best 450 dollar ubuntu laptop?

Hi Im looking for a laptop that can run ubuntuwell for 400 dollars. My main things are that sound works out of box, no alternate cd install is required, visual effects work(can take some work as long as it doenst screw anything else up), and that it can play some quake 3 based games. Im also going to be dual booting with windows and I want to be able to run source engine games in windows but thats my only real requirement(low settings 800x600 is fine. Ive been looking at the Dell Vostro 1000 but I was unsure about the graphics and the wireless and found a guide on how to get it running on ubuntu forums, but before i went ahead and got that I wanted to make sure there wasn't something better out there for the price. Thank You.

PS if it requires a little work its ok because Im pretty experienced from running linux on a desktop that I sold.

 

anything with an intel 950 should run quake 3. if you want 'visual effects' in ubuntu such as compiz-fusion, you'll need a card that's capable of direct rendering. nvidia, until ati catches up, is your best best. however, the 1000 is amd and i believe you'll be stuck with an integrated ati of some sorts. i'd prefer a pre-owned laptop with better specs than a new vostro for the same price. especially if your only option for the wireless is the 1390/1490 or n cards.

 

Vostro 1000 not a good idea. My 1400 had what is probably the same sound setup, and I had to do a little h4xing to get it working.

 

what would you guys suggest?

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8706536&type=product&id=1199496037804

how does this look?

 

Maybe someone else can help me out on this, but it looks good to me, except I don't know what brand the wless card is, and that could be a problem.

 

Yes, HP's are not real linux friendly...they use a problematic wireless card brand, can't remember. BUY for linux all the way, life will be much easier...don't know about 450 samolians though...if I see something, I'll post it here.

 

dude. 450 of those little girl scout cookies for a laptop would be a great deal!

 

i wouldn't do it but after some playing around the video and wireless will work. you'll probably start off with crappy graphics (if X starts), then you'll need to enable the restricted driver for nvidia, reboot, execute 'nvidia-settings', set your resolution, and either restart x or preferably reboot. the wireless is atheros so you'll more than likely need to compile the driver from source. in my opinion, if you're going to spend $500 from bestbuy, you could get a better deal locally on craigslist. i saved over $400 on my new in sealed box laptop through craigslist by switching to geico. oh wait. i mean by buying my dell locally. once i got it, i switched over the warranty with just the service tag number. very easy. i bet you could get a good core 2 duo with dedicated graphics for $600-700. make sure the wireless is intel. and don't worry about how much ram it comes with. that stuff is getting cheaper than gasoline. if you can get a good deal on a lappy that only has 1gb of ram, buy additional ram online. even drives are getting cheap. i picked up a 250gb (5400) for $90. or if you wanted a 200gb 7200, you could swap out drives, put the old one in an enclosure kit and sell it to offset the cost.