I think I am better understanding how your system works, Jon NYC. Thanks for clarifying. It sounds like you have one of those "all in one" adaptors, which I suppose would work. In fact, I considered those before, but I am concerned about slight differences in amperage - I would much rather blow an extra hundred-bucks to replace a walkman or whatever that I might fry, rather than spend the same amount of money for an overpriced laptop battery... or worse.

Even though I really never use it for watching movies, I have always ordered my laptops with DVD-ROM drives, which obviates a need to carry a separate DVD player, along with all its danglage.