laptop computer processors

Norm Apter

My wife is looking at getting a new laptop (something in the lower price range). In addition to other variables (RAM, total memory, display, price, number of ports), I'm trying to get a handle on the processor factor (for short- and long-term stability).

I'm wondering if there is any conventional wisdom about how the some of the following processors rank against one another.

Or maybe its not as significant a factor as I'm making it out to be?

Anyway, here are the ones I see popping up in the lower-end models (i.e. in her price range):

Intel Pentium
AMD Athlon
AMD Turion

Here's a link to the model we've been eyeing (it has the Intel Pentium 4400, which I guess is not dual core???):
Toshiba Satellite L505-ES5018

She doesn't game at all, just uses it for internet browsing, Youtube, music/photo storage, Skype, watching DVDs, word processing, etc.

Her current laptop, which is almost 4 years old and on the fritz, seems to have one of the very cheapest processors (Intel Celeron), so we're hoping to at least get something a bit better.

renowilliams

Hi Norm

I personally like intel processor but there is nothing wrong with the others. It sounds like your wife is a basic user and has no need of any serious speed. The Toshiba you looking at would meet her needs. By the way it does have a duel core processor in it here is a link to the specs http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=40739.
I have always had luck with thinkpads for a laptop. They are now called Lenovo. I have one that is eight years old and still going. They just have good build quality and will take more abuse than the average laptop. Newegg has one for just a little more than the cost of what your looking at.


Good Luck

Norm Apter

renowilliams wrote: »

I have always had luck with thinkpads for a laptop. They are now called Lenovo. I have one that is eight years old and still going. They just have good build quality and will take more abuse than the average laptop. Newegg has one for just a little more than the cost of what your looking at.


Good Luck

Thanks for your response. Thats helpful.

Actually, about five years ago she mentioned that an IBM Thinkpad was one of her dream laptops (along with a Mac) however they were well out of her price range then and, we had assumed, now. So I didn't even bother looking into them. Thanks for pointing me to Newegg. I'll check them out.

I did hear that Lenovo had taken over this series a few years ago. I thought I heard some rumor during the transition that the quality /durability for which they were known might suffer. Do you feel their quality has held up since the transition?

nadams

Do some research on whatever processor you are interested in, and make sure that it is a mobile version of the processor. A lot of cheap laptops will just throw a desktop processor in there, which is going to run much hotter, and drain the battery faster.

WilliamM2

I got my wife a Toshiba 17" screen laptop with a T4400 dual core Pentium, I believe it's the same one in that laptop. Seems very fast, and will run on battery over 4 hours if just surfing the net. She's very pleased with it. Check Toshiba direct for deals, the one we got was $500, which is great for a 17" screen, and it was almost $200 less than at BB.

Poee7R

Toshiba makes a nice laptop, but Im also a fan of Lenovo. Looking around a bit I found this, which is similiar to the one you have posted. A bit less HD storage, but a gb more ram.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6077676&Sku=T71-15631

I bought my wife a Lenovo about a year and a half ago, and it is really tough. Cant recommend them enough.


Dave

fujicat

Go to tiger direct. They have great deals on laptops. I deal with there wholesale division and they very good.

renowilliams

Norm Apter wrote: »

Thanks for your response. Thats helpful.

Actually, about five years ago she mentioned that an IBM Thinkpad was one of her dream laptops (along with a Mac) however they were well out of her price range then and, we had assumed, now. So I didn't even bother looking into them. Thanks for pointing me to Newegg. I'll check them out.

I did hear that Lenovo had taken over this series a few years ago. I thought I heard some rumor during the transition that the quality /durability for which they were known might suffer. Do you feel their quality has held up since the transition?

I would agree that the Lenovo is not quite as durable as the thinkpads were but still very good. I have an R500 with a t9600 Centrino processor and I love it. It quite a bit more expensive than what your looking at but the body is I'm sure the same.


Tim

wayne3burk

i got my wife a dell i5 Inspiron 17 from staples (on sale) for 649USD a couple of months ago...

heres a link to a dell core duo 17 inch inspiron for 449

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dncwds1&cs=19&dgvcode=ss&c=US&l=EN&dgc=SS&cid=27399&lid=627062

--wayne--

Norm Apter

Thanks Everybody

I just put in an order for the Lenovo G550 (linked by Dave above) from Tiger Direct for $449. I had taken note of the same model (due to its similar specs with the Toshiba) at Newegg.com, but at Newegg it is $499 plus shipping. As Tiger Direct has free shipping and no tax for an out-of-state sale, it was a no brainer.

It actually ended up being cheaper than the Toshiba I was originally eyeing from Best Buy, because I would have been tagged with 9.75% CA sales tax had I ordered that one from Best Buy.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I'm sure she'll be happy with this.

renowilliams

Norm Apter wrote: »

Thanks Everybody

I just put in an order for the Lenovo G550 (linked by Dave above) from Tiger Direct for $449. I had taken note of the same model (due to its similar specs with the Toshiba) at Newegg.com, but at Newegg it is $499 plus shipping. As Tiger Direct has free shipping and no tax for an out-of-state sale, it was a no brainer.

It actually ended up being cheaper than the Toshiba I was originally eyeing from Best Buy, because I would have been tagged with 9.75% CA sales tax had I ordered that one from Best Buy.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I'm sure she'll be happy with this.

Congrats Norm.I'm sure your wife will be very pleased with it.



Tim

DeusExa

Intel Sandy Bridge is set to come out soon.

bigaudiofanatic

I am a amd guy but I have liked the new intel i processors. BUT now with the new amd's I am back to liking amd.

Sherardp

Intel i5 should do the trick. If your looking for a complete desktop replacement I would buy a nice laptop with the i7 instead.

bigaudiofanatic

Even a i5 can be a desktop replacement.

kawizx9r

bigaudiofanatic wrote: »

Even a i5 can be a desktop replacement.

Depends on the needs of the person replacing their desktop. Personally, I like a little bit of headroom and an i7 would do the trick

bigaudiofanatic

True just watch for battery life.

Norm Apter

One more thing guys...

I'm sure this has been discussed elsewhere, but is there a general consensus that Windows 7 is less of a 'memory hog' than Windows Vista?

For you guys who have machines that run Windows 7, what is your impression? Better than Vista and/or XP? If so, in what ways?

(The one I ordered for her is installed with Windows 7...the laptops we're currently using run on XP and Vista.)

Sherardp

Win 7 is much better than Vista and runs way faster. The improvement is very noticeable also. I formatted everything I had with Vista and installed Win 7 and it is indeed a treat. I'd recommend you upgrade yours too. If you look around you can find it for near free.

renowilliams

+1 on what Sherardp is saying. Windows 7 is far superior to Vista and XP. Not sure I agree with the upgrade option, I would get a full install os disk and format the drive and install fresh.

Make sure you post yours and your wife's impressions of the Lenovo.


Tim

bigaudiofanatic

Win 7 over vista!

Norm Apter

renowilliams wrote: »

Make sure you post yours and your wife's impressions of the Lenovo.

Tim

Will do. My wife is out of the country for two weeks, so I'll have a chance to give it a test run before she returns. I'm not sure if they still do this with laptops, but when I purchased my last one (Toshiba in January 2008) it was loaded with all kinds of unnecessary software (i.e. trial run programs) so if its there, I'd like to dump that stuff too before she returns.

I have to say that so far I'm mighty impressed with Tiger Direct. This was the first time I've delt with them -- received notification of shipment with a UPS tracking number within 6 hours of placing my order. I'm not sure I've ever encountered such quick shipping, and certainly not when shipping was included in the purchase price. Very impressive. Tiger Direct just might turn out to be one of my "go to" companies.

Sherardp

renowilliams wrote: »

+1 on what Sherardp is saying. Windows 7 is far superior to Vista and XP. Not sure I agree with the upgrade option, I would get a full install os disk and format the drive and install fresh.

Make sure you post yours and your wife's impressions of the Lenovo.


Tim

I meant "upgrade" as in format with Win 7. Not the actual upgrade version of Win 7.

kawizx9r

Win7 over Vista anyday, but if you don't mind learning a new OS I'd say Linux all the way

renowilliams

Sherardp wrote: »

I meant "upgrade" as in format with Win 7. Not the actual upgrade version of Win 7.

lol...Ok wasn't sure whether you were referring to there.

Norm Apter

We've had the Lenovo G550 for about 10 days and I have to say that I am very impressed both with the build and layout of this model as well as with Windows 7. It seems like most models coming out from Toshiba, HP, Dell that I'm seeing in Costco, Bestbuy, etc. these days are designed to look super slick with that grey metallic gloss. In fact, I think that slick grey design makes them look pretty cheap. So the plain jet black non-shiny design of the Lenovo is a welcome contrast.

So far I've only discovered one major issue with the Lenovo -- a terrible touchpad. I was using it to work on a dissertation chapter last week and it seemed that at least one time per line the cursor would jump up to another part of the text because my hand was inadvertently tapping it while typing. I've never experienced this before. Well, since we use a wireless mouse I had to find a fix and just did...there wasn't a quick way to disable the touchpad. After some googling, though, I found that this was a common problem with this model and was able to find a Toshiba 7.5 driver to download. Weird, huh? (that it would come from Toshiba).. but basically I was able to automatically disable the touchpad when the stick for a wireless mouse is inserted in one of the USB ports. If, say, we're on a plane and not using a mouse, then the driver detects that the USB is not inserted and makes the touchpad functional automatically. Pretty cool.

Nothing's perfect, but so far I think this one was a great bargain at $450 shipped. If no other problems crop up, I might just pick up another Lenovo when I decide I need to upgrade for myself.