Understanding MacBook vs. MacBook Pro

Reader Andrew writes: What is the difference between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro?

At first I thought this might be a question too obvious to answer, but most people probably haven't had hands-on experience with both machines. Fortunately, I have. Here's what you need to know about the dynamic duo.

• Price - In a nutshell, the MacBook is a replacement for the old iBook, a lower-end machine designed for students and budget-conscious buyers, but without the candy colors. The MacBook starts at $1099. The Pro starts at $1999.
• Size - MacBook comes in one size: a somewhat tiny 13.3-inches diagonal. The Pro has 15.4-inch and 17-inch screens, and the difference is visually considerable. Both are widescreen notebooks.
• Specs - Both machines can be configured with hard drives up to 200GB in size (wow), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, slot-loading DVD burners, and a built-in web camera. But the Pro has plenty more on top of this: A FireWire 800 port, and a real graphics card (instead of low-grade integrated graphics). Finally, both machines also feature Intel Core 2 Duo CPUs, but the MacBook tops out at 2GHz while the Pro tops out at 2.33GHz. This isn't a big deal worth worrying about though.
• Color - The MacBook comes in black or white. The Pro is silver.
• Quality - This is the biggie. I think the Pro is a really stellar laptop, but the MacBook struck me as a little cheap. Playing a DVD on the optical drive, the machine rattled so much I thought I had one of those vibrating football games on my desk. A computer shouldn't be that noisy. Performance is also considerably lower with the MacBook, largely due to its lack of a video card: You won't be gaming on this machine, period.

So that's the gist. MacBook little and cheap. MacBook Pro big and powerful. I would recommend the Pro for just about anyone who can afford it (especially if you're a MacOS fan). The MacBook, not so much.