You guys are confusing all the names, so just to be sure.
Radeon 9700 : Same price as GeForce4 Ti4600, about $300 and the Radeon 9700 is better
Radeon 9700 Pro : $400 retail, but it's much much better than anything else
(But those retail prices are really really inflated for some reason. Search around the web at sites such as buyxtremegear.com and you can get all of those for $100 cheaper than their retail prices.)
If you wait until the next Nvidia cards (GeForceFX series) come out you'll be waiting until sometime in February, and they aren't guaranteed to be much better than the 9700 Pro cards.
If you can't wait, then I'd get a Ti4600 (which can be found at prices at about $200-$250) or spend just a little more on a 9700 Pro at about $300-$320) to get a card that'll last you much longer.
