I really cant believe my little therapy session started such a great and informative thread. Even thoughtfix showed up

Truth be told, I did not know exactly how to word my question. Really my simple question was Laptop vs EEE. I built a desktop once, a 500ghz P3 from scraps, and my dad got drunk, angry and threw it in the garbage because I bought a 79 dollar printer for it. That computer was going to be my dedicated linux box. I guess basically I just wanted some advice on what portable would be more suited for learning linux and experimenting with programming and development. I dont need high end games, or fancy 3d Modeling software. I should have asked that from the beginning. But thank you guys. I appreciate it. I'm not really good at writing, so I am sorry if I sound like an idiot.

BTW There is so much information here that you guys posted, I am still reading it.