MacBook is Apple's line of, for lack of a better word, "consumer-grade" laptops. MacBook Pro is Apple's line of, for lack of a better word, "professional-grade" laptops.
MacBooks are generally less expensive and less powerful than MacBook Pros. However, since (a) both lines have a wide, overlapping, range of configurations and pricing, and (b) Moore's Law pretty much ensures that both lines get more powerful quickly, it's easy to have a MacBook that's more powerful than a MacBook Pro, even of the same vintage.
Where the real differentiation is is in small things, like backlit keyboard, firewire port, SD card reader, and metal exterior. Also: The machines likely have different motherboards, so that the MacBook might not be able to take the same maximum amount of memory, or have the same battery lifetime, or whatever. If you look at two machines configured within their range of overlap, the difference in max memory, processor, etc, isn't going to be an issue.
The peanut gallery here is also saying that the screen quality and video card is usually much better in the Pro, and a large cry of "Don't discount the value of the backlit keyboard."
If you have the option to visit an Apple Store, I'm sure you'd be able to try them out side by side and see of the backlit keyboard and/or video card makes a difference for you.
MacBook v. MacBook Pro
MacBook Pro is Apple's line of, for lack of a better word, "professional-grade" laptops.
MacBooks are generally less expensive and less powerful than MacBook Pros. However, since (a) both lines have a wide, overlapping, range of configurations and pricing, and (b) Moore's Law pretty much ensures that both lines get more powerful quickly, it's easy to have a MacBook that's more powerful than a MacBook Pro, even of the same vintage.
Where the real differentiation is is in small things, like backlit keyboard, firewire port, SD card reader, and metal exterior. Also: The machines likely have different motherboards, so that the MacBook might not be able to take the same maximum amount of memory, or have the same battery lifetime, or whatever. If you look at two machines configured within their range of overlap, the difference in max memory, processor, etc, isn't going to be an issue.
The peanut gallery here is also saying that the screen quality and video card is usually much better in the Pro, and a large cry of "Don't discount the value of the backlit keyboard."
If you have the option to visit an Apple Store, I'm sure you'd be able to try them out side by side and see of the backlit keyboard and/or video card makes a difference for you.