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howdy mates,
my ancient gateway laptop is dying, i think its cancer of the hard drive thats metastasized EVERYWHERE. so i'm beginning my search for a new laptop before the old junk box is unusable.
i'm actually not hugely particular, my current desktop will be able to handle anything i need once i upgrade my vid card so all i really use it for is documents, internet, mp3 storage, and occasional dvd watching. essentially i use it when i travel and the most advanced game i'd play on it is planescape: torment.
basic specs i'm looking for

high as possible battery life (3+ hours doing light surfing and document editing would be the ideal minimum)
high reliability
integral wifi
XP compatible, i've got a copy somewhere and i DON'T want vista yet
fairly rugged
80+ gig hard drive
1 gig of ram
not ridiculously expensive
dvd drive
moderate or light weight
a 17' screen that can display 1280x1024x32 would be nice, but i'd settle for 15' 1024x768x32
if possible i'd like something with a particularly nice keyboard, but thats not a deal breaker

You could look at the Alienware laptops. You can actually get XP still on those so that would be a good choice. Sony Vaios are also some good laptops. Dell has some decent ones also. I don't have a clue what your budget is so these will give you alot of choices. I personally really like the alienware ones. Never used one but they have some good specs and that is one I plan on looking at more closely when I get a laptop.

money wise, under 650 would be really nice, literally all i'm looking for is a travel email box with that works well, looks nice and can play music and dvds.
also, new is not neccesary, if i can get a decent used laptop that fits my needs i'd jump at the chance.