Which Laptop? Help Guys and Gals

[Crow]

Finally my office will buy me a new laptop, I asked for a Dell XPS I5 with 1 GB Nvidia Graphics BUT due to some obscure rules I can't order by mail so I'm forced to buy local.

There's not much to choose, I saw 2 HP laptops, both has 4 GB memory, 640 GB HD, Led screen 14.5"

Differences:

DV5-2237 AMD Vision Ultimate Processor (AMD Phenom II 4 cores) Radeon HD 4250 Graphics (it has 128 MB dedicated memory) , Blu Ray + DVD  (in Spanish)  http://www.ciberneticaintegral.net/laptop-hp-pavilion-dv52237la-phenom-4gb-640gb-led-145-win7hp-incl-audifono-phi-p-13739.html

DV5-2247 Intel Core I5 480m, Intel HD Graphics (sorry didn't find it in English) http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/mx/es/ho/WF06b/321957-321957-3329744-64354-64354-4346367-5049330.html

I had many problems using Radeon in the past and that stops me from buying the DV5-2237, the video memory is small but better (I think) that the Intel graphics, but I will choose Intel if Radeon drivers has problems in Linux.
.
This computer will be with me several years so any comment that leads to a good buy will be welcome

[scoundrel]

do not buy anything with Radeon ..

[T6]

that radeon should work very well with current drivers

the i5 could have a intel inside the cpu, the same problem georgetoon is having now, no 3d

ask on the store to let you run pclinux 2010.12 livecd, if you caen enable desktop effects the question has been answered

[Archie]

T6 has an excellent suggestion, Crow. Take a LiveCD with you and boot it up. See whether the graphics adapter would play well with the recent drivers.

[Crow]

ask on the store to let you run pclinux 2010.12 livecd, if you caen enable desktop effects the question has been answered

I will do it tomorrow when there are other people in charge    I seem to remember that PCLOS has proprietary ATI drivers by default  or should I use a remaster?

[scoundrel]

only an install will tell how good or bad the Radeon is..

[T6]

if you boot and there is decent resolution and form livecd you can call glxgears and get a decent result the driver in use shouldn't mater much

if you are in doubt search for a hp model with nvidia video card

you will find that there is not much offer after the fiasco of overheating video cards detaching from the mainboard

hp was the most hip brand by this design flaw