Need advice on a good sturdy laptop for use in the field

Hi,

I've been asked by a friend who is working for a charity in West Darfur for some advice on buying a laptop.

Basically its gotta fulfill the following requirements:

- it's gotta be sturdy and be capable of taking some knocks.
- DVD player/writer is also required
- 12" to 14" screen size so not too big
- 1 Gb ram
- Cheap

I know nothing of laptops and searching the web has bought back a long list of expensive 'field laptops', can some one please recommend a good standard laptop capable of working in the extremes?

Thanks

Jon