Ok, so I'm at the point where I'm seriously considering breaking my old Acer laptop in half. But before that, I'd like to get a new one. I'm considering a Dell Studio 15, with just an upgraded screen (1440*900 res). But I'm unsure which wireless card I should get.

Here are my options:
Dell Wireless 1397-mini card (802.11 b/g) (included)
Dell Wireless 1510-mini card (802.11n)
Intel WiFi Link 5300 Half Mini Card (802.11 a/g/n) (Centrino)
Intel WiFi Link 5100-mini card half size

The Wifi 5300 is pretty expensive, so unless there's some really good reason to get it - I won't. I'm quessing the Dell cards are based on the Broadcom chipset and the Intels are based on .. their own chipset..?

So, in terms of getting the most out of this - which card should I get? I should point out that I will be doing a thesis on wireless security for my Bachelor's Degree and it would be really neat if the card worked somewhat well with the most popular wireless tools available.

Also, I'd really like some feedback on Dells Studio series in general.

Intel wireless adapters have good native support in the linux kernel and broadcom cards are a perennial hassle on linux. Enough said.