As others have said, it depends on what you’re going to use it for. The biggest things to consider are screen size, processor speed and video card in my opinion. The other stuff like the light up keyboard and things like that are bonuses, but in the long run you’re going to notice the other things a lot more.
If you use professional applications like Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro, etc then the MacBook Pro is really the only option.
If you play games AT ALL then the MacBook Pro will really be the only option. The integrated graphics card in the MacBook is very weak and will not run many games well at all.
If you’re just emailing, browsing the web, listening to music, etc then the MacBook will be fine.
I wouldn’t worry about RAM or hard drive much. You can upgrade both machines to a good amount of RAM and you can always add extra hard drives externally through firewire or USB.
As for the Mac prices being sky high, I’ll just point you here.