MacBook No

Oh, well. I tried to love it, I really did. But my MacBook Pro is going back to the store today. This is the first time I’ve ever returned an Apple product, and I’ve had dozens of them over the years. I mean, I was one of the very few who actually plunked down nearly $6,000 for Apple’s first portable computer way back when.
But I’ve never used a Mac that was so annoying. This laptop has a horrible, headache-inducing high-pitched squeal, combined with a distorted speaker and a trackpad that randomly stops working. The screen is too cheaply made, and strains my eyes.
Interestingly, when I called Apple tech support, they not only knew about noise problems, they actually played a recording of one type of noise over the phone. (It wasn’t the noise I was hearing, but then again that high-pitched whine wouldn’t transmit over a telephone’s limited frequencies.)
In the end, they told me to return it to the store for a replacement. The store says that they have a number of the 1.8ghz machines like mine to replace it… but they all have the same problem. They’ve set aside a 2.0ghz that they say has no noise problem, and I’ll be paying an upgrade fee.
If this 2.0ghz model has the whine, the mousepad, speaker, and display problems, it’ll be going back and I will be flabbergasted, disappointed, and kind of left wondering what my options are.

Update: I have a new MacBook Pro, a 2ghz model. It has the same high-pitched whine coming from the processor. I just don’t know what to do now. It also has the same distortion from the right speaker, but I haven’t used it enough yet to see if the trackpad freezes.
This is really a bummer. And what’s worse is the assertion from at least one person that this is just the way it works and I should stop complaining about it. Just the way it works? Like it’s supposed to give the user headaches? I dunno. I feel certain that this is true for, say, a Dell laptop. But this is an Apple. We pay a premium for a “better than average” computer.
My options right now are rather limited, to say the least. Return it for a refund (minus an astonishingly large and ridiculous restocking fee — bad customer service problem there, Apple — and all you other companies that charge customers to return a defective product); or keep it and hope that they come up with a fix, since there are others reporting the same problem.
I will be needing a powerful, portable computer in May to do another 48 Hr. Film, because living 3,000 miles from DC means I can’t schlep my huge G5 tower to locations anymore.
What do you think I should do?

Update, March 16: After using the new laptop for a day, I’m inclined to soften my attitude. While this one still makes the noise, it is very intermittent, unlike the previous model which made the noise constantly. On the new one, it is silent when plugged into the power adapter; the noise returns when on battery, but still goes on and off a lot. This is the tipping point for me, where it is worth waiting for a firmware fix that will solve this annoyance — which, judging from the vast number of complaints, Apple must be working on.