I'm always thinking ahead about what I want for my next computer, primarily because I find it entertaining to read about the new and upcoming technogies involved. At the moment, I'm probably looking to purchace a new laptop sometime in mid 2011, and the following is my best guess regarding what I will find available at that time.

Specs

Processor: Probably something based on Intel's (as of writing still upcoming) Sandy Bridge architecture / Huron River platform.

• Core i7-2820QM - 4 cores/8 threads, 2.3 GHz, 8MB cache, 45w, 32nm, Intel HD 3000 GPU, DDR3-1333
• Core i7-2630QM - 4 cores/8 threads, 2.0 GHz, 6MB cache, 45w, 32nm, Intel HD 3000 GPU, DDR3-1333

Sandy Bridge is a somewhat significant upgrade for quad core mobile processors, since no quad core CPUs were made using the 32nm Arrandale design - leaving them stuck using the older 45nm Clarksfield design with no integrated graphics. Thus, quads basically jump ahead 2 minor iterations instead of just the usual one. It also looks like the pricing for the Clarksfield 1.7GHz quad-core will be very similar to the Sandy Bridge 2.0GHz Core i7-2630QM... which now looks destined to become the most reasonably priced chip.

Memory: 8GB 1333 MHz (2GB would be fine for pretty much everything EXCEPT for video editing, which is my newest, and very annoying, problem.)

Hard Drive: 2 hard drives, and thus two hard drive bays. This limits laptops to a few select 15" models and a number of 17" models.

• 120GB - 256GB Sandforce based SSD (280MB read)
• 750GB - 1TB 7200 RPM Traditional Hard Drive

Monitor: 15"-16" (maybe 17") Widescreen LED Backlit LCD @ 1680x1050 / 1920x1080 / 1920x1200 (really important to be bright w/ high color gamut, and is ideally matte rather than glossy)

Video: NVIDIA GeForce 460m/470m/480m - Previously, I wasn't too concerned about video cards. I'm now doing a lot of video editing, and Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 only works well with high end NVIDIA cards. The workstation/professional FX line seemed to be the right solution at first (as they are specifically meant for such tasks), but the mobile GeForce gaming cards blow them away in all CS5 benchmarks.

Platform: Huron River (Centrino - 7th gen)

Network (Wireless): Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 AGN (maybe WiMax? maybe 3g card?)

Network (Wired): Gigabit

Keyboard: Not shitty, and ideally backlit.

Touchpad: Large and multitouch would be awesome.

Optical Device: DVD-RW (don't much care about Blue-Ray, and could be persuaded to drop the optical drive completely)

Video Output Ports: DVI, HDMI, or preferably DisplayPort

Other Ports: USB (3.0 prefered), e-SATA (if at all available), Firewire (just in case?), Microphone output, Headphone output, Digital Audio Output

Extras: Webcam, Bluetooth (new Intel chip), Card Reader

Possible Actual Laptops

• ASUS G53, Intel Core i7-740QM, 1920x1080, 15.6", GeForce 460m, 2 hard drive bays, 1 USB 3.0 port
• ASUS G73, Intel Core i7-740QM, 1920x1080, 17.3", GeForce 460m, 2 hard drive bays, 1 USB 3.0 port
• Sager NP8760 / Clevo W870CU, Intel Core i7-740QM, 1920x1080, 17.3", GeForce 460m, 2 hard drive bays
• MSI GT663 - Intel Core i7-740QM, 1920x1080, 15.6", GeForce 460m, 2 hard drive bays, best in class speakers, 2 USB 3.0 ports, much thinner than G53
• Whatever might replace the Force Extreme 840 / Flextronics / Arima W840 DI