I3 good enough for multimedia?

I'm looking to buy my first laptop. I"ve found the information here invaluable for me as I have no experience with the current state of laptop hardware and how to make sense of all the competing versions from various manufacturers. I've been piecing together desktops for a while but am at a complete loss when shopping for a laptop.

That said, I think I'm decided on an Intel-i3/i5 based system. All I plan to do with the laptop is have it act as an interface for my home network to my home theater setup in the living room. I will be connecting it to the 720p tv via HDMI, and was wondering if the i3 will be able to handle running videos up to 720p via codecs such as divx, .mkv, etc., smoothly with the integrated GPU. I have a seperate DVD player and Blu-Ray player, so that is not a concern.

Thanks in advance for any opinions!