In the larger scheme of things, this is more a quibble than a qualm, and I have little doubt the MacBook will turn out to be an immensely successful laptop for Apple. It's a powerhouse of a machine, well outfitted with all the extras a road warrior could need, and quiet. The Core Duo chips make it darn fast. The new widescreen-design, glossy LCD and revamped keyboard are eye-catching, and the price, for the most part, is on target.

To me, the sweet spot is the mid-range, $1,299 model. Double the RAM to 1GB, slap in a 7,200-rpm drive, and you've got a stylish laptop that comes close to the performance of the top-end MacBook Pro at about half the price.

Sure, you'll be toting around a shiny, white MacBook instead of a matte black hunk of hipness. But the form and function debate can only carry you so far. Black exclusivity notwithstanding, it's the price and performance equation that makes this laptop lineup really cool.