but, will, crynel just linked an Asus laptop that's better or equal to the MBPro in specs (minus the wireless card and webcam) and is $1200 + Apple's taxes cheaper than a MBPro. The two spots where the MBPro wins are hardly worth $1400 or so (including taxes). Well there may be 3 spots where the MBPro wins if you consider the OS but still, there is a huge difference in cost.
The extra USB ports in the Asus laptop make a world of difference, I really wish my Rev.1 MBPro had more than 2 USB ports.
1)Asus A8 Series A8JP-4S029M
2)MBpro
Processor
1)2GHz Core 2Duo 4MB L2 Cache
2)2.33 GHz Core 2Duo
winner 2 0.33GHz?? Pssh, Big deal.
RAM
1)1GB
2)2GB
winner 2 (but can add another 1 GB for $100 or so)
HDD
1)120GB
2)120GB
tie
Optical Storage
1)8x dvd burner
2)6xSuperdrive
winner 1
Screen
1)14" WXGA+ resolution 1440x900
2)15.1" TFT active matrix resolution 1440x900
kind of difficult here, the MBPro's is bigger but with older technology. The Asus has a better screen but smaller in size. call it a tie?
Video
1)x1700 256MB Ram
2)x1600 256MB Ram
winner 1
Price
1)$1288.88
2)$2499.99
winner 1 by a long sot.
camera
1)integrated
2)integrated but better
tie but who uses their integrated camera?
Networking
1)802.11 abg
2)Wireless N
winner 2 but who is utilizing wireless N?
Total
1)3
2)3
Tie)3
It looks like a straight up tie. Except the giant price difference, you can buy two Asus laptops for the price of one MBPro and it will compete with it on par. Not to mention the Asus can be upgraded. The advantage the MBPro has is aesthetic values and the OS (depends on who you ask).
*Edit*
Also, you got the price wrong for the MBPro that has the x1600 with 256MB of video Ram. That only comes on the $2500 model. But that also adds another 1 GB of Ram (which only would cost ?$100 to put in the Asus laptop). And on top of that, the 17inch screen only comes on the $2800 model.