Yeah, the centrino would be the best way to go. You could get higher performance from a desktop p4 in a laptop, like the 2.8, 3.0 ect. but you will pay for it in battery life. If you are going to plugged in all the time, then that wouldn't matter, but what's the point of a laptop if you never have it unpluged? The centrino's have great processing power and are unmatched in battery life.