Deciding between 2 laptops

center15

I'm trying to decide between this Sony Centrino and this Sony Core Duo could someone please tell me which one is better? Is there really a big performance difference between core duo and centrino?
thanks in advance

Tom Dunne

Usual questions - what will you be using it for? Which is more important battery life or processing power?

There would be a performance difference between the two, but you would need to be using software that would take advantage of the dual core. Microsoft Word and Internet Explorer would be two examples of software that couldn't care less how many cores you have.

gamer

I think the dual core is better if you are playing games like hl2 ,doom3 ,and you are burning cds / dvd rws dvdr ,ie if u wanna surf the net, and burn cds ,mp3s at the same time.If they are the same price go for dual core.if u are just playing cds , dvds or net surfing you may not see any significant difference.

gamer

the dual core has faster mainboard bus speed, and 128meg graphics card, go for the dual core, the centrino only has 32meg onboard graphics, ,so i reckon the dc much better for games dvds etc, mutimedia ,in my opininion,
than the centrino.although for that price u cud get a dell notebook with faster onboard graphics and multimedia capabilitys,
i dont know what the dollar exchange rate is at the moment.
it wud be expensive to upgrade the centrino grahics.

center15

Think I'm going to go with the core duo it seems more future proof and the battery life is much better too, thanks for all the advice

blocparty

im in a very similar situation. im deciding between the dell 9400 and the dell 600. they are vey similar machines except for the processos. i would be going for the Intel® CoreT Processor Solo T 1300 or else the Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760. there is only about €120 in the price difference between the two machines. the 9400 is superior for all multimedia like dvds games and music which i will be using alot but ive heard there have been a number of problems with this new processor. does anyone know anything about this? i found this
http://geek.com/images/geeknews/2006Jan/core_duo_errata__2006_01_21__full.gif

its a summary with all the major problems found with the core duo processor so far. theres 34 already.

which should i go for?

center15

Most chips do have errors it's just the dual core have more that most in a short space of time. As far as I know most of the errors will never affect the user as usually a workaround is used and a revision of the chip will not be released till it's planned so there's not much point waiting for them to be fixed.

blocparty

so which should i go for?

gamer

My advice is go for the one thats faster for games/ av ,hold onto your receipt /gaurantee.If theres a major problem in the 1st 12months send it back to dell.Or else you cud just get a fast pentium 4 laptop with 128meg graphics onboard ,from boards.ie/for sale secondhand round 900euro or less ,theres people here selling laptops,that are only 6months old. You can get 3year warranty from dell if you are really concerned ,about the laptop being unreliable.theres sony vaio going for 1,300 or less ,.with geforce 128meg/upgradeable grahics onboard.or look at the dell d600,1.8ghz 900 asking price.
I dont think dell can afford to make laptops that break down after 6months.

Knockieranlady

Just ordered an Inspiron 6000 from Dell online yesterday. the specs are below. Bit disapointed now to read i might have saved some money buying dealling with salesperson instead. Can some of you well informed posters tell me if I got a good deal or not. Laptop will mainly be used for video editing and burning to dvds. Looking forward to hearing your views!

Inspiron 6000, PentM 750(1.86GHz)~Inspiron 6000 Pentium M 750 (1.86GHz 2MB L2cache 533MHz FSB) 1
List N02606 - DHS 6000 Better~List N02606 - DHS 6000 Better 1
Inspiron 6000 15.4 WSXGA+~15.4 inch WSXGA+ LCD Panel 1
Free Upgrade to Windows Media Center 2005~Free Upgrade to Windows Media Center 2005 1
Memory Upgrade from 512MB to 1024MB~
1GB, DDR2, 533MHZ [2X512MB DIMMS]~1024MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2x512) 1
100GB 5400rpm ATA/100 HDD~100GB (5,400 rpm) IDE Hard Drive 1
8XDVD+/-RWDrive~Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive with Software 1
Primary 80 Watt/Hour, 9 CELL Battery (Optional Upsell)~Primary 80 Watt/Hour, 9 CELL Battery (Optional Upsell) 1
D-Series Delux Nylon CarryCase (X-Lge~Extra Large Deluxe Nylon Carry Case 1
128MB Video Graphic Card ATI M22~128MB DDR ATI Mobility Radeon X300 1
Internal V.92 Modem Adapter IRL/SPN 1
Intel Pro/Wireless 2200 802.11b/g Eur~EURO - Intel ProWireless 2200 802.11b/g Mini PCI Wireless LAN Card 1
Belkin ADSL Modem / Wireless Router - UK~Belkin F5D7632 ADSL Modem/Wireless Router (802.11g) - UK 1
DW BlueTooth 350 (2.0) - EUR~European - Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth 2.0 Module 1
Logi USB 3 Btn Optical MG Mouse Insp~Dell MG USB 2 Button Wheel Optical (NOT Cordless) Mouse 1
E
English WXP Media Centre 2005 (No Media)~English - Genuine Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 1
MS Works 7 -- UK~English - Microsoft Works 7.0 1

Inspiron 1 Year Collect and Return service~1Y CAR (Collect and Return )

Knockieranlady

Forgot to give price €1527.00 inc vat

center15

Went with the Core Duo, it's a very very nice laptop with great battery time. Comes with a lot of crap sortware installed which uninstalled straight away no complaints at all does a/b/g networking too which is not listed on the site

dermCu

Come on Center15, you've had a few days to play with the new machine !! Whats the verdict ?? I'm in the market for a new laptop and the dual core is a front runner.
Done any benchmarking on it ?

nl

Yep id have to advise you to go for the dual core option. I have experience with both a Core Duo 2.16GHz and a 1.86GHz Centrino. For multitasking and pure number crunching processing there is not much out there with can beat the Core Duo. The Core Duo beats the hell out of all other processors in Superpi. Thats including the FX-60.