HD-capable laptop

[victor]

I've got a 720p LCD projector, which I use to watch videos and movies, and occasionally play games. My problem though is that I have a 6 years old stationary PC (P4 2.4 GHz, 1.5 GB RAM) that I have to drag to the living room every time I want to watch something. It barely plays 720p video (VLC won't do it, I have to watch with zoom player) without stuttering.

So I'm thinking of getting a laptop as a surfcomputer/HTPC. I want something small and very portable (i.e screen not bigger than 15"), but at the same time powerful enough to play 720p video files (especially matroska files, they're very common and are a bitch to decode in real time) without playback issues. What's the cheapest thing I can get?

 

[Cromlech]

Playback of full 1080p can be achieved now if using the gpu for playback. If using the CPU, then ideally a dual core at 2.4GHz or above is nice. Here is the ONLY question I really need to ask you: What is your budget?
Budget narrows it down from hundreds of options you may not be able to afford.
LINK
That should be fine for 720p if using the Nvidia HD decoder.

 

[victor]

About $700. I've been looking at the MSI Wind and the Asus EEE series. I hear they can playback 720p with CoreAVC. Would've been cool with HDMI, but only one of the Fujitsus (the cool looking red series, forget the name) has HDMI out, and it's 13" (but within my pricerange). A little too big. I'd prefer a 10" screen.

And no, I'm not getting a freaking macbook.