Personally, for commuting I would go for the Centurion or another old steel road bike. The increase in speed was what made me switch from MTB to road bikes for commuting. I had locked out the suspension of my MTB so switching to a steel road frame wasn't too jarring of a change.
I am figuring the Centurion Commuter 5 will need a road gruppo and probably no triple chain ring...correct?
If you're in a fairly flat area, yes. Here in Florida I use two rear gears almost exclusively while commuting- Both are on the 42 tooth chainring.