Dell Inspiron 8000 is hands down the best bang for the buck for what you are looking for. This notebook is faster than any other out at this time. It uses a desktop chipset, which aids in performance. The Ultra 15" is awesome, even the 15" SVGA is awesome. Video Card with 32 megs does everything, dvd, video, gaming etc! The reviews on this notebook, call it a desktop replacement, I bought one am a very happy with my choice. Only mistake I made was going with a 10 gig hard drive instead of the 32 meg which runs at 5400 rpm instead of the 4200rpm that most notebook drives run at. It has just about everything you would ever want in a notebook! Even can run multiple displays with it, which for gaming and buisness uses are great. Only knock on this notebook is the construction is rather weak. Let's just say I wouldnt park a car on it!
We all know that notebook computers are delicate pieces of equipment, so we dont expect them to survive major trauma. You drop a toshiba or IBM 3 feet on the sidewalk it is gonna break. The Inspirion is even more delicate, but durable enough for everyday use. To be honest I dont think the outer casing on any notebook provide too much protection. The Dell however does creak a bit when you pick it up. But for what you are looking for, I would say the Dell 8000 is the way to go. You want performance in a small package that is portable and affordable. Yes IBM and Toshiba are also very good and Toshiba might close the speed gap a bit with a Gefore video card, but then again the Radeon is coming to Dell from ATI. IBM are nice but way expensive for what you get! Compaq and Gateway are decent but I would go Dell over them any day. Sony well they are just like IBM, pay a ton for nothing more than a name!