Yes my problem was that I was editing the mesh AFTER I had bound the skin to the vertices. It was only after that that the computer started to lag.

My guy is all weight-painted now and deforming nicely, however I didn't think to put in all the control curves before I bound the skin. Now I'm trying to and its just not working at all.... probably my own fault. I've already got some set driven keys for his fists and getting a proper IK for his arms/legs was a hassle so its not worth going back for me, It'll just take longer to animate i suppose.

also, what do you mean v+mmb? what is mmb?