Dual-layer; is it worth it?

[niteshs]

A follow-up to my earlier post (Cel-M 1.3Ghz vs P4 3Ghz vs Sempron 3000+ ?) , I have narrowed my laptop search to the following 2 Packard Bell notebooks which I can get for the same low price:

EASYNOTE E6310 (AMD Sempron 3000, 50Gb, DVD+/-RW DL)

and the

EasyNote F7305 ("Diamond View" TFT, Intel Pentium 4 3 GHz, 40Gb, DVD+/-RW)

The P4 outperforms the Sempron according to http://www23.tomshardware.com/ , although the HDD is smaller.

However the deciding factor is the DVD DL drive on the E6310. What are the pro's and cons of the DVD DL format and is it worth getting the slower laptop for it?

[elec999]

I wouldnt touch a p4 laptop, the fan sounds like a airplane when in full load. Try looking into a dothan based laptop. And 50gig hard drive, are you sure.
Thanks

[Slackfumasta]

Yes, dual-layer is cool. My DL doesn't seem to care if I burn on -R or +R media.

More importantly, I second the NO P4 laptop idea. P4 laptops will make you a sad panda after a while. Go for Pentium-M (aka dothan, sonoma, etc.)

[niteshs]

Yes, dual-layer is cool. My DL doesn't seem to care if I burn on -R or +R media.

More importantly, I second the NO P4 laptop idea. P4 laptops will make you a sad panda after a while. Go for Pentium-M (aka dothan, sonoma, etc.)

What don't you like about them?

BTW the laptop will be more of a desktop replacement than a mobile machine so the battery life isn't too important, although just out of interest is it that different?

[shellshock]

well in that case, id go with the pentium 4. The problem that plauges the p4 is power usage. They wont go too long on battery. But since your going to be using it as a destop replacment, id go with the p4

[Slackfumasta]

Power usage isn't the only drawback of the P4 in a laptop; another is the tremendous amount of heat they generate. P4 laptops are not easily cooled at all.

Plus, the Pentium M is, IMO, just as effective as a P4 for nearly everybody, even gamers, as long as you get a good video card, plus it is much more portable for when you do want to take it somewhere.

[jnev_89]

i'd get the p4 laptop. if you're jsut using it as a desktop replacement, it should be fine for you. the only advantage you get with a dual-layer burner is that you can burn dvd's with 7-8gb (i forget exactly how much) instead of the 4.7gb you get with a "regular" burner. if that's important for you ge tthe sempron, otherwise get the p4, it's a much mroe powrful cpu than the sempron is. also, i've never heard of that company. you may want to check out their reliability ratings. lastly, there is no 50gb hd, and i would never buy from a company that is trying to get me to believe that they're selling one.

[dvandervelde]

Don't forget to consider the HD speed. Sure one may bigger than the other, but how fast is it.

Why packard bell? I'd think you can find a good deal on a Pentium M based machine. Might be worth a look.

[elec999]

If you gonna get a desktop replacement. A p4 cpu, you need to make sure the hard drive is at leasr 5400rpm not 4200rpm. I would honestly consider a dothan based laptop. I am sure you will enjoy carying the laptop around, speaking from personal experience, when I play a game on my p4 laptop and the fans goes on, it makes my head hurt.
Thanks

[niteshs]

For a similar price (£400~$700) I might consider:-

Packard Bell EasyNote G1350: Intel Celeron-M 1.5 GHz, DVD+-RW (no DL)

(This also has the added advantages of 512MB instead of 256, Radeon 9100 instead of Intel, built-in wireless) but the mem is easy to upgrade and the other 2 factors aren't important.

So,

Would the loss in speed be worth the loss in noise?

PS

Any arguments for/against DVD-DL (will I ever need it?)

[dvandervelde]

The Celeron-m is not the Pentium-m. It is considerably slower, although it is very well power optimized.

If you are going to hold on to the machine for a while, the DL will be worth it. Once media comes down a bit further in price, it will be nice to burn 9gb to every disk. I'd want it.

[ozzlo]

Why is everybody bent on p4 laptops when p4's are on their way out the door...

the pentium-m has very little heat output (in some instances you can run a pentium-m without a fan and still be within 60c) My chip idles at 39-42c without a fan which means pure scilence :).

the pentium-m processor is just as good as a p4 for peformance wise.


consider this...

my laptop with the screen fully dimmed my cpu running idle, the entire laptop only consumes 10 watts of power I can even post a screenshot proving it if you would like... whereas with a p4 system you are looking at 40-50 watts minimum for the processor it's self at idle.

[techun]

even if you think you're gonna use it for a desktop replacement, you WILL move it, and you WILL use the battery...and you'll hate yourself for not getting a P-M

[Tebore]

Why is everybody bent on p4 laptops when p4's are on their way out the door...

the pentium-m has very little heat output (in some instances you can run a pentium-m without a fan and still be within 60c) My chip idles at 39-42c without a fan which means pure scilence :).

the pentium-m processor is just as good as a p4 for peformance wise.


consider this...

my laptop with the screen fully dimmed my cpu running idle, the entire laptop only consumes 10 watts of power I can even post a screenshot proving it if you would like... whereas with a p4 system you are looking at 40-50 watts minimum for the processor it's self at idle.

40-50 watts if it's a Northwood core and if the screen is closed doing absolutely nothing. :rolleyes:

I second the notion on the P-M. It's got amazing performance and it's power consumption can't be beat. The pentium M processor is in a class of it's own.

[JigPu]

Let me prefix the following post by saying that it is merely to get some more representitive values for power usage of the mobile P4. It is in no way intended to diminish or attack the P-M, since it's an awesome processor. If I could, I'd drop this P4 in a heartbeat for a P-M for several reasons (temperature, battery life, etc), and would reccomend one before a mobile P4 to friends. P-M is WAAAAAYYYYY better than the mobile P4 :D

That said...

40-50 watts if it's a Northwood core and if the screen is closed doing absolutely nothing. :rolleyes:
Actually....
(results taken from MobileMeter's "Discharge Rate" graph, with my 2.8GHz Prescott E0 powered Gateway M520 laptop)

Uber power savings (min brightness, 133x14 MHz, 12.5% throttle, 1.150V): 17W
"Maximum" power savings (same as above, only @ stock voltage of 1.388V, 100% throttle): 21W
Normal power savings (same as above, screen brigtness @ 50%): 22W
Low power savings (same as above, max screen brightness): 23W
Minimal power savings (max brightness, 133x21 MHz, 100% throttle, stock voltage): 27W

Uber power savings @ full load: 21W
Maximum power savings @ full load: 32W
Normal power savings @ full load: 33W
Low power savings @ full load: 36W
Minimal power savings @ full load: 65W


35W isn't hard to get out of my P4 (especially considering that the default windows power saving can do it under full load ;)), and averaging 30W durring normal usage isn't hard either. Your milage WILL vary (depending on GHz, core, stepping, power draw of other devices in the laptop, etc), but it seems that "40-50 watts if it's a Northwood core" is a bit of a high estimate given how the Prescott is supposed to draw more. If I can, I'll see what kind of power my sister's laptop uses (it's exactly the same except it has a D0 prescott instead of an E0). Too bad I don't have any Northwood based lappys to test... :(


PS: I third the notion of finding a P-M if you can niteshs.
JigPu