The AMDs are decent. Several years ago, they were better than Intel's offerings.
As of the past few years though, I'd argue that the Core Duo processors (specifically, Core 2 Duo) have been better than AMD's offerings, in terms of heat produced, and power usage (as well as the processor's abilities).
The newest Intel processors are the Core i5's and Core i7's (new), but any Core 2 Duo will do for what you want too.
To be honest, the AMDs will do for what you want too, but I do think the Intel Core 2 Duos are better.