Undecided - Compaq x1000/HP zt3000 vs. Sager 4080; Questions about the 4080

Just registered on these forums to ask about the 4080.

I'm basically a first time laptop owner, trying to figure out what I want to replace my aging TBird 1.4Ghz desktop. I already tried a Dell Inspiron 8600, but the random lockups (it would sometimes lock up right after it boots...) plus the entire Hitachi SXGA+ screen fiasco made me return it pronto.

Right now, I'm trying to decide between a Sager 4080 and a Compaq x1000/HP zt3000 (essentially the same laptop). The 4080 is the lightest and most affordable of the Sagers, so I'll probably go for that. I do, however, have a few questions, if owners of the 4080 would be inclined to answer:

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i. Heat - is it bad? I mean, if I put the thing on my lap, would it burn my legs? Does anybody have the temp. of the CPU/GPU/DIMM's when running a game or just IE + Word? For the record, the 8600 w/ a P-M 1.4 Ghz ran at 30-45 w/ a low fan for apps and 38-50 w a low fan for not-very-intensive games.

ii. Fans - how loud are they? The 8600 had these fans that would turn on and whirr pretty bad when the system locks up and has to reboot. With a fan controller, though, the worst it would get would be a low, slow fan speed that's hardly noticable.

iii. Battery life - is it possible to throttle down the processor? That is, does Intel or any 3rd party been able to emulate Speedstep ala the P-M's? I've read on here that the 4080 gets 60-90 min. off of a battery, which isn't quite enough for 2 1-hour lectures. For the most part, I don't really *need* 2.8Ghz of power to browse the Internet, so if I could take it down to ~1.6Ghz or even lower when I'm at school, it'd probably save a lot of battery power.

iv. Size - from pics, it looks like the system is quite a bit longer and thicker than the x1000. I know it's 7.5 lbs, but would it be uncomfortable to carry for 10-15 min. of walking 'round campus?
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Thanks in advance. I've been reading on all sorts of laptops lately, and this is what I've come down to (I've looked at Fujitsu and Toshiba as well as Sony laptops - they either have bad GPU's, XGA screens, or are plain too expensive). I want to use this thing as a desktop, except when I need to take it to class, to research meetings, and to lie on my bed and browse the net/watch a movie. In that regard, the x1000 is a great candidate, save for the brand name (bah) and the underpowered CPU/GPU. What do people think?

Oh, I meant that the zt3000 and the x1000 are essentially the same laptop.

The problem w/ the 3750 is its extremely crappy Intel onboard graphics solution. Turned off by that.

Speaking of which, though, does anyone know whether Sager will be offering a 9600 Radeon w/ their 3xxx series? It would go in direct competition to Dell's 8600 and probably beat it to the ground in terms of price and build.

It's not *that* niche. I've been reading on the Dell forums, and there's a sizable amt. of people buying the 8600 (and hence a lot of people complaining about the Hitachi SXGA+ screens). On the x1000 forums, the no. 1 request is for a Radeon 9600 Mobility option, making it on par with the Dell 8600.

But yea, it's generally VERY difficult to find a laptop with a power-saving processor, a good graphics card, and a good LCD resolution. And thus the search continues...