Linux on laptops

[stu]

Hi guys, 
	My son who lives in Omaha wants a laptop with linux installed. I considered 
getting him a Compaq from Fry's, but paying the Microsoft tax leaves a bad 
taste in my mouth - especially after seeing how they sabotage Linspire sales 
by hooking up a cheesy non-VGA monochrome monitor to the only linux box they 
DO sell, rendering it absolutely useless as a demo unit.
	I looked online, but most Linux laptops are high-end units priced well out of 
my son's budget (and mine, for that matter).
	I found a decent laptop on e-bay, and as soon as I get it, I'm going to load 
a linux distro on it and ship it out to him, which gave me an idea for a 
hobby of sorts. I've worked on a few laptops, and they are deceptively easy 
to fix. I've also been running Linux on my own laptop for a few years now. 
I'm thinking about refurbing a few at a time and re-selling them as 
inexpensively as possible in an effort to help promote linux as a desktop OS 
for people who want a preconfigured linux laptop computer, but can't shell 
out $1500+ for one. 
	I'm hoping some of you might have some ideas about to facilitate this 
project. Any input would be appreciated.
	
	Stu