A few days ago, after a thread had otherwise ended (Want FET Which Can Give ID as 5A), I spent a few hours composing a detailed post on the subject, How to select a power MOSFET.
Rather than simply sending someone off to a few manufacturer's websites, this post shows in detail how an experienced engineer (me) would go about selecting a power mosfet for a simple on/off power-switch design. Please follow the link, I'd appreciate seeing your comments.
http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/63409#comment664966