2 screen laptop (15.4 inches for each screen) for sale by Xmas. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/6105506/Dual-screen-laptop-on-sale-by-Christmas.html
HP DV5T Vista 64 bit custom here with P8600 2.4 dual core. 4gb ram, 512mb Nvidia video and 7200 rpm hard drive. Runs great.
I have a HP dv9730us laptop too. Very bad experience. Within a year sent back for 2 repairs: 1) Disk drive problem. 2) Disk drive problem plus motherboard overheating. Now I (1.5 year into it) problem #3 - the LCD screen displaying weird color. In general: using laptop to trade should be okay (I have been doing it for 4 years). I trade from a laptop whenever I am on a trip. Hooking it up to an external LCD monitor. It is true that laptops tend to break down more often. Much have to do with user abuse (besides spilling coffee) and shocks. My advice: try not to move your laptop from one place to another without putting it to Sleep/Hibernate. A lot of people do that. Try not to grab the laptop at the end (chasis cracks). Try not to grab the laptop by the LCD screen side. etc.
That's exactly how I killed my laptop. I had a bad habit of picking it up by one of the corners... until the chassis cracked
Some good suggestions on here. However, I have found it extremely difficult to trade from a laptop. Unless you are sitting on positions for some time. If you are faster money, it's difficult to get an idea of whats going on in a bunch of other stocks, index's, currencies, news, charts, IM, e-mail, execution platform if different from quotes, etc. . . on laptop. This from experience. Also, mine tended to get overloaded from all the data, and just freeze at the worst possible times, like 3.58pm. So listen to these guys and get the right ram, gigs, rote memory, or whatever they call it to avoid this. Do your best to avoid laptop unless it's your most viable option.
I trade with an off-the-shelf laptop, for various reasons. After years of playing with monitor heads and fancy arrays, I simplified my system into one that needs only a laptop. No monitors, no software that eats up CPU time or RAM. I got tired of having to take vacations without trading, thereby losing out. Vacations + regret = crappy vacation. Caveat: I do not sit and bug my eyes out at monitors all day long. If I had to do this on a laptop, I would be wearing glasses by now. I don't. It doesn't hurt that I used to write databases, but the magic of trading on a laptop is in the trader's ability to simplify their system to the point he is no longer hand-cuffed to an office, in order to trade. I suppose in a few years, more brokers will make platforms for 3G+ handheld devices, and I would be among the first in line. However, if you're not there yet, and you still rely on gobs of indicators, charts, overpriced monitor array software, dozens of distinct symbols and news feeds, then a laptop would be a foolish choice, as all of those little tiny windows squeezed into a 15" screen would be impossible to use, plus your video card would be overloaded, especially with an extrnal monitor plugged into your laptop. Don't get me wrong, I've seen the thread with photos of workstations. They're pretty. I just think they are better used for Flight Simulator, than for trading.
Cool. I get quotes on my pda. Looks like Apple is closer to being able to viably trade off IPhone. You can swing back and forth with your index finger on the screen from charts to execution platform. It's just a matter of time before we will be trading like this 24/7. Maybe Traderum is onto something! If you thought texting was dangerous for driving, how 'bout a guy that just shorted AIG while driving and it rips like $5 on him. Think of the accidents . . .