[TriLUG] Shopping for new laptop...

[Tom Eisenmenger]

I've been floored by recent price cuts on laptops and have decided it  
might be time to retire my Dell Latitude C610 (256mb RAM, 40g HD,  
1MHz PIIIM).  One of the reasons for my upgrading is that I need to  
have a machine capable of running Vista (no catcalls, please!) - my  
work as IT instructor and occasional PC troubleshooter really require  
that I keep up with the latest software;  sadly, my Dell won't even  
load Vista unless I upgrade it, then there's the price of the OS  
itself - I might as well buy new.

Since I run a Linux distro as the primary OS on my notebook  
(currently running Mint along side XP and about to try eLive), I want  
to find a Linux-friendly notebook but knowing how various distros  
balk at one technology/chipset I want to buy smart as well as  
cheap.   With that in mind, here are a few comments/questions:

1) I'd prefer going AMD;  is there a problem or caveat if I go with  
one of their 64-bit X2 chips?  Better to stick with single core?  32- 
bit?  Any reason why I should seriously consider Intel instead?

2) Storage:  I'm assuming SATA is a non-issue in Linux?

3) Graphics chipsets:  if I go AMD it'll probably have ATI (which is  
what my Dell has now).  Is there a compelling reason to look for  
nVidia instead?  Does Linus handle the newer widescreen monitors  
reasonably well (1280 x 800)?

4) Wireless:  It  looks like most of today's offerings include  
Broadcom wireless;  how's its Linux support?  Should I opt for  
something else if it's out there?

5) Anything else I should consider?  I'm looking most closely at  
15.4" widescreen models as I actually do use mine as a laptop on  
occasion - 17" is more of a desktop replacement in my book...

FWIW, there are some great deals out there.  Of particular interest  
is the Compaq Presario F572US (15.4" "Briteview" widescreen, Athlon  
64 X2 TK-53, 1gig DDR2, 80g 5400RPM SATA (might have to upgrade that)  
$479 at Staples after rebates.  Comparable Turions seem to up the  
price by about $200.  Comments?

Thanks all,

Tom Eisenmenger