Hmm... I remember going for a $500 laptop once, my sister wound up paying $750 + I paid $100 in restocking frees for another $650 laptop, in order to get FreeBSD working. There are some systems that are cheap in the $500 range, but as with any system -> try to make sure you will get working hardware. Heck, one buddy got a (high spec) vista machine for about $450 and couldn't even get XP running on it.
If you find a model you're going to by, check the hardware compatibility lists for it and then hit google -> make sure it's no paper weight before you buy. Do likewise with any important hardware you're not prepared to replace or live without (sound, networking, basic fn key combos).
For processors, it shouldn't really matter that much. Depending on /age/ of the laptop, you're basically looking at Pentium M, Core, Core 2, Celeron, Mobile Sempron, Mobile Athlon64, or Turion64. I'd an suggest Intel Core 2 chip where possible, but I doubt you would be disapointed with a (good model of) Turion 64 from AMD. And do not shop by clock rate alone.
Via, I can't speak for their processors, having never used them on PCs period, let along notebooks.
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