Looking for a high powered, yet small, laptop

Question

It's that time again and I need to upgrade my laptop. For the past three years I've lugged around a huge Dell XPS M2010. And I'm sick of it. But I can't give up the power!

Can anyone recommend a laptop (max 15") that has a really grunty processor, a fantastic video card and, possibly, two HDD trays? (EDIT: Needless to say, plenty of room for RAM)

Battery performance doesn't worry, nor does the on-board screen. This is for me to take between home and work, but with the option of taking it on a flight or using it at a cafe.

Answer 1

• Lenovo T400/T500;
• Lenovo SL400/SL500 (basically cheaper version of the above);
• Dell Latitude E6400 or E4300: the E6400 is good because is supports up to 8GB of RAM and it's DDR2 not DDR3 which is much cheaper than DDR3 for 4GB sticks (and DDR3 ofers no real world benefit except for some marginal applications);

Answer 2

I've been happily using a Dell Inspiron 700m for years, but will likewise soon want to upgrade, and in the Dell range I like the look of:

• Dell Studio XPS 13
• Dell Adamo

Answer 3

Possibly a macbook air with an SSD?

It'd cost a lot, and you're stuck at 2 gigs of RAM, but the SSD makes them plenty fast.