Perhaps it all happenned somewhat fast, but I am still very very glad - I now have a brand new and shiny notebook - HP Compaq NX6110. Intel Pentium M 1.7 GHz, 1 GByte of RAM, 60 GBytes of hard disk space, 15″ monitor (not widescreen!), DVD-RW, and all the regular bits and pieces - USB, WiFi, soundcard with line-in, etc.
I’ve got all these for a special price of 600 CYP, thanks to my brother.
According to a couple of reviews from Linux on Laptops, most of the hardware should work out of the box, and the rest of it shouldn’t be a problem with a little push. We’ll see how it goes.