I have gone through several gens of the Intel Macbooks and Mac Minis.

I would go for the most internal RAM you can, at least 2 GB. The HDD is "relatively" easy to change.

I used to say buy white. But if you use it a lot and it gets moved around, get the black one. Mine is filthy and there's really no easy way to keep it pristinely white.

Also, if you know anyone that is a university student or staff/faculty, outside of an employee discount, that'd be your best pricing. Online purchase is fine, since delivery is free. I'd consider the Apple Care program if you're not comfortable doing you're own repair. But that makes more sense if it's easy for you to get to an Apple store.