The white Macbooks have been retired. Apple is now pushing the Macbook Air's as the replacement. No DVD/CD Drive in them basically. If you really want that you'll need to go to the Macbook Pro.
Apple has always marched to it's own drummer. In some ways this works to their favor, in others not so much. Without direct competition they can charge and do what they like.
For instance, Mac Mini's; In order to put 8GB of RAM in them and a 7200RPM drive it would have cost us another $430 through Apple for each one. The cost to put good brand name RAM and brand name 7200RPM drive in ourselves? $96 and 20 minutes of time.
I'm making Windows systems (specced correctly) an option for our district, but the faculty still like their Macs. PC makers are competitive for our business. Apple offers a flat 10% discount to schools, unless you bundle your order into one big order and negotiate hard.
Chris Moody
Systems Administrator
Springfield School District
802-885-7921