Want new laptop for school

Want a cheap laptop with decent battery life for school. Computer science major, probably will just install ubuntu when I get it. So needs to be good enough for programming and surfing the web oh and maybe some warcraft 3 between classes. So suggestions on what to look for or even better links would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

 

Don't know about the gaming; I'm not a gamer. Otherwise, this looks like a good deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147523, with the rebate now in effect.

 

Cons: uses the broadcom 4311 wireless chipset, so not overly linux friendly

I'm kinda new to linux.... so i would probably not be able to get it working without a lot of help.... thanks, but got any other ideas?

 

What about those tablet pcs? Anyone ever install ubuntu on one of those successfully?

 

i dont want a gaming pc..... just warcraft 3 which doesn't take much.... i know i can emulate windows or maybe just dual boot..... i'm not asking help on linux here.... just what you guys think i need hardware wise and whats the best deal.....

 

I think certain model Dells have the option of having ubuntu installed in place of windows. As far as WC3 goes, you should be able to play it fine with any dedicated video card. Even an onboard nvidia 7100/7150 will be fine. I would go with either a Dell, Acer, or HP. There are tons of nice Acers on newegg

 

NDISWrapper is cake to setup. Broadcomms are fne.

As for battery life, get what you want in a machine, then get a larger battery later. It opens your choices up.

Ive got an HP w/ a 12 cell battery, I get an easy 6-7 hours, even on Vista.

 

Thoughts please?

1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101118
2. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115413
3. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115432

Any other suggestions? Anything cheaper that is still good enough?

 

and what about this?

4. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834107008&Tpk=Compaq+F750US

 

with Vista you want at LEAST 2 gigs of RAM. From my experience it uses 600-700mb at idle (which IMO is just ridiculous) Maybe just check out local stores too like Bust Buy or Circuit City if u have any of those around where u live

 

Ya if you read my first post I just plan on installing linux so i dont need 2 gb..... but can anyone comment on those 4 laptops at all? especially 3 and 4

 

lol how did i forget that. my bad man

I'd go with the Compaq (#4) for the following reasons:
It's lighter and smaller (but same screen size)
Slightly faster CPU
Better integrated speakers

number 2 would be my second choice but the 17in screen will kill your battery life
for battery life, they both have a 6-cell battery so it should be the same on both.

 

They are OK I guess. Being its a school notebook, what do you plan on needing it for in that regards? If you just need it for coding, browsing the net, and WC3 any of those are overkill for it.
As for the ram issue, you must plan to be running a really basic distro and/or Desktop Environment with 1gb of ram. A recent distro with compiz-fusion would run like garbage on 1gb of ram when you try to do anything with it.

 

really? I didn't think they sucked up that many resources.... so you still say go with 2 gigs then?