jimco..
i know its a hassle..but..
if moneys short heres an idea.
sometimes you can find refurb with warranty dual core processor desktop systems for
200 buks or less. eg dual core amd 64.
add a nice 7200 rpm 32mb cache drive for recording and playback that costs 70 buks
and youll be set up.

with your current lappie have you tried recording/playback from an external drive ??
ie not useing the win OS drive ?? if you havent done such it might be worth doing
a test and seeing how you get on.

retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.