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I'm looking for a notebook pc. I've been through 2 in the past couple of years and they both sucked once I started using them.

What I am looking for is one that is not too big and not too heavy. The smaller the better. I need to be able to sneak it into my workplace and one of those 17" mosters that weigh 10 pounds just won't cut it. So a 15" or smaller. I'll usually be hooking it to an external monitor but I also want a nice bright screen with good viewing angles for when I'm using it standalone.

It will be used for heavy gaming, video, and high-end graphic work. I prefer a 256mb video card that has the ability to be upgraded. Doom3 or FarCry minimum gaming. Directx 9 minimum with shading.

Memory of 1G or better. Something better than a 333 speed. DDR2 533?

Built-in wireless 802.11... ether b or g. + a modem and ethernet.

DVD cutter. Making copies of DVDs is needed. 8x minimum.

Battery life is very important - the more the better. Something 3 hours or more.

Hot swappable bay where I can slap in another battery pack for extended life.

Floppy drive not needed, but the hot swap option for this would be nice for those bios flashing times.

XP home or pro.

hard drive space not a big issue... 40gb or more.

USB2 a must + svideo option would be nice.

Alienware was just too bulky. I was searching and recently saw the Acer Ferrari series, but then I saw the Sagers being touted on here so now I am back to square one on my decision. I also looked at Dell and gateway, but they didn't seem to have everything that I was wanting.

So my question is this: If money was not a real issue but size and weight was, what would folks recommend? I'm guessing that the new P4 M series CPU eats up the least battery life and has the best performance, do you agree?

What would you buy if you were given a blank check? I want performance but I don't want to lug around a 9 or 10 pound beast.

thanks

Lucky Bob

I would suggest taking a look at Falcon Northwest, but they seem to be sold out of their smaller model... so no clue.