Keef,
Could your system still be trying to make the network connection to the laptop?
Check in My Computer and NetWork Places that you have disconnected the network drive.
Windows likes to give all the drives it knows about a reasonable chance before timing out - hence the delay in the Save dialog as it tries to find all possible drives, even if they aren't available.
If you aren't going to share files and printers again for a while, consider removing File & Printer Sharing (under Network Properties). That is also a good move from a security perspective.
SD