what he said... laptops tend to be slightly slower... however, if you're set on a laptop, talk to a reputable computer shop, and have something built to suit your needs, plus 25% more!!! i had my friend who runs a computer shop build my laptop, even at his cost it costs a little more than bestbuy/etc, but i couldn't be happier. and i know it's great product. plus he takes care of it, cleans it up, etc... whenever i need. not that HP doesn't make good stuff, but it's still run of the mill mass produced laptops...
things to look for... processor, HD speed, and RAM. keep in mind though, if you run WIN-XP, it can only handle 2gigs of RAM if i'm not mistaken. and moving up to Vista might suck too... i had it for a short time at work, and went back to XP. personal preference though maybe??