Dual processor systems have been around for a while now, and they are designed to use two physical processors to do a kind of parallel processing. They came in handy when doing CPU-intensive tasks such as graphics rendering, or data analysis. Also handy when you want to run a server, since the load can be spread across both CPUs.

Dual core is relatively new, and is a technological advancement by building circuitry such that you essentially have two processors on one chip. The advantages are essentially identical to those for dual processors.

that's right, more or less; dual-cores give the essential benefits of dual-processors to desktop and laptop pcs, although for true servers, multiple-processor solutions such as 2/4x Xeon or 2x4x Opteron are implemented (such as the 3x SR1600s I installed the other week at work)

Thanks all for your help! My laptop search is narrowing down. Now its just about saving up the dough.

Same here, I've seen a good laptop aswell! Where am I supposed to get £699?