Laptop Advice

I'm looking to purchase a laptop ready for me to go back to uni with. Im going to study Software Engineering. Whats best AMD or Intel???? Also Whats the difference between all the different processors i.e. P4, P4-M, Centrino, Athlon XP-M. Whats the best. Is it really worth me getting a moblie processor or not. Im going to be using it a lot when i get it plus im traveling to uni on the train every day so it will be getting a lot of hammering. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ta. Anthony

P.S. I been looking at this one

http://web6.scan.co.uk/Products/Info.asp?WPID=57642

if your doing lots of traveling, i'd suggest a centrino. I have one and i haven't done much traveling, but just from using it, its one of the coolest laptop "temperature wise" and performs very well and has better battery life than any other cpu.

AMD isn't very good for laptops, first of all their cpus run quite hot and even their mobile cpu, the XP-M isn't that good too. All it is is just a regular XP cpu with powersavings. The P4-M is the same thing as the P4. But for the Pentium M, its a whole new cpu designed for mobile computing, thats why I reccomend it.

Who said the XP-M isn't good for laptops? The XP-M uses the same sort of power saving features as the Pentium M found in Centrino setups. The Pentium M is just a redesigned P3 Shorter Pipelines larger cache using a P4 type Memory Interface, thus awsome battery life. The only Problem with AMD laptops are the lack of a good Chipset. I do suggest get an Centrino Laptop and stay far far away from a P4-M which really sucks juice and blasts heat way worse than any AMD laptop. Get a Protection plan with any laptop you buy and get a decent video card such as the ATI R9000M. If you're gonna be on the road alot get a laptop with an outer alloy casing for less weight.

My recommendation: go for a low speed Pentium-M processor. If you get a laptop taht says Centrino, that has both a pentium-M processor AND an integrated wireless network card.

Personally, I think the best deal/best laptop you can get is the Dell Inspiron 600m. With the second battery, you can get up to 8 hours of battery life. The 14.1" screen has all the size you really need (be sure to upgrade to the SXGA display) and it has more than enough power to run a compiler.

I'd suggest a 1.6GHz Centrino (Pentium-M) processor. They have alot of power and low power consumption. Like they said make sure you get a good 3d chipset too for what you'll be spending.

P4=desktop Pentium 4 CPU
P4-M=pentium 4 with powersaving features
Athlon XP-M= an Athlon XP with power saving featurs and a lower core voltage for less power consumption and a cooler system.
Centrino=Pentium-M= like it was mentioned before a Pentium 3 with a P4 type Mem. interface, lower power consumption, and a cooler running system with great power.
Good luck, btw I like my laptop listed below...I get abou an hour and a half gaming on it, and 130 minutes battery life when watching a DVD...regular use for things like word processing I get somthing like 3 hours of Battery life...I have a large battery though...12 cell Lithium Ion...which equals a heavy computer. Good luck with your search.

Krusty said:

...be sure to upgrade to the SXGA display...

Click to expand...

Defiantly be sure to do some research into this before you make a decision. Some people just cannot handle having everything so small on the screen as a 1400x1024 display on a 14" screen will deliver. Others couldn't live without the real estate. I myself am perfectly happy with my XGA display (1024x768) on my 600m. I tried out a 14x10 display on my sister's IBM T23 and decided that I just liked XGA better. You need to get ahold of some laptops and decide for yourself.

I have a Presario X1000 and its a pretty good laptop for the price.

Centrino/Pentium M is definately the way to go, and if you plan to do any gaming try to get an MX440Go or 9000/9200 Mobility or better.

My 600m 1.3Ghz w/ mobility radeon 9000 64MB gets a little over 6000 3dmarks from what I recall. Enough for me to play tribes and counterstrike pretty easily.