[SwellJoe]

Find a way to have a desktop. Working for sustained periods on a laptop is asking for back and neck pain, fatigue, and probably long-term damage to your body.

Also get a good chair, and a desk that is the right height, while you're at it.

My lappy is a small 12.1", but I never use it for serious work--just email, and occasional "watching a movie with the girlfriend, but still have some work to do" time. I just got an OLPC XO (7" screen, I think) and plan to use it for my primary travel lappy...no temptation to work long hours on a lappy that small, and I consider that a good thing.

[ctkrohn]

Absolutely agree. My work computer has triple 1280x1024 LCDs, and while I am not a professional programmer, I imagine that such a setup would make me immensely more productive. One monitor for documentation, another for your editor, a third for testing... or whatever setup you want.