I just ordered a Dell Mini 9.
It should be here next week. I purchased the 16GB SSD upgrade and webcam. It is also a Windows XP model. Later, I'll more than likely either install Linux on it (or OS X), although this will require a USB optical drive.
The plan is to also upgrade the SSD to 32GB (a $119 purchase at My Digital Discount).
More than likely, I'm going to sell my Macbook (and maybe use the money to get an iMac).
As for my dead motherboard, it looks like I'm looking at this. I've decided to go AMD Phenom. Why? Because, while I want to upgrade to quad core while I can, I don't want to go Core i7 because I'd have to spend butt-loads on the CPU and motherboard in addition to DDR3 RAM...too much upgrading. At this point, I don't even want to go Intel. While Intel has better bang for the buck regarding CPU power and robustness, I'm extremely loyal to AMD. There's nothing wrong with AMD's products if you don't benchmark (and I'm not one to hang his every decision on raw stats alone). I should have the parts within a month...then I can game again. This will leave me with an unused Pentium D 830 (dual core), though. That means I'll more than likely buy a cheaper motherboard just to utilize that CPU in one of my older systems...it is a nice CPU with good power.
EDIT: I upgraded my Mini order because they were offering a $50 discount on Presidents Day. It will have Ubuntu and it will also have a 32GB SSD. More than likely I'm going to send it back, though, since Asus has a better buy, sans the SSD, but also has BT.
About my mainboard and CPU upgrade. I went AMD. I bought a Phenom 940 with a Foxconn mainboard. It is up and running now. It is FAST and I've yet to see all 4 cores maxed out! I also bought another mainboard for the Pentium CPU. That's a project for another day, though.
Foxconn A79A-S AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 940 Deneb 3.0GHz Socket AM2+ 125W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model HDZ940XCGIBOX
