To buy? Or not to buy?

If you don't need it right now, just wait around to see what the immediate future holds. If you don't like the Mactels, then buy the PPC powerbook (probably at a lower price, too).

i'd wait unless u absolutely need it. granted they are rumors, but the mention that the notebooks and the mini being updated to intel makes sense, as they are the only Macs that aren't G5 chips. The G5s still have some legroom while the G4s are the weaker link in their product line-up (mind you i love the G4 in my iBook!).

the benefits of the intel move is not just in the CPU arena, the pentium M is a great mobile CPU but the chip itself is not what makes the centrino platform really work. the true benefits of the move to intel chips is in all of the chips to be used in the platform. the chipset, wireless, and the CPU have all been designed to save power when its not needed. the G4s tend to be stronger in multitasking as they have multithreading capabilities (same as the P4 hyperthreading). the Pentium Ms won't get those capabilities until the 2nd half of next year. for most people however the power of the PMs will be more than adequate for their needs.

if amazon continues w/ their rebates w/ the intel move, your best deal for a stock machine would be from them. typically they have the new ones available for the regular retail price, once they are released, while the last models have reduced prices as well as rebates. once they sell out of their stock of the older models they start offering rebates for the new ones. thus far it hasn't taken them any longer than 2 weeks, max, for them to sell out of the old stock during product refreshes.