I'm not up to speed on the latest Intel mobile processors, but the video processor (GPU) will be much more important for running AH on a laptop than the CPU. I do know that the latest intel processors mostly offer very minor improvements from the previous cpus, so you won't get too much of a benefit by spending a lot for the latest mobile cpu. The latest ones will get you a bit better battery life and maybe run a bit cooler, but the performance should be pretty much the same as the last generation for cpus with the same clock speed.
You might even be able to get a bit of a price benefit by not insisting on the latest laptop cpus, since the performance difference is so small. Look for other features like the graphics chip, what kind and how much memory it has (DDR2 is fine and should be a lot cheaper than DDR3), hard drive size and speed (I would insist on a 7200 rpm drive but 80 gig is probably big enough for a laptop unless it's going to be your main computer), display size, resolution, and type (glossy vs. anti-glare, etc), what kind of optical drive it has (you'll pay $300-$400 more for a blu-ray capable drive), how many ports it has, if the secondary video output is a VGA or DVI connector (I would strongly prefer DVI), what kind of sound it has if you plan on hooking it up to surround sound speakers at home, weight, and battery life.
Nvidia still has the fastest mobile video chips, but they just got burned badly by shipping a few million defective video chips. I think they have the manufacturing problem fixed by now, but you should be aware that if you get a used, refurbished, or clearance-sale laptop with an nvidia mobile graphics chip, it's possible you might get one of the bad ones.
I read somewhere that the new laptop cpus were being branded "centrino II" or something like that, but the manufacturer can't use that brand if they don't include the intel video and network chipsets that make up the "centrino" platform.
As for how to research this stuff,
www.anandtech.com usually has great articles on the technology behind these things.
If you still can't get the info you need, just compare four specifications:
1. Processor speed.
2. Number of cores (2 is standard)
3. Cache size
4. Manufacturing process (I think 45nm is the newest)
Processor wattage is another clue, but cpu power usage is heavily dependent on what it's actually running at the time so it's tough to figure out what is marketing nonsense and what is an actual technical specification.
