I agree. For a couple of years, I have used The Battle for Wesnoth as a practical example of open-source development. Its markup language falls somewhere between HTML and real programming and thus has been working very well for students with non-technical background who typically run very far when programming is mentioned. The students form teams and create a mini-campaign, using version management, wikis and other typical tools (I've used Trac for that).

Also, it is similar in web development in the sense that it promotes/needs three separate skillsets - visual (the result should be aesthetically pleasing), technical (the result should work and follow standards) and verbal/creative (the result should tell something and do it in a correct manner). Thus, it can be used to teach various skills, stressing one or the other as needed.

For laptop, I can recommend my recent purchase: Dell XPS M1330 (it's Intel though). I've read some opinions in the line of "as close to Mac as a PC can be" - small, light, slot-loading DVD...

It does have some minor nuisances in design though. The VGA projector port does not have screw holes (I use projectors a lot for lectures, must be careful not to detach it). HDD light and earphone sockets are in the front edge (holding it in your lap is not that comfortable with phones connected...) and the WiFi switch can be toggled by accident.

Other than that, I am happy. Enough power, reasonable price, good construction, stylish look. And it runs Ubuntu without problems. So I recommend that even with those glitches.