best mini pci wireless card and where to buy?

i'm gonna buy a barebone MSI laptop.
i suppose i could get the MSI wireless card, but i want a really good card.
i thought that the best wireless cards were intel, so i wanted to get the newest intel pro 3945 (the one coming with the core duo's)
but recently someone told me Atheros was better.
so my Q is. Which is the best card, and where can I purchase it from (could find the 3945 anywhere seperately)

 

When I was getting ready to get my Asus laptop I did a lot of research and reading on these forums. After seeing SO many problems with the intel cards (2200 and even the 2915) I started to look elsewhere. Everybody raved about the Atheros cards and the lack of problems. I went with the Atheros card in my Asus and I have to say it is killer! The power as far as the amount of connections that it will detect vs. my friends 2915 when she is over is no contest. Anyway, I've never had any disconnects or problems with it losing speed. I did have a driver problem at first but after updating to the right set, no problems at all. I think if you run a quick search on this forum you'll see a fair amount of people that were having problems with their intel card and switched and never looked back. As far as the new 3945's I'm not sure but with the track record and the amount of people that love their Atheros cards, I think its an easy decision. I got mine on Ebay for about $55 delivered.

 

Yeap, I've never owned an Intel card for long, since I always switch it to an Atheros-based chipset wireless card ASAP

As for the new wireless cards, as of now, there isn't one that will fit into the new motherboards, as it is not mini-pci, but another format.

Moving this to accessories

 

I've got a DELL mini-pci card for my X200 (802.11b only, non-intel). atheros has good support and works ok as far as i've been told (didn't own one of them myself).
With intel cards, my feelings are mixed: most people I know who got laptops with stuff installed are pretty happy (the "centrino" combination seems to be well tested for bundled laptops). Then again, they use the net for basic stuff and don't tinker too much with parameters.
My take would be: if you can, get whatever is "recommended" (or installed in the higher spec models) as that was most likely tested by the manufactuer. As for source, you're likely to find what you want on ebay. As I can see you're in the US, there should be plenty providers.
If your laptop has a minipci-express card, then things become more complicated (there aren't too many vendors out there turning "just cards").