IMHO a Notebook PC no matter how small will ever compare to the convenience and functionality of a portable DVD player. A dedicated DVD player has all the necessary buttons in one place, no need to hunt around for the keyboard equivalents of frequently used buttons. Try fast-forwarding to a particular scene on a PC, it wil inevitably be hit-or-miss, trial-and-error. Or say you want to pause the DVD and resume later. Yes, the DVD software will have this feature but it's not as seamless as on a dedicated DVD player. Now if you're one of those people who can sit through a whole movie without futzing about with the various buttons (FF, Next Chapter, Pause, Subtitle, Scene-by-scene, etc.), then maybe a Notebook PC alone will suffice. It hasn't for me so, horrors!, I bring both my 12-inch iBook AND my 7-inch Panasonic DVD player with me on long-haul trips.