Transferring compatible SATA disk from one laptop to a new one may be quite feasible, without re-installing anything, depending on OS.
I've moved a HD from an intel PC to an AMD PC and the OS (Win 7) just pondered for a while, loaded a bunch of drivers and woke up happy. I had to re-install video drivers and some chipset, network and audio drivers, but it's all working fine.
I've done the same with server 2008 R2, which has a similar kernel to Win 7, I believe.
If you've got the OS DVD and the necessary drivers for the new PC on a CD or USB, it should be achievable.
SD