I would like to buy a laptop, and I need to assess a good trade-off
between many different needs. I need it for my work (programming,
modelling, production of documentation, automatic verification), but I
would also like to use it to do semipro multitrack digital audio with
virtual synths. I am looking for a laptop with at least 512Mb of
memory with as fast access as possible, usb2.0 and ieee1394 (800M if
possible), a fast but not necessary big hd, and DVD burner. About
CPU... well, I would like a Pentium M for a longer battery life, but I
don't know whether the are sufficiently fast for the audio
applications I would like to do. I don't care about video editing,
games, and such. Also, I don't care about the onboard audio device: I
will probably purchase a semipro external one with quality in/out.
Finally, I will bring it anywhere so it must not be too fragile.
Advices?
P.S. I am Italian, so please just "mainstream" laptops (e.g. toshiba
or asus); do not direct me to manufacturers making custom hardware,
unless they are close to Milan and provably trustable.

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Clarification of Question by pietrob-ga on 20 May 2005 01:54 PDT

I am sorry. I forgot to say that I need an answer as quick as
possible, within tomorrow. To be more precise, I will put as deadline
saturday 21 at 12.00 GMT.

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Clarification of Question by pietrob-ga on 20 May 2005 01:58 PDT

Another thing I forgot to say :) Macs are not an option for me.

Have you considered Dell?    www.dell.it

They allow you to customize your laptop to a large extent which means
that you often able to get a higher spec machine than an equivalent
off-the-shelf model.

In my experience (I have been using Dell laptops for almost ten years)
they are very reliable and pretty durable.

Customer service is good too!

The only disadvantage is that you can't 'play' with the laptop before
purchase unless you know someone that already owns one.