I see a lot of comments from those preferring Macs.
As much as I respect that, a lot of people reading this site are bootstrapping startups and I'd never be able to recommend going that route unless you need to use Mac-forte apps (or are developing for it).
If you're strapped for cash, you can get some solid, powerful equipment by looking through sites like NewEgg for "recertified" laptops with stellar ratings.
They won't have the style and the fashion of the Macs, nor do they often come with a 'nix by default, but they're dirt cheap (like ~$520 for a full modern laptop).
No one can deny that there is a lot of truth in what you write. If battery life is not among the critical requirements, any laptop will do the job.
According to my experience the power management of linux is one of the severe shortcomings of that os (although I have tried only suse, scientific linux and fedora).
As much as I respect that, a lot of people reading this site are bootstrapping startups and I'd never be able to recommend going that route unless you need to use Mac-forte apps (or are developing for it).
If you're strapped for cash, you can get some solid, powerful equipment by looking through sites like NewEgg for "recertified" laptops with stellar ratings.
They won't have the style and the fashion of the Macs, nor do they often come with a 'nix by default, but they're dirt cheap (like ~$520 for a full modern laptop).
Get the job done and avoid the splurging.