I'm looking for a new laptop. I want one super-small and with long battery life, and that hopefully stays cool.

I will use it for communication (Skype and videoconferencing), and Web surfing -- I like to control my office computer over the Net via Remote Desktop or similar services, so no need for Office or anything.

I do want it to be fairly snappy. I had an old Vaio with a 700mhz processor and 256mb of RAM, and it drove me crazy waiting for the thing to work.

My question is, with all the new Intel processors out, I'm wondering if I should get an Intel Core 2 Duo-based notebook, or a recent single-core processor, or a Centrino, or one with an older processor. Or an AMD processor.

Which is the most efficient -- that is, uses least power, yet still fast? If the latest are best, are they not worth the price?

Thanks for any advice!

I'd go with Core 2 Duo. It'll get the best performance/power consumption ratio. It uses as much power as a regular Core Duo, but is quite a bit faster.

I haven't been too impressed with AMD's offerings on a notebook. My last one had a Turion and I couldn't really get it to work nicely unless I installed XPx64 on it, which was a major PITA.

Yup. The Core 2 Duo using the Memrom (mobile) process is the best there is at the moment. Just started shipping from most Tier One manufacturers.

Thanks guys. When you say 'best there is,' I take it that you don't just mean performance, but price/performance?

Yes, both price and performance but also power consumption.

It's actually "Merom." One too many m's.

One more vote for the Core 2 Duo, it is a great all around processor. My current laptop is a Centrino Duo, and it is pretty fast as well, but the Core 2 Duo should be even better.