This is a bit of a silly comparison, as the price of the Dell has been padded with add-ons and software just to get the prices to match. The Dell, by itself, is cheaper.
No, it is not silly. The software is there to attempt to match the software and functionality that comes with the MacBook Pro... included in the base price.
+ CoreDuo upgrade: $40 --- The MacBook Pro is a CoreDuo.
+ 2.16GHz CoreDuo upgrade: $480 --- The MacBook Pro is a 2.16GHz CoreDuo.
+ XP Media Center Ed. Reinstall CD: $8 --- The MacBook Pro comes with an OS X install disk.
+ Remote Control for Media Center: $23 --- The MacBook Pro comes with a remote control
+ WUXGA+ display upgrade: $119 --- The MacBook Pro has a high Definition screen.
+ 1.0 GB 667 MHz RAM upgrade: $140 --- The MacBook Pro has this memory.
+ 120 GB 5400 RPM hard drive: $116 --- The MacBook Pro comes standard with this spec drive.
+ DVD±RW upgrade: $48 --- The MacBook Pro comes with a DVD burner.
+ Intel PRO/3945 802.11a/g upgrade: $23 --- The MacBook Pro comes with 802.11a/g built in.
+ Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth 2.0 upgrade: $39 --- The MacBook Pro comes with blue tooth built in.
+ NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 upgrade: $183 --- The MacBook Pro comes with a high end graphics card.
+ 80 WHr Battery upgrade: $79 --- The MacBook Pro equivalent.
+ PC-cillin Internet Security upgrade: $95 --- The MacBook Pro is OS X and is inherrently more secure than Windows.
+ Sonic DigitalMedia/MyDVD+ upgrade: $63 --- The MacBook Pro comes with the iLife suite of Digital media and DVD authoring software.
+ Corel WordPerfect Office 12: $79 --- The MacBook Pro comes with iWorks productivity suite.
+ Adobe® Acrobat® Elements upgrade: $31 --- The MacBook Pro and OS X use Display PDF throughout and can create PDF files from any application.
+ Corel Photo Album Premium: $31 --- The MacBook Pro comes with iPhoto.
+ Creative Labs WebCam Live! Ultra: $90 --- The MacBook Pro has web cam built in.
+ QuickBooks Simple Start Ed 2006: $90 --- The MacBook Pro ships with Quicken installed.
+ MusicMatch Plus upgrade: $16 --- The MacBook Pro comes with iTunes and Garageband included.
That is not "Padding". In fact, it still doesn't match everything that comes standard on the MacBook Pro.