Mini 12 Ubuntu 8.04 Upgrade Path?

I just bought a Mini 12 that arrived DOA (100% flaky keyboard, no mouse input on 3 out of 4 boots).

I'm in the process of attempting a simple keyboard fix, but that got me to thinking in more depth the machine.

I've read lots of posts about how the Mini 12 does NOT work with 8.10 due to a custom video driver.  Can anyone from Dell monitoring this forum speak to that issue?

Basically, if that is the case, and there is no upgrade path for the Mini 12 to future releases of Ubuntu, then I'll more than likely return this laptop for a full refund (provided the keyboard they send doesn't work).

So, Dell, if you're out there, please post a response to this issue.  I definitely don't want to end up on a dead-end laptop.  No response from you guys on this is probably as good as a "we don't plan on supporting 8.10+".