Which laptop will work better with x64 linux?

Right now I'm debating either a thinkpad T500
System components
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8600 (2.40GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 25
15.4" WSXGA+ TFT, w/ CCFL Backlight
ATI Mobility Radeon 3650 with 256MB
4 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad)
1.3 Megapixel Integrated Camera
160 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm
DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer, Ultrabay Slim (Serial ATA)
Express Card Slot & PC Card Slot
Integrated Bluetooth PAN
Intel WiFi Link 5300 (AGN) with My WiFi Technology
9 cell Li-Ion Battery

or the dell m4400
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (2.40GHz, 3M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
15.4" UltraSharp™ WUXGA (1920x1200) RGB-LED TRUELIFE Display
NVIDIA Quadro FX 770M, 512MB
4.0GB, DDR2-800 SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
160GB Hard Drive, 5400 RPM
8X DVD+/-RW w/Roxio and Cyberlink Power DVD™
9 Cell Battery
Intel® WiFi Link 5300 802.11a/g/n Draft Mini Card
Dell Wireless® 370 Bluetooth Module
Internal English Backlit Keyboard
Internal Swipe Fingerprint Reader
Integrated webcam with microphone

I have 3 basic questions

Which one will have the greatest hardware compatability out of the box (is there any hardware that will not work at all)?

Which video card is better for light gaming and compiz under linux?
I read that ATI open source drivers are great for 2D acceleration but not 3D and I have no idea what compiz is 2D/3D.
Light gaming means HL2, CS:S, and some newer games at low settings.

Which one will have better battery life?

Thanks for any advice. It is appreciated.

 

If you do jot care aboyt compiz, take whichever is the cheapest. If you want to use co piz without fuss take the dell, the ati drivers don't work well with compiz enabled.

 

I can't help too much with the Linux questions, as I haven't tried out my T500 with Linux.

The Thinkpad will get much better battery life than the M4400 (especially if you're running on the switchable Intel GMA). It will, however, be much less than if you were running Vista.

 

Thinkpads tend to have very good Linux compatibility, and it looks like most everything works out of the box on Ubuntu. And the open-source ATI support is going great guns right now, so within a year or two expect full open-source support of the 3650. In the short term, fglrx (the closed driver) is getting much better with Compiz (which requires 3D). The 9.3 release finally supports playing video under Compiz. But you will get "tearing" on any HD video with fglrx. Gaming should be great, though. As for battery life... who knows. There are a lot of things to take into account. Just because they're 9-cell batteries doesn't mean that they have the same mAh capacity, or the same power draw, or anything. Look at the machine's specs under Windows, and you can expect a comparable to slightly lower battery life under Linux.

An in my personal opinion, if you aren't doing CAD work a Quadro is a waste of money. It will cause more problems with gaming than anything, if you're going to be running Windows on the machine at all.

 

I have an m4400....love the laptop....it will run any flavor of Ubuntu/Kubuntu flawlessly, including derivatives of the distro. I have, however, had hardware detection issues with other distros...i.e. the hardware is new...the problem lies with the vid/screen.

I'm using Kubuntu 9.04 Beta x64 right now, and it runs like a dream. Really.
I can't comment on the T500, but the Radeon i s supported.

Another consideration: I also have a 1440.900 LED screen, which is not available on the T500. It's a joy to tired eyes! The T500 is a great machine...it's just a matter of balancing tradeoffs. I almost got the t500.