my eternal quest for an el-cheapo laptop

okay kids, here's the story: i've been looking around the interwebs for a decent laptop for myself, and i've currently got NOT $1,500, NOT $1,200, NOT $900, but...

$480! ...OR SLIGHTLY MORE! ^_^

...to spare (i'll be updating this as i get more monies). so far, i've found a few deals i've been considering (i.e. this baby) but i'm not quite sure if they're a good idea. i pretty much just use computers for light-duty work such as irc/gaim, TEH INTARWEBS with the insanely memory-demanding firefox and (very) occasional gaming that mostly consists of emulators (n64 and older) and freeware junk, though i could live without the last one if need be. so any of you lot got any ideas for where to look and what to look for?

so far i've decided that a screen of at least 1024x768, an hd of at least 20gb, some way to make it wireless and usb are a must, and the more ram/usb ports/display res and the less dead pixels the better. linux compatibility and one of those fancy scroll wheel-imitators would be nice things to have (ESPECIALLY if it's running anything below win2k or xp, so that probably rules out anything old with an ati graphics card), and 32-bit display, dvd and cd/rw support would be okay. weight isn't too much of an issue, and thinkpad-style ruggedness, beefy speakers (i'll most likely only be using headphones) and battery life aren't much of a priority so long as the thing won't blow up on me, decide to stop working someday or crumble to pieces when i set a cup on it.

This post has been edited by Quicky on Dec 26 2005, 11:17 PM

so far i've found this refurbished dell inspiron 6000 and this 2200, would these be pretty good deals and how well could these expected to work with linux (most likely fedora core or ubuntu)?

Heh, Google is your friend.
The first eBay listing you linked to: Fedora Core and Ubuntu installation (read comments for some help with problems)
The other eBay auction... eeeh, skip it unless you don't want a linux option.

hmm, how about... this thinkpad t23?

No, this seems to be the best one.

yeah well, this one doesn't have a million years left and a ton of bidders :p

how well do you think the t23 would agree with linux?

After checking, not very well. Unless you would enjoy trying to hack an archaic version of Debian into working.

explain

hmm, how about... this t23?

Those trackpoint things are annoying as hell, no CD-RW capability, lacks WiFi, small screen, that sure doesn't look like XP to me (more like ME), and overall, it's not that good looking.

Throw a bid into that eBay auction for $480 and see what happens (if someone automatically outbids you, then you can laugh at the poor sap that has to pay more ^_^)

but the auctions i linked to are over and the one you linked ends in a million years ;_;

hmm, you sure the screen size would be an issue? and for the trackpoint thingy, would a trackball be better? from what i hear the wireless card they offer is most likely this, how well do you think it'd agree with linux and how hard would it be to find a card that does?