Sander,
Another nice review.

Just curious (as I don't know what's currently available in the US) if you checked into bare bones notebooks when searching for yours. Reason I ask is because I'd think a bare bones system would provide more flexibility and be cheaper than an IBM, Toshiba, HP, or other name brand with similar specs.

I use a 15" Clevo M3EW in much the same way as you do yours. Bare bones allowed me to choose the CPU (opted for the 1.7 as well), amount of RAM (went with 1g), and hard drive (went with 80g). All the other features are the same as yours (M3EW includes XP Pro, serial port, dvd/rw, wireless, ps2, 3 X USB, memory card reader, etc., etc.), with the possible exception of the ATI 9600 graphics included. It also shares the noisy fan, but is completely covered on the bottom. The 2nd battery was fairly cheap as well, and necessary for the long flights from USA to AU.

Total cost with 2 batteries was $2200AUD, compared to $3195AUD for the HP NC6220 (with 60g HD, 512 RAM, 1 battery). I don't see the NC6120 listed in this country to compare.