I have all of those specs except widescreen (but it does have 1400x1050 14" 4:3) and USB in back in my $742 Dell 600m. No problems in the 6 months I've had it. Battery life is about 2.5h for DVD's up to 4.5h for taking notes in class, other light use. I cannot imagine paying twice what I paid for a laptop. Gimme the same lappy w/ a 20" LCD for home or a lappy + desktop for performance + USB HDD to keep my work.
Since you already omitted Dell, though, my brother has an Avertec that I used a lot before I got mine. I really liked its size and weight. Battery life again 2h for DVD's. This year's model would be the 3200/3200 line.
That Tecra A4 screen resolution is low for 15.4" LCD.
Keep in mind that under 6 pounds is good, under 5 is better, if you want portability. Over 6 pounds will stay at home more often that not. Mine is about 5.5 which is nice, but wish I had gone 1 pound lighter with the 700m.
