I cannot buy a laptop without a warranty. That would be careless because in my experience laptops do break in the 2nd and 3rd years of owning them. The Dell extended warranty is quite expensive but I intend to have the laptop for the duration of University and so not having the lifeline is most likely a bad idea. £83.40 does sound like a lot for 4 years warranty on a product that Dell is meant to believe won't break but I don't really have a choice when it comes down to it.
Liz, the machines that don't ship with Ubuntu usually have some non-working hardware (e.g. a SD reader, etc.). If I buy a machine that comes with it then I know I won't have any of those problems that I've encountered with running Ubuntu since the start. The ultraportables are quite expensive for what they are. I have looked into them but don't think they would serve well as a general purpose machine (only as a supplemental one - and I can't afford multiple machines). Furthermore the Asus Eee PC 1000H is not available with GNU/Linux in the UK as of yet and the demand for the higher priced Windows Asus Eee PC 1000Hs is making everyone overcharge for those too. What I really want to know is what specs seem suitable for the next 3 years of Uni. I'm expecting to have to pick some of the higher end hardware on the Inspiron 1525 and want some assistance in doing so. Is there a substantial difference between the Intel Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5550 (1.83 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache) and the Intel(R) Core™ 2 Duo Processor T8100 (2.10 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 3 MB L2 cache) to make it worth the extra £70? -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
