for your profession. The MacBook is also slightly smaller (but thicker) and I find it more robust.

It has a fast processor, and if you feed it enough RAM, it will sing. I recommend a MacBook for you. You won't feel like you've bought something "less powerful".