Laptop for AutoCAD/College

Another one of those, "I need a laptop for college", threads.

I'm basically planning on using AutoCAD on the laptop and a lot of internet browsing and word processing. Not too much gaming, maybe an hour or two of CS a week or so. I heard widescreen ratios work best for AutoCAD, so I'm planning on maybe the glossy 17 inches? I looked at the Dell XPS2 ones, their quite expensive, and maybe a little too much on the "gaming" side. I'm trying to look for something with a nVIDIA Quadro, since that runs 3d-effects pretty well.

Portability would make a difference, since I'll probably have it in classes and stuff like that. But if the weight is necessary for it to perform well, then I don't mind, I just don't want like a 20 pound thing on me.

Also, would the 7200rpm Ultra-DMA drives or 5400rpm SATA drives work better?

Budget is pretty much under $2000 or so. Any brands to recommend? For now I'm just looking around Alienware and Dell ones, I'll take a look at HP ones later.

Me personally really like the IBM T43 with the FireGL3200 which is equal to a X600. It's small and light which I'm 100% sure your back will thank you for. Since it's an IBM it's also a tank.

As for the 7200RPM vs 5400RPM. Last I checked the difference isn't that big and cost difference is way too much. I rather have a 100gig 5400 than a 60Gig 7200 for the same price.

I own a 6lb laptop and have used my friend's IBM T42 which is about 5lbs loaded with the power brick and you can really feel the 1lb difference after 9 hours of classes.

As far as CAD goes, as long as you aren't doing large detailed 3d design (ex. building plans) then CAD doesnt really require a lot from the computer. I Would definitly agree that a wide screen 17" is best cause with CAD you will have a ton of toolbars out and the more area to see your drawing the better.

As for specific laptops I have been using an HP zd8205/zd8215 which you can find at best buy or circuit city for $1300-1500. The only downside to these laptops are they are Pentium 4 chips instead of Celeron, meaning they tend to be a little heavier and use more power = shorter battery life)