[ale] laptop advice needed

[Sean]

Problem:
Wife's Mac laptop at random times decides it will not connect to
the wireless LAN, which uses WEP and further restricts connections
to the approved list of MAC addresses.
It is as if the damn thing can (without warning) no longer locate/read a 
key configuration file.  Not only does it not properly authenticate, after
several tries it no longer even admits the existence of the wireless LAN.
Its driving her nuts.  And me too, because the usual drill is for me to 
spend an hour or more pounding on the damn thing using the GUI to get it
to rewrite the .conf file.  Because she works at Emory the IT folks there
know the root password and won't release it, so I am extremely limited in 
what I can do.

Anyway, I am just about totally fed up with the entire scene. And so is 
she.

So, she needs a replacement laptop that, while running Linux, has working
wireless, and (if at all possible) a working camera so we can Skype with 
our grandkid in Denver.

I have on hand live CDs for FC 10 and kubuntu 8.10, so I can go "play" with
laptops at Fry's/Microcenter/wherever.  But I would like some advice on
what to stay away from and/or look for.

Sean