Basically, I'm gonna be attending college this year (roughly a week or two, actually) and I'll be needing a laptop. Wanted one for a while, but couldn't justify it until my desktop crapped out on me (power surge).

Now, I'd imagine most of you are pretty knowledgable about this stuff, so I'll just list off some features that I want with it and see if it rings any bells.

1. $1500 or less. Preferably ~$1000.

2. Needs a CDRW/DVD-+R-+RW. Preferably (I'll probably use this word a lot) dual-layer.

3. Doesn't have to be unbelievably fast... I don't plan on playing Doom 3 or HL 2 on it. I would, however, like a decent graphics card (nVidia is preferable) and enough speed to play a few semi-recent games. Then again, games are kinda taking a backseat here.

4. I'd like at least 4 or so hours of battery life, with included AC charger. Not sure if this is standard or not, but eh.

5. I don't care that much about weight, and as long as it's not like 4 or 5 inches thick, I should be alright.

6. USB, Firewire and media-card readers are pretty important.

7. Ethernet Adapter, maybe a modem, and built-in WiFi. Need those.

8. Last, but not least, I definitely want something that's nice and compatible with Linux. Chances are, I'll be buying some Fedora cds, so whatever works with that is fine with me. However, if it's an issue, any suggestions as to which distro to use would be appreciated.

I know this is a lot of shit, but hey, I imagine most other linux nerds who hit up this site and are also going to campus would like any suggestions as pertaining to the list.

well, it sounds like you want quite a lot for your money!!

i can't too say much about specs in the usa, but i would recommend Ubuntu over Fedora for laptops. It works great on my dell d600. further more Ubuntu will ship a CD to you for free. And fedora... well..... lol