Try to get in on Dell's seemingly frequent $750 off $1499+ coupon. You can usually get a decently configured Dell 6000/6000d (with the 6000d having an ATI Radeon X300 Mobility with dedicated 64mb/128mb RAM video subsystem) for $750 brand new! It has a 15.4" WXGA/WSXGA+/WUXGA LCD, and weighs about 6.6lbs-7lbs.
Otherwise, newegg.com has some decent, cheap Acer laptops
here.
Or lots of Brick and mortar (BestBuy, Circuit City) have a lot of sales on laptops from $599 and up! Good luck!