> It's really a pain to find a laptop that would not suck under Linux for any of the important dimensions (wifi, battery life, external monitor support, working fn keys and etc).
I have nothing but good things to say about Dell computers. Of course, I am a bit careful not to choose ATI or Nvidia graphics or anything that seems designed to run only Windows. The v131 I'm using now works perfectly (and came with Ubuntu preinstalled). Having a version that comes preinstalled with Linux is a good indicator the machine will work properly with it.
The trouble with Dell laptops is that the quality variance is really high. Mostly anecdotally speaking, I've found that the number of people who had a terrible experience with Dell and the number who had a good one are about equal.
The most common problem is the battery conking out after a year or so, and then the replacement choice is either a ridiculously expensive one from Dell (which costs a third of the laptop itself!) or a cheap Chinese gamble from ebay. The screen hinges also break sooner than later.
Still, I think on the cheaper end, Dell laptops are better than Acer and Toshiba. Their keyboards are not amazing but at least they don't try to do any cute stunts with them. The Vostro is surprisingly well built.
Shame the Ubuntu version is not available in the UK (or maybe I just failed their website easter egg hunt).
I have nothing but good things to say about Dell computers. Of course, I am a bit careful not to choose ATI or Nvidia graphics or anything that seems designed to run only Windows. The v131 I'm using now works perfectly (and came with Ubuntu preinstalled). Having a version that comes preinstalled with Linux is a good indicator the machine will work properly with it.