Can a laptop play a whole DVD on one charge?

Hi there,

My wife wants a portable DVD player for Christmas, to use in the car and on aeroplanes. I thought they were about £200 ($400), and that some laptops are going for £300, so that gave me the idea that I could get a laptop instead. (I realised afterwards that there are some much cheaper DVD players out there.) She currently uses a Dell Latitude CS that I got from work, which is about 8 years old and _very_ slow, so it's worth getting one I think.

What I'm not sure about -- since I've never owned a new laptop -- is whether it is possible to watch a DVD on a laptop without recharging. I've spent ages looking around but there are very few shopping sites that can filter laptop searches by battery life.

All laptops seem to state at least 2.5 hours battery life, but I'm guessing this is not true if the DVD is spinning the whole time -- and I realise these things degrade over time.

So, is it possible to play a 2 hour movie on a new 2.5 hour laptop? If not, what is a good choice model for a longer battery life?

Lastly, what is a good website for comparing all current models, filterable by battery-life?

Thanks in advance,
Donny

P.S. I'd like to get one with Vista Home Premium (rather than Basic, so that it has the Media Centre stuff.)
.

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