Laptop experts

[f5fstop]

AMD or Intel? I need a new laptop, and I'm trying to decide.
Is the Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2500 (2.0 GHz) really worth almost $200 more than the AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-40 (2.2GHz/1MB L2 Cache). Both will have XP pro and at least 1 gig of RAM.
My old Toshiba with the POS celeron and 512K is getting too slow, and the damn fan runs almost all the time.

[NoMoGMPG]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

AMD or Intel? I need a new laptop, and I'm trying to decide.
Is the Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2500 (2.0 GHz) really worth almost $200 more than the AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-40 (2.2GHz/1MB L2 Cache). Both will have XP pro and at least 1 gig of RAM.
My old Toshiba with the POS celeron and 512K is getting too slow, and the damn fan runs almost all the time.

The AMD kicks the crap out of Intel's supposed 'Duo' Dual-core easily. Less heat, better battery life, and more processes per cycle. The Intel tries to cram both cores processing through its FSB/Northbridge bottleneck, whereas the AMD uses the better system of integrated on-chip memory management. There is a reason Intel is losing market share, it has to do with thrown together answers to AMD innovation.

Dave

[evldave]

Originally Posted by NoMoGMPG

The AMD kicks the crap out of Intel's supposed 'Duo' Dual-core easily. Less heat, better battery life, and more processes per cycle. The Intel tries to cram both cores processing through its FSB/Northbridge bottleneck, whereas the AMD uses the better system of integrated on-chip memory management. There is a reason Intel is losing market share, it has to do with thrown together answers to AMD innovation.

Agreed. I used to be a diehard Intel (ford) fan. For years I bought nothing but Intel (ford) - new, used, didn't matter, no matter who's was better, I always bought Intel (ford). Then, one day, I realized that I was just buying Intel (ford) because that's what I'd always done, so I bought an AMD (GM) and behold! it was better. Now, I buy the best I can afford for what I want, now I have 3 computers, 2 intel (ford), 1 AMD (GM) and am upgrading my Intel (ford) laptop for an AMD (GM) one because of all that stuff NoMoGo said.

Truth is, unless you are buying a gaming laptop or a laptop for video processing, either processor will work well, and the AMD is cheaper. I have a celeron 1.6 w/1GB ram and it runs all my mapping software, allows me to tinker with my digital pics, does rudimentary video editing (poorly) and most important downloads porn just as fast as any other computer I can buy .

I'd recommend going w/the AMD. CNET does a good job of comparing the different processesor levels performance so you can look there to see which might be better if you have a specialized use in mind.

[f5fstop]

Laptop is primarily for surfing the web, answering emails, and some small spread sheets from time-to-time. Also use it to access GM-Dealerworld for working on vehicles and answering questions on this site a lot of times.
I also use it when traveling for downloaded digital files from my D70 to clear the memory chips. But I do very little in Photoshop on the laptop.
Scanning of slides and processing of all digital photos in Photoshop and then printing of digital prints are done on my desktop which is an Intel 3.4 (3.6?), with 4-gigs of DDR-2 RAM.
However, for surfing the web, you can't beat sitting in the recliner.

[Ted Kennedy]

Oh, pardon my intrusion. I thought this was about lap dances. Heh, heh.

[Fubar]

CNET

Agreed Cnet.com does a great job of comparing and explaining. I also agree that you'll get more bang for the buck going with AMD. Like you, almost all of my pc's are/were Intel except my G5 dual 2.7 and new Allienware

While the allienware is way, way, WAY over priced starting at $1999. it is a kick a.s.s laptop and with dual 100gig 7200rpm hard drives and enough processing power and ram even video editing on location isn't much of a problem any more. Getting a project out of Adobe's Permiere and back into Final Cut Pro on my Mac is however at times challenging.

[evldave]

Originally Posted by f5fstop

Laptop is primarily for surfing the web, answering emails, and some small spread sheets from time-to-time. Also use it to access GM-Dealerworld for working on vehicles and answering questions on this site a lot of times.
I also use it when traveling for downloaded digital files from my D70 to clear the memory chips. But I do very little in Photoshop on the laptop.
Scanning of slides and processing of all digital photos in Photoshop and then printing of digital prints are done on my desktop which is an Intel 3.4 (3.6?), with 4-gigs of DDR-2 RAM.
However, for surfing the web, you can't beat sitting in the recliner.

This is pretty much exactly what I use my current laptop for, adding in porn (while sitting in the recliner watching porn on the TV). I also haul it on road trips and use it for mapping/navigation while out camping. Don't know your price range, but this is what I've been looking at:

HP D8135 (or any of the 81xx line) if you want bigger screen and monster HD space (up to 240GB now I think).

HP 5100 series if you don't care about the HD space (go w/the AMD processesor). This is pretty much what I've settled on for a couple of reasons. First, it's lots of stuff for a relatively cheap price (numerous discounts available if you look a lot). Second, it's HP, and my current Compaq laptop has lasted through A LOT (drops, melted case froma candle, years of offroad driving, trip up the daulton highway in Alaska, beer spills, porn, etc) and I'm very happy with it's durability. Third, I can get it cheapest at BestBuy, which means I'm not f'ing around with repair problems - spend the extra $$ for the superwarranty and anywhere you are you can take it in. I'm not usually a fan of chainstores, but it's nice for situations like this.

Others I've looked at and why I'm going away from them:

Dell (various models) - too expensive for the features, maybe better build quality, looks better (if you care), but you can get some serious discounts on the HP if you shop around (and little on the dell - it only becomes price-comparible when they have their discounts and it's really not close).

Toshiba - Japanese, 'nuf said

Acer - ditto

Alienware - kick butt, but too much $$ since I also have a desktop for all the serious stuff.

Gateway - a late comer, haven't really done much research, might be worth a look.

...and I think that's the list of American-made laptops. A few $$ or features here and there aren't worth it for me to go overseas, and the build quality on electronics nowadays is so homogenous it's not like a yugo/bmw, more like a bmw/mercedes.

My 2 cents, take it for what it's worth...

[HummBebe]

I heart teh Aliens

Area 51 rocks!

[ssgharkness020147]

NO NO NO. Not kick but, piece of ****. I have one, its a 2700.00 dollar custom built piece of crap. Nothing but problems since the second I took it out of the box. Screen problems, it always flickers or blacks out til you smack it. CD/DVD burner does not work, oh and now the drive does not work at all. Constant BIOS issues because of a Belkin card. So on and so on. And as far as customer service went it was always send it in. So I sent it in over and over, and it never came back totally fixed. I'll never buy another nor will I ever reccomend them. It too bad too, they make some great looking laptops, especially the new ones; dual internal hard drives etc...

Originally Posted by evldave

Alienware - kick butt, but too much $$ since I also have a desktop for all the serious stuff.