Hi,
I used to buy only Dell laptops but their top of the range stuff was getting a little too expensive. I short-listed 24 different notebook manufacturers while looking for a replacement for my Dell Inspiron 8100 and narrowed my search down to one manufacturer:
www.pro-star.com
They are bound to have exactly what you are looking for and are about 30 percent cheaper than Dell while offering the same warranty and in most cases, superior speed and parts.
I just bought one of them and can report that it exceeded all my expectations, it wasn't the top of their line but it was close to the top :-)
Intel P4 2.53 Ghz cpu
512 meg pc2100 ram
533 FSB
15 inch UXGA display
40 gigabyte ( 4200 rpm fast hd )
dvd/cdrw combo drive
64 meg ATI radeon 9000 mobility grafix
Windows XP home
and 3 year warranty
All for $1800.00 including shipping. Pretty sure you can pick up exactly what you need for under a grand.
Good Luck !
Per pukus from alcolicum to alcolicum