The time for an Intel Mac is at hand and I’m caught in a couple of quandries; MacBook or MacBook Pro; buy now or wait for Merom?

If I was going to buy today, I’ve narrowed it down to either a 2.0GHz MacBook with 2GB RAM and a 100GB HDD or a 2.16GHz 15" MacBook Pro with 2GB RAM and 100GB HDD.

Last year I was considering a 15" PowerBook. I did the maths and concluded by buying my Dell – which was half the price and a faster CPU, larger HDD and better resolution. Besides, I know the Intel Macs were only a matter of six months away – so Windows it was. I like the Dell, it’s a great machine – runs cool, fast, very good battery life and it hasn’t missed a beat – but it’s, I don’t know, rather soulless. Functional but forgetable.

So now the Intel Macs are here and I feel it’s time to switch.

The MacBook Pro initially seemed like the obvious candidate – PowerBook on steroids – but my reaction when I saw the MacBooks soon after their release was “where do I sign?”

The MacBooks’ aesthetics keep drawing me to them despite being concerned that at 1280×800 I’m going to feel like the walls are closing in (I’m used to a lovely 1680×1050 display on my Windows laptop). Now I’d like to say that the MacBook would be the portable part of a larger Apple empire but, if my current laptop is anything to go by, it’ll become the empire.

. But can I live with the 1280×800 resolution? I’m used to a lovely 1680×1050, so even the MBP’s 1440×900 might feel like the walls are closing in.