G'day John,
just had a thought - actually I was reading an old article relating to server performance and it reminded me of your problem.
Can you turn OFF hyperthreading in your notebook? If so you may find a noticeable improvement.
--=-- My credo:
If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya
--=--You're only paranoid if you're wrong!