Another possible route ...
... is to make a backup using Acronis True Image from your existing laptop, then recover the backup image to your new laptop. Acronis claim that this will sort out your problem - but I have never had to try it in anger myself!
You should also note that a lot of laptops actually have two partitions on the hard drive - the one partition being for your OS, applications and your data, and the other (much smaller and usually FAT32 as opposed to NTFS) containing laptop specific tools - this you won't need to transfer.
But before doing anything, I would have the battery checked out - a new battery will be a lot cheaper than a new laptop (although not by as much as you might like! I had an existing battery fitted with new cells which saved me some bread (note this is not something you want to try yourself because most laptop batteries have a built in microprocessor which may need to be re-set).
Slightly different subject - acebaxter - would you care to share what make of laptop you had problems with? I am faced with a similar dilemma on a new Lenovo running Vista Home (so no roll back to XP permitted by Microsoft) and I'm also a tad leary about drivers for the DVD writer ...