Looking to upgrade

I've got an HP zd7058cl (P4 2.8, 512 RAM, etc, see sig) and I need to upgrade. I know this sounds like a stupid reason to upgrade (though I have other justifications), but I got Elder Scrolls Oblivion and I can't play it on what I got (video card not good enough) and I don't feel like messing around with the game to 'get it to work'. My wife needs an upgrade as well, so she can have this laptop. She's got a Dell D610 (I think), P3 1 Ghz... ugh. It's painful to work on. So, there's my REAL justification... It'll just be a coincidence that I can now play a new game.

Here's what I like about what I already got:

Pentium 4 (not Pent M, not Centrino)
17" widescreen
full size keyboard - it has the numeric keypad

With this machine, it gets pretty warm and battery life sucks, but I RARELY use it away from power, so I don't care too much about those things.

The biggest question I have yet to find the answer to is: Am I spoiled by having a P4? I've looked into the benchmarks for the centrino processors and the new duo procs, but I feel that I'm not comparing apples to apples. There are a number of laptops out there that look good in every way except my question on the proc. How can I compare the P4 to the Centrino family? I also don't want to spend too much either. I'd like a Sager or Alienware, but they're just too expensive for what I'd really be using it for.

I'm not attached to HP by any means. I have the infamous power cord prob and had to buy the HP "media cable" because my warranty had already run out.

SO, if you've already read this far, I guess what I'm really asking is for advice on a new laptop that has at least comperable performance to what I got now and one that I won't have to sell my first born to buy.

Thanks!

I've thought about that route. Quite frankly, I've grown accustomed to being able to kick back on the couch, go outside, take my laptop to work, etc. It'd be hard to go back to a desktop, plus the fact that I use multiple desktops all day long. When I get home, I'd rather kick back instead of needing to sit in a chair, at a desk.

Trust me, I understand that I would get more horsepower out of a desktop. I built my first desktop from scratch in 91, 92? I forget now... 286 w/1MB RAM.. those were the days... anyhoo, got off track there. oh yeah, I've gotten into networking/security/etc in my career and have fallen off the 'knowing every intricate detail about hardware' bandwagon.

So, I'm looking at the most horsepower without breaking the bank. I totally get that I'm never going to get desktop performance, but the mobility makes up for that.

A Pent M is better than a Pent 4? See my last post. Obviously I really have lost touch with hardware...

Ok, so is a Pent M different than a Centrino or are they in the same family? Seems a number of manufacturers are pushing the new Core Duo (which I believe is in the Centrino family).

I just don't see how a Core Duo running at 2 GHz (even with dual core) can compare to a 3.x Ghz P4.

Wow. Thanks for the great info!

So, with that logic, a 2 GHz Core Duo would be like having two P4 3.4 GHz? (2 * 1.7 = 3.4)

That really opens up the range of notebooks. Now on to more research!

Thanks again!

Adinu: You hit the nail on the head for my frame of mind. "Clock doesn't mean performance". Like I said, I've been out of the loop on hardware for a while, so I was 'back in the good 'ol days' of one line of processor. Higher clock speed ALWAYS meant more horsepower.

Cool. Now on to the reviews to see the good and the bad.