Let's Go Shopping - Reverse Chronicles

I'm shopping around for a new laptop. My Powerbook is getting a little long in the tooth and, more importantly, has a lot of troubles running Linux.

My new laptop has to be able to run Linux. In particular, the built-in wifi needs to work. I won't mind it if I'm forced to spend some time doing non-custom config, as long as it will work.

I'm going to have to travel a bit more than usual, so I want my new laptop to be smaller and preferably lighter than my 15" Powerbook... and I want good battery life too.

Now, looking around, the best value-for-money laptop appears to be the Macbook. If you take a similarly sized Dell and add features to it until you have a Macbook equivalent, then you'll end up paying more money.

I'm still not set on getting a Macbook -- I'm a little scared about Linux support.

What advice do you have for me, O reader?

Update: Someone recommended a Lifebook. More expensive, but all its innards are Intel, which makes for Linux goodness.

Update: People have asked me for figures. A
2.0GHz Macbook with 1GB RAM and 120GB HDD costs AUD 2399. A similarly specced ThinkPad T60 costs AUD 3699. The ThinkPad X60 1706H7M costs AUD 3599. The Lifebook S6311 costs AUD 2999.