Now, I'm not a computer wizard but own a few laptops from Dell, HP, Compaq up to Alienware. My favorite is my Compaq V2000 but it only comes with Intel pentium Mobile. It's really light, dependable, the 12cell batteries really last a long time (5-6 houts). The bright wide screen option is a real deal and only cost me less than $1200.

But as I said, I'm not a computer wizard and don't know if maybe you need pentium 4 for your application. But Pentium M is really my favorite now. It's fast enough and run really cool hence longer battery life.