LAN Recogntion

I have already submitted a different support request that is still theoretically open but would appreciate any further advice.

A friend of mine bought an Acer Desktop a couple of weeks, having never used a computer before; he didn't even know where the On-Switch was.
I installed Gutsy for him and everything was fine until he wanted to connect to the internet. After a shed load of responses and an e-mail to Acer we found that the LAN does not support Linux. I was not happy about this as the promotional literature in the shop mentioned 'Linux Program Console Mode' and even came with an official copy of Linux Linpus. This gives the impression that the machine can support Linux. I spoke to the Acer Head Office in my country and they have agreed that it was misleading(not a bad feat, considering they never admit to doing anything wrong in this country). They tell me that none of their machines support Linux.

I'm an average PC user and can usually only understand part of the specs they detail in promotional literature. Having looked at several they don't say anything about the LAN model types, or even if the machines support Linux. I have sent an e-mail to HP in this country asking which of their machines will support LInux and can use the internet. I know they do as I am writing this on an HP notebook, which bought in summer '06.

I would like to ask if anyone can give advice about how we can get round the problem, short of asking the head office of each computer manufacturer.
Apart from the LAN, is there anything else I need to be aware of? Is there a rule of thumb on what manufacturer of LANs support LInux or is there perhaps a list of those supported somewhere?