NP5950 vs. NP5720-V

I would first off like to say I'm more of a musician than a gamer, though I do enjoy my tweeked MS Train Simulator greatly.

I was so close to getting the NP5720-V today, as I love the looks, specs, and price here. But then I noticed this NP5950 was just announced - using AMD processing. I've heard mixed reviews about the virtues of AMD so far - more powerful and faster than Pentiums, yes. But also tend to run hotter, and maybe certain software could be incompatible? Pentium is certainly a well known and reliable name, and this Pentium M reportedly runs cooler and almost as fast as AMD's best. But to my lack of expertise - it seems like Intel supercedes Pentium's speed and performance every 2nd week? And for laptops, these two types of processors seem to be the 'lesser of two evils'.

I'm currently on a Toshiba Satellite3000 PIII @950mhz, 512MB Ram, 20GB HD, and it has served me well for the past 6 years. But as music production and other applications are getting more demanding, this poor old girl barely cuts the mustard anymore. I would like to make a 'lasting investment' with a really DECENT laptop (try not to laugh please! ) and am really in love with the looks and ergodynamics of the NP5720-V currently. The NP5950 looks almost as good, but not quite. (for me atleast)

So I seek the knowledgable advice from you folks here please. Basically I'm looking for a robust 'realtime' lappy that has exceptional performance and reliabilty. I use Orion Platinum as my 'production suite' ( www.synapseaudio.com ) and many numerous MIDI sequencers and editors for Yamaha gear. Currently using a Yamaha UW500 USB Audio interface (hope to go to IX88 soon?) and using ASIO drivers. I'm noticing though the latency is getting more pronounced with my current lappy, and/or with the more CPU intense VSTi/DXi's coming out - at best, I can have my ASIO in 'Relaxed' mode to avoid freezes and crashes. The only 'games' I'm interested in is MS Train Simulator (as mentioned) and this dinky Monopoly game that's fun on rainy days. What can I say - I'm just a old 'music geek' at heart.

Sorry for the long winded ramble, but I would like to make the best informed decision ASAP. I appreciate any and all thoughts and comments given to help make me get the best for my needs. Thanks in advance...

I appreciate your responses. I agree, it does look like 'overkill' indeed - but the video aspect is hopefully for future scoring readiness and possibilities. I've had a few leads recently, so I'd like to be 'ready' as best I can. As for the sound card issues, I did notice AC'97 on one of them - which kinda surprised me. But the majority of what I do goes out through an external Audio Unit via USB and hopefully i1394 soon - so this bypasses the internal soundcard totally - shouldn't it? And I like what you say about Intel there Twilight Vampire. I think Intel certainly has been more focused on Media applications more so than AMD, so I agree that I maybe best to stick with it for now to avoid headaches. Thanks for the reassurance!

But no sooner was I about to buy - then I was advised about this new MS Vista and Intels EFI OS. I've seen something here about certain laptops being 'upgradable' - and would this be an easy operation if so? I could live without Vista - but the EFI business sounds like a more precise synchronizer than the prehestoric BIOS we've lived with all these years.