OK - Can I throw this in the mix - My daughter wants a laptop for school work and e-mail / web browsing etc. for her 13th Birthday. She is pretty careful with electronic equipment, but she is still young. She prefers the look of the Alu Macbook compared to the white Macbook, but will the White Macbook wear better. When ever I go into my local (not apple) store the white macbook's always tend to look a bit grubby and the case can show signs of scratches more than the Alu Macboks. That having being said the White Macbooks are meant to be able to stand knocks more than the Alu ones. Any one any comments on this ?