unfortunately for us, the manufacturers seem to think that there isn't much demand for small sized notebooks with decent graphics. there is definitely the all-out game DTR 7800gt portable computer (you can't call something 17" and 8+ lbs a notebook), but other than that discrete solutions are a giant step down. x700 seems the best there is, and it only barely keeps up with desktop graphics from 2002 (radeon 9700 pro ftw!).
is it possible that the power requirements are that high?