Which MacBook should I buy?

RAM is more important than processor speed. Get as much RAM as you can shove in that thing. And get a external monitor. It helps a lot with web development.

You’re right, the MacBook Air isn’t right for you. It only really works as a secondary computer. The MacBook Pro seems a little too much for your needs. As to the MacBook: With the black one you’ll pay a premium just for the color (yeah, it has a bigger hardrive, but are 40 Gigs worth 200 bucks?). I’d really recommend the small white one to you. Don’t buy RAM or HardDrive upgrades from Apple. They have silly prices and it’s really (really, really) easy (childs play) to upgrade the HD and RAM in a MacBook. (And these parts are user-serviceable, so it won’t void Apples guarantee) For Photoshop it could make sense to go to 2 GB. I recommend to buy the upgrades from an Apple-savvy 3rd-party-reseller. (Mac OS X is very picky about strict standards when it comes to RAM) Also you may want to get not only a bigger, but as well a faster HardDrive, where you have to make sure it doesn’t get to hot. An Apple certified Shop should know about stuff like that.

Lol, so you want us to pick Black or White for you? I’d go white.

I have a 17” MBP with 2 gigs of ram and Black MacBook with 4 gigs of ram. The MacBook feels faster, helped by the extra ram, and is much more portable than the 17”.

When not traveling I hook the MacBook up to a 22” LCD. The 17” stays parked at my other office most of the time.

I use both for web design/development.

As mention earlier, go with as much ram as possible. I paid less than $150 for 4 gigs of Mushkin. I usually use www.MacMall.com. Purchased dozens of Macs from them with no problems.

Get the white Macbook, since the black one is more expensive without being at all better (though it does look great). Add a bigger hard drive and as much RAM as you can afford (and keep in mind that third-party RAM will be cheaper than Apple’s RAM). If you have extra money you can buy an external LCD and still spend less than you would on a Macbook Pro.

However—I have a 15” Powerbook and do some web development. I don’t use an external monitor because I’m in school and tend to work in coffee shops or at school as much as I do at home. I wouldn’t be comfortable being stuck on a 13” screen doing graphics work. It can be OK sometimes, but most of the time you’ll probably want to be on a bigger monitor.

I have often wished that my 15” Powerbook were more portable, but the 13” Macbook weighs the same, and that’s the main portability issue for me. I will definitely get another 15” laptop when this one dies.

Then again, for full time web development you’ll want to have a real monitor somewhere, whether you have the 13” or the 15” laptop. Neither is quite ideal.

The fastest and most memory you can afford, as close to when you’re actually going to use it for school.

Also bear in mind that Adobe has some pretty aggressive student pricing if you buy direct from them. (CS3-Design Premium).

Ditto on the 2nd LCD-DVI-D though don’t skimp and go VGA, would be a big mistake…and while they look good, Apple Cinema Displays are way overpriced, as is Apple’s insane RAM markup.

Mac Pro is the best.

Get a 17 inch MacBook Pro if you can. A big screen and a fast processor is always best for design

Get the most powerful computer you can, which is probably the white MacBook. Put as much memory in it as you can, but don’t buy memory from Apple; buy it yourself and install it yourself, or have a computer-savvy friend install it. Having an abundance of memory will make the computer seem a lot faster; most of what you do won’t tax the processor, until you start doing really heavy-duty things in Photoshop, but everything you do will tax the memory. Paying extra for the black computer strikes me as foolish, but it’s your money.

As far as MacBook Pro versus MacBook: you get slightly more main processor performance, much better graphic performance, and a larger screen for your money. Whether that’s worth it or not depends on your parents’ budget. Remember to factor in the price of Photoshop or Creative Suite; if you’re looking at pro design, the Gimp won’t cut it because it can’t do color matching or color separation, though it’s adequate if you’re just doing web design.

As an aside – take a look at Apple’s Refurb deals. I’ve purchased two MacBooks (black and white), an Airport Extreme and two Mac Minis via Apple Refurb over the years. One of the MacBooks had some slight bubbles on the screen so I sent it in and Apple replaced the screen (4 day turnaround) no problemo. Saved ~>20% off the price new for everything. The refurb list on store.apple.com is updated daily, so if you dont find what you want, check back later.
I’m totally happy with the MacBooks, I’ve used a Pro at work and didn’t think it was all that much better aside from the gimmicks.
I don’t notice the diff between my black & white MacBooks other than the black looks sweeter. 160gb HD vs 250gb HD is your call… My thinking is external storage will always get cheaper and I don’t have 100gb of stuff I need with me at all times anyhow (then again, I dont do video/photo work).
Bang-for-the-buck wise, RAM’s your best bet. I’d go with the white MacBook and spend the extra $$ on as much RAM as you can put in. The nice thing about that is it’s not a must-have up front cost, you’ll be fine waiting a month for a great RAM deal to come up. Like everyone says, do NOT buy from Apple – Keep your eyes open for deals from the likes of NewEgg – you can often get spectacular rebate deals if you’re willing to deal with rebates. If you’re comfortable with a jeweler’s screwdriver, you can do the RAM swap yourself (Apple’s howto is here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303721). They typically come with both slots full already, so expect to totally discard whatever’s in there currently.

go for the white it is perfect for you