Let's see if I can be of any help here.
In response to your question about oil marks and smudges, I think this is going to be an issue no matter which computer you have. I have had a white (obviously) iBook G4 that I bought almost three years ago. Admittedly, the area where I rest my palms has become slightly discolored as I never used anything to protect it. It has a slightly darkened tint to it, but it is only noticeable in certain lights. I would imagine that this problem is evident on both laptops -- I don't see why a black coat of paint would make a laptop any less susceptible to palm discoloration than a white one. Perhaps I can be corrected on this by someone who owns/owned a black Macbook, but it just doesn't seem logical to me. If anything, I would think that when a black one becomes discolored it would be even
more noticeable, regardless of the light. In any case, this problem can be remedied for either computer by investing in a protective cover type of thing, so it should be a non-issue.
Moving on to the issue of scratches. Having had my laptop for three years with no case whatsoever (for transportation or otherwise), it has acquired its fair share of scratches. The fact of the matter, however, is that these scratches are completely invisible unless you are looking for them. The only way that I can ever locate these scratches is by shining a flashlight to the outside of the laptop and inspecting closely...and let's face it, if you have to look that close to find scratches, you're wasting a lot of time and energy and you'll probably never be pleased with the scratch resistance of any item. I don't feel like I've been particularly anal about taking care of my laptop, either, so if you are at all careful about cleaning and moving it gently, your story might be even better than my own.
Finally, let's move to the issue of overall cleanliness. While someone likened the white iBook/Macbooks to that of a white shirt or car (meaning they show everything), I would like to first say that white cars show
far less dirt and scratches than black cars (I don't really understand the logic behind saying that white cars are usually more dirty than black ones...that just flat out doesn't make sense...), and that Macbooks are not made out of cotton or some other fabric. But anyway, that's another tangent. My laptop looks clean 100 percent of the time and I rarely, if ever, clean it. The only time it has ever become discolored (besides the palm rest) was on the bottom, when I shoved it into my backpack one day and it got pencil markings on it. These were easily rubbed off (without any cleaning substance, mind you). A white laptop, to put it simply, will never show as much as a black one will as far as smudges go. Smudges on the outside of the laptop or on the keyboard itself are virtually nonexistent. I have never seen one on my laptop, but according to Blackbook owners on this thread, they are readily apparent on the touchpads, keypads, and the case itself of the Blackbooks.
To wrap it all up, I would have to say that all laptops will get discolored and scratched and smudged. It is just a question of which laptop will
show these scratches and smudges and discolorations. Between the black and white Macbooks, the one that makes these slights less visible is obviously going to be the white one. But if that doesn't work for you, take into account the fact that all laptops are easily maintainable, provided you are willing to do the work (i.e. cleaning) or purchase the merchandise (i.e. shells/covers) to maintain it with. The only question you should be asking yourself is whether or not it is worth 100 extra dollars for a coat of paint. When you upgrade the second Macbook so that it has the same specs as the top of the line Blackbook, you will find that there is still a 100 dollar price difference. And honestly, if I was going to waste 100 dollars on a paint job for my laptop, I would couple it with an extra couple of hundred dollars and go to
http://colorwarepc.com to get it a color I actually wanted.
Sorry for the length, but I hope that answered any questions you may have. :]
