Laptop Suggestions?
 

This has been a thought that has been going through my mind for the past year or so. With the sudden possibility that my current laptop (see my previous thread) going south, I felt that secured it and it was time to get a new laptop.

The question is, what one should I get?

Currently, I have a:
HP 5600ze Pavlion
2.8 Gig Processor
256 MB of Ram
60 Gigs Hard Drive
CD Burner/DVD Combo
17" screen
An integrated Video Card with integrated Video Ram

From it, I have the following thoughts/feelings:
It's fairly fast save for processor-intensive applications. I am thinking that more RAM is needed as I would like to run some more advanced games.
It's fairly huge, although I have almost filled it up, and this computer is my SECONDARY computer. I am think that a bigger hard drive could be useful.
I dislike the 17" screen because it is so bulky. However, I keep thinking that "The 17" screen is making it heavier. If I get a 15.4" screen, it will be lighter".
I would like a DVD Burner/CD burner Combo. I don't care less about dual-sided DVD's, although I am noticing that most burnersare that way, anyway (?).
I WANT A BATTERY THAT LASTS MORE THAN TWO HOURS. My current laptop runs for less than two hours, and that's it.
I dislike the integrated video card/ram. I had trouble getting SEVERAL games to work such as the Star War series.

So yeah, generally, I am looking for a laptop that is:
Generally fast. I don't need the fastest thing in the world, but fast enough that I could play, say, Guild Wars, Star Wars KOTR I and II, etc.
Enough space to perhaps hold a few games/programs. I am even playing with the idea of having a dual boot into Linux.
A DVD Burner/CD Burner Combo
A decent amount of Ram
A decent video card with a decent amount of video Ram.
A battery that lasts longer than two hours (or is that the norm?)
The laptop to be durable but not super heavy (if such a combination is possible).

I am currently thinking of Circuit City as they have some various deals right now. Here are some links:

http://circuitcity.com/ccd/categoryl...d%20quantities

In particular as the following possibilities:
http://circuitcity.com/ssm/Toshiba-S...oductDetail.do

http://circuitcity.com/ssm/HP-Pavili...oductDetail.do

http://circuitcity.com/ssm/Acer-Aspi...oductDetail.do
(What does widescreen mean? How good is the quality of a widescreen?)

If you have other suggestions/deals let me know.