I currently have a PowerBook G4 17" which is 6.9lbs 'dry.' Adding on power adapter, cabling, and the flightcase takes it over the 5lbs limit.

The problem is, I plan to be using a lot of media applications on the road that need that kind of power (ie. audio/video production where you need to be able to see the whole of what you are producing/editing on the screen, live multitrack recording/playback, etc.)

What do you think I should do when I start 'seriously' RWing, being that I need that kind of CPU/graphics power?

Get a 15" PowerBook and smaller case? (5.7lbs with battery and optical drive) I could get the CPU/gfx power (1.5GHz PowerPC G4, 1-2GB RAM, ATI Radeon 9700 video) that I need in the 15".

Get a 12" PowerBook and smaller case? (4.6lbs with battery and optical drive) and check/ship the 17" in its flightcase to the site?

Mind you, I'll probably be also carrying a lot of outboard stuff as well as the laptop like a toolkit, software discs, USB-to-serial converter and various types of cables/adapters, audio/video adapters and test hardware, etc.
(My current R&R has ample space for that stuff.)

Any ideas?

Also, what laptop cases are durable like the R&R (the R&R is even built to ATA300 standards as a flight case), but lighter?

I've gotten the R&R in overhead bins and through places by putting it on a
Kart-a-Bag Concorde II, but I'd think for real RWing flexibility, something more nimble would be better.

(I've heard the name 'Brenthaven', but I'm a little wary of anything not metal or aluminum (ie. like a Zero-Halliburton) with the value of the stuff I'll be carrying.)

--Douglas