Hey Chris,
I actually have the same kind of laptop these days (reselling it, its the 16xx X 10xx) model.
As for your problem with powerman. - Yes, you are right, its a problem with speedstep.
Try and use coolbook to act as speedstep alternative ( http://www.osxlatitude.com/groups/d4xosx/wiki/1d8c1/Howto_Fix_heating_problems.html ) - it works on mine and solves the above problems.
As for cd/dvd, i'll have a chat with mariusz and have him add cd/dvd fix to rc5