I was looking to pick out a laptop, and throw linux on it. After looking around, I found a decent one that was really cheap, and a good value, but im not sure if it has the functionality of a newer/more powerful machine. I was going to purchase this laptop primarily for wireless browsing, etc... but it might be very nice to have dvd replay capabilities, etc.

Heres what I found: Comments/suggestions for other choices are hugely appreciated.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...u=I74-1492%20P

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Sku=E400-M5310

I suppose the take-home question is:
What do you think: Cheap and devent Vs less cheap and better

note: this is not intended to be a 'gaming laptop', but anything over 300 mb ram / 450 mhz is nicer than what i have now.

Tough question, and even tougher to answer.
Try the site http://www.linux-laptop.net/ , you could find what you need.
From my point of view, I would wait a bit more (the Holiday season is coming), and many manufacturers may slash prices to get market share, I heard/read somewhere that DELL may give you a good notebook (I5100) at rock bottom prices, around 800$ if I'm not mistaken.
But at the end it's you call.