Bang for your buck..

[Wynd]

What manufacturer of laptops, in your opinion, gives you quality hardware and support for the money that you pay for it. (In a laptop priced around $500). I want a cheaper laptop, but dont nessassarily want crap hardware with it.

[p0w3r0fchr1st]

ummm. I would say Asus. I like them. Plus there hardware lasts forever.
Then just install Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com

[Wynd]

Linux was already a definate... Anymore opinons?

[p0w3r0fchr1st]

nice ;) Im happy to hear that.
Personally I don't like Dell...Exept for there AlienWare.
But if you don't mind them.... you could go with them...plenty of colours?

[Tim]

In terms of value, you can't beat HP. Their builds sometimes aren't as robust as other brands but they will easily last you until the laptop is obsolete anyway.

[Omniscient]

HP does represent fairly good value. Fairly reliable and prices are always reasonable. I am a Dell man myself.

Look for good coupon deals from places like FatWallet.com or SlickDeals.net.

Lenovo (IBM Thinkpads) are having a decent deal right now.
Hopefully this link works: http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/con...559ABB5E7B

[Solidus]

You can't go wrong with Acer. I'd love another one.

[tusku]

HP or Asus. With $500 you should get a decent 1.8-2.2GHz dual core/c2d system.

[Wynd]

Thanks guys! You've given me something to look into! More opinions are always welecomed.

[TimK]

HP is solid for laptops but lacks in desktops. I have a Dell with Ubuntu/Win7 installed and I've never had a problem with it. Except for when I popped a key off and the posts underneath it came off and Dell mailed me a new one.

So through personal suggestion I'd say a Dell or an HP.