I support Acer too. Been using one for more than 3 years and have only upgraded the RAM. Still runs great and I have done lots of stuff with it. Video encoding, DVD home video, dual boot XP and Vista Beta, game patching, tonnes of downloads, Wifi, password cracking, etc... This brand is a bang for the buck. I tend to steer clear of Dell. Their specs is average and not really impressive.
Laptops are dirt cheap in WSSS. You can get a Linux Acer for only GBP310!!