So how long?

I'm guessing ...never.

Just my humble opinion.

wow thats a tough one, since 1988 (when I really started getting into PC's), it has never really stabilized. it might have been almost stable at one point, then BAM pentium changed it all again. So if forced to answer, I would probably say the same thing... never.

If you want to buy one, find one that fits your needs, and buy it. Just realize that EVERY laptop you buy will not upgrade well at all. In two months you will be saying you should have waited. So my advice is not to buy a laptop, unless you need it, and if you need it just get one that will do what you need.

Heh, I understand. If you have the money get one, just realize that with Laptops, there is no time like now. They are always getting better (almost on a daily basis it seems) and get one you can be content with for a while, and be happy. Money is really your only limitation then.

Duo Core will be replaced by new chips every month, hell I went ahead and got a Sager 5720 with a pentium M chip just this week. I don't wanna play the waiting game. If ya want something, do some research, read some reviews and just get it, don't wait for the next best thing.

Heck yeah, the ... is for virtual thinking time and I use them all the time. I spent about 2300 on my sager 5700 and I know I will like it.

Things will stabilize again in about 18 months... 64bit dual core probably with a decent onboard GPU or a standard Video card format for standalone GPUs.

However, as everyone above has said, this will only be relative stability... things will keep changing and improving (not always the same thing).

Again, as everyone above has said... if you need a laptop now, get one now. Try to avoid getting the latest and best because it will only last an extra 6 months and will cost double the price of the midrange choice.

I recently bought a Dell 9300 and am overjoyed with it despite the recent release of the '9400' (Dell calls it the E1705, but it is just a 9300 with a dual core chip and improved video card). For my purposes, I simply do not need the extra power and my 9300 cost $1,501 after discounts and before taxes or shipping. The '9400' costs at least $800 more for a similarly equipped system and, since there are few discounts available on it, more likely over $1,000 extra.

My 9300 should last me for 3 years and I can then replace it with the equivilent mid-range system then, which will save me money and give me satisfactory performance.

Of course, there are some people who need to have the latest and greatest machine (I just saw a review of a $5,000 desktop with an overclocked dual core 64 bit AMD chip, dual 7800's running on SLI and a terrabyte of Raid 0 Hard Disk... 3DMark of over 10,000 compared to my 3,500... but not exactly suitable for carrying around with me ! And, not needed for anything I am likely to be using it for.)

it's always good, IMHO to let products circulate a bit.. so they can catch known bugs, have patches, burn-in period, compatibility issues..all that good stuff.

and be able to read other ppl's problems about it.

For all you listed, the Sager 5320 or the Asus Z70va or any other top of the line current 15"er for gaming will do fine. One thing, don't get a desktop processors, these bastards are heavy and a pain to carry around. I would have gotten a z70VA myself if I didn't look at the benchmarks on the 5720. I'm a gamer and I play lots of games but I also need a protable laptop to take with me to work. Just make some choices and post them here, and then figure out which oen you want most based on support/price/power/looks(most important as you'll be looking at it for a hell of a long time) and any other factors.

EDIT: WHY THE BLOODY FU** IS MY BANANA NOT DANCING!?!?
EDIT2: Firefox 1.5 blows hard.....I liked the previous ones better, tons of bugs in 1.5
EDIT3: Reinstalled it, banana dances again!

Think about getting one of the convertible laptops (where you can flip the screen around and use it as a slate). It will probably be much more practical on a jobsite.

Gateway do a nice one, although it's a bit heavy.

If this interests you, I suggest that you wait a few months since I suspect the next batch will have better graphics performance than the current models. They rarely have an internal CD/DVD, but that's probably not an issue for you.