what to buy: Tosh-Dell-Sam?

My first post ever so pls bear with me.

Am trying to decide on a new laptop.
have narrowed choise down to 4 possible candidates:

-Satellite Pro A100 - Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology featuring Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2400/ XP Pro/ 512MB/ 100GB/ 15.4" Trubrite™ WXGA/ ATI/ SuperMulti(DL)/ 802.11ag/ BTooth/ OneNote

-Tecra M5 - Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology featuring Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2600/ XP Pro/ 1024MB/ 80GB/ 14" SXGA+ TFT/ Super-Multi(DL)/ 802.11ag/ Btooth/ OneNote

-Samsung X60 (Core Duo Processor T2300 1.66GHz, 512MB RAM)
Core Duo, 1.66 GHz, Centrino, 512 MB (max 3072 MB), 80 GB, DVD Super Multi drive, ATI Mobility Radeon X1400, 15.4 inch, 2.48 kg, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g

-Dell Latitude D820 (Core Duo T2600 Processor 750 2.16GHz, 1GB RAM)
Core Duo, 2.16 GHz, Centrino, 1024 MB (max 4096 MB), 80 GB, DVD/CDRW combo drive, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, 15.4 inch, 2.8 kg, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g

Notebook will be bought as part of National Notebook agreement for higher education UK. (only limited brands are eligable)
Service/support etc is not an issue.
budget: 1,500pounds (not my money).
usage: number crunching (databases of >100.000), AV (dvd watching +burning), wireless connectivity++, moderate (air)travel and perhaps your playing an occacional RPG (if time allows)

Would appreciate any advice that is out there.

Cheers,
Daniel

Acer ain't an option cause of this National notebook agreement thing. (Only DELL, Toshiba, Samsung, RM, or Ergo)

thought about the D620 but don't have a TV and thought the 15.4 could be nice for DVD's etc.

anybody know anything about the linux compatibility on the machines?


thanks for the Reps,
Dan

That's what I thought but wasn't so sure about things like video cards and screen quality.
TOshiba I thinks boasts about this thing called Truebrite and thinks Samsung has Bright and Clear or something (is this bullshit or relevent)
specs included below..

Tecra M5 Display

• size : 14.1 "
• type : SXGA+ TFT display

Graphics adaptor

• manufacturer : NVIDIA®
• type : NVIDIA® Quadro® NVS 110M
• memory : 128 MB
• memory type : DDR2 Video RAM
• connected bus : 16x PCI Express

Internal video modes

• resolution : 1,400 x 1,050
• maximum number of colours : 16.7 million

Max External Video Modes

• Max Resolution : 2,048 x 1,536
• Max Colours : 16.7 Million
• Max Refresh Rate : 100 Hz
• Non-interlaced resolution with max refresh rate : 1,600 x 1,200

Satellite pro Display

• size : 15.4 "
• type : Toshiba TruBrite® WXGA TFT display

Graphics adaptor

• manufacturer : ATI
• type : Mobility™ Radeon® X1400 512 MB HyperMemory™
• memory : 256 MB + up to 256 MB
• memory type : DDR Video RAM + DDR2 RAM (system memory)
• connected bus : 16x PCI Express

Internal video modes

• resolution : 1,280 x 800
• maximum number of colours : 16.7 Million

Max External Video Modes

• Max Resolution : 2,048 x 1,536
• Max Colours : 4.3 billion
• Max Refresh Rate : 100 Hz
• Non-interlaced resolution with max refresh rate : 1,600 x 1,200

Samsung x60 LCD
LCD
15.4" WXGA / WSXGA+, High brightness & Glare
Graphic
Graphic Chipset
- Intel 945GM Express
- ATI MobilityTM Radeon® X1400
- ATI MobilityTM Radeon® X1600
Graphic Memory
DVMT_max 128MB (depend on system memory size)
Dedicated GDDR3 Graphic Memory (64MB ~ 256MB)

DELL d820 (chosing which ever is best of the options below)
512MB NVIDIA® Quadro NVS 120M TurboCacheTM 2
High end graphics solution specifically designed for graphically-demanding applications like 3D modeling and video-editing. Delivers scalable flexibility for investment protection.
256MB NVIDIA® Quadro NVS 110M TurboCacheTM 2
The 256MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 110M offers all the latest graphics technology to produce extraordinary visual effects, robust wide-aspect LCD support and compatibility with all major business applications.


Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (Up to 224MB shared3)
The GMA 950 graphics core is an intelligent and responsive graphics engine built into the chipset that is on the motherboard. This integration provides incredible visual quality, faster graphics performance and flexible display options.
Learn More About Graphics Displays
WXGA (1280 X 800 resolution)WSXGA+ (1680 X 1050 resolution)WUXGA (1920 X 1200 resolution)

Oops this is long hope that's no problem
Anyways if you guys can help great!

Dan

Hey Filippo,
was wondering where you get the info about the build quality (is there a site that specializes in that sorta stuff?) will be doing research in the African country side and let me tell you it can get quite rough out there so casing strength and dust protectione etc. is a big concern of mine. thought they were all magnesium alloy but couldn't find much more besides that think both DELL and toshiba have these HDD shock protection systems but does anyone actually know if that stuff actually works and if so which of the systems is better.
Thanks for you input eventhough now I'm really don't know what to get.

Dan

Thanks for all the Info guys.
Think I've made up my mind on the maxed-out Dell D820.
now just have to wait till Tuesday till the school opens up again to order.
will post the complete specs once I've got them.

Cheers,
Daniel