Yeah, I thought I might find myself out in the cold alone on that one!
Well, after a lot of looking at specs and weighing up prices and stuff I ended up going for this one:Just wondered what laptop you went for in the end
http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.c...DUCT_ID=122808
Which I must say, I'm quite happy with so far. It feels pretty nippy, though of course I'm not really pushing it yet. Plus it's rather sexy, especially with the blue LEDs.
Windows Media Center Edition is a bit of a pain, and I've managed to shoot myself in the foot by not making sure it came with a proper CD. You just get this shocking "image" CD which re-instates the original install. (Including "Get AOL!" icons and everything). This takes around 30 minutes, but I've found I install Unbuntu Linux inside of 10 minutes, so the penguin is winning at the moment.
I've just found out you can get ALSA drivers for the Firewire audio card I'm looking at (Edirol FA-66), which is a plus.
Must say, Linux has come on leaps and bounds since the last time I took a look. The install is, if anything, less painful than the last time I installed XP. You just download a Live CD, run it, double click the "install" icon and it does most of the hard work for you.