Processors ??? Is it worth the extra €278

still

Hi all

I'm about to buy a laptop to use for the next year for word processing and file storage. Undoubtably ill use it for much more once i get it but my main criteria (in order) for the machine i want to buy are

1. Processor (dont want to upgrade for a while)
2. Memory (as much as i can get for my €)
3. Battery life (ill be using it on journeys alot, up to 6 hours)
4. HD space min 60GB (more the better)

I have found a few from Dell but pricing is a bit messed up due to specials on and all that. I have the option of either of these chips

Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2300E (1.66 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)
OR
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.0 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)

but the second will up the price by €278. A interim one (Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2400 (1.83 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB), cost a few 100 extra again as its not on special offer.

Is it worth it?

Any other advice? I only have about €1,000.

Thanks

majiktripp

Unless your using it for heavy duty processing / video editing ...why bother?
I'd upgrade the RAM/Hard Drive with the money you intended to spend on processor....

Ruu_Old

Buy your RAM elsewhere, just take with what your Dell is offering as part of the price and you will find it cheaper at other places.

majiktripp

I agree with Ruu 100% Dell do like to rape people with their ram prices....

Tom Dunne

still wrote:

but my main criteria (in order) for the machine i want to buy are

1. Processor (dont want to upgrade for a while)

what exactly do you mean when you say processor is the main criteria for purchasing a laptop? Do you want raw processing power? Or a processor that is future-proof (bearing in mind what you purchase today will be obselete in 3 months )?

The reason I ask is that unless you are doing things like majiktripp is suggesting, I think putting the processor first is not wise.

2. Memory (as much as i can get for my €)

As the lads suggest - Dell will, erm, charge you a lot, for more memory. Adding memory to laptops is generally straight forward and a hell of a lot cheaper.

3. Battery life (ill be using it on journeys alot, up to 6 hours)

Now, this is where my question about the processor comes into play. The more powerful the processor, generally the shorter the battery life. So I personally would put battery life ahead of processor power, bearing in mind what I said earlier.

On a side note, no laptop around today will give you 6 hours. I have seen IBM's with extended batteries (i.e. that stick out the back) that give a good 4-5 hours, but 6 hours is pushing it. I have also read reviews of tiny Sony's that give 5 hours, but you are sacrificing screen real-estate and functionality for portability and battery life. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this one.

I have found a few from Dell but pricing is a bit messed up due to specials on and all that. I have the option of either of these chips

Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2300E (1.66 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)
OR
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.0 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB)

but the second will up the price by €278. A interim one (Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2400 (1.83 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB), cost a few 100 extra again as its not on special offer.

Is it worth it?

Again, this is down to your needs. Generally, the more a processor costs, the more powerful it is (in terms of processing power).

A lot of generalisations in this post

sceptre

Nice extended post from tom.

Specifically on the processor, judging by your stated needs, i wouldn't bother paying the extra 278.

jimmycrackcorm

On the processor fonrt, you should run task manager for a while when you are doing your usual computing and observe the processor graph to see just how much of its capacity is actually used, you'd get a surprise.

mukki

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

On the processor fonrt, you should run task manager for a while when you are doing your usual computing and observe the processor graph to see just how much of its capacity is actually used, you'd get a surprise.

a very very good point,

everyone thinking of buying a new high spec pc should be told that!

Linoge

tom dunne wrote:

On a side note, no laptop around today will give you 6 hours. I have seen IBM's with extended batteries (i.e. that stick out the back) that give a good 4-5 hours, but 6 hours is pushing it. I have also read reviews of tiny Sony's that give 5 hours, but you are sacrificing screen real-estate and functionality for portability and battery life. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this one.

Even at that the quoted times will be with the screen running at half brightness while only reading a Word Pad doc!

If you're thinking that you could watch 3 DVDs over 6 hours, even on an IBM you're dreaming:eek:

It would be much cheaper to buy a spare battery than to go for a high end business model to give you the same usage. (esp if you won't be taking that many long journeys)

majiktripp

jimmycrackcorm wrote:

On the processor fonrt, you should run task manager for a while when you are doing your usual computing and observe the processor graph to see just how much of its capacity is actually used, you'd get a surprise.

A side note from that,if looking at task manager and you move your mouse wildly,your processor usage goes upto 100%.....how very strange....:eek:

DirkVoodoo

Dell are like a cheap restaurant, they offer you a decent main meal at a good price and then make their bit of profit by charging over the odds for bad wine.

Bring your own Wine!!!

Tom Dunne

DirkVoodoo wrote:

Dell are like a cheap restaurant, they offer you a decent main meal at a good price and then make their bit of profit by charging over the odds for bad wine.

Bring your own Wine!!!

Post of the week.

TempestSabre

DirkVoodoo wrote:

Dell are like a cheap restaurant, they offer you a decent main meal at a good price and then make their bit of profit by charging over the odds for bad wine.

Bring your own Wine!!!

Go for the early bird menu = outlet store

Capt'n Midnight

If you want 6 hours you will need to buy at least one spare battery and use aggressive power saving settings too. Don't forget that like car batteries they decrease in capacity as they get older.

TempestSabre

I was surprised myself but the Dell 640m I have, DualCore 1.83 and 14" 1440 x 900 and one 9 cell battery gets about 6-7 hours with out compromising too much. Turn screen brighness down 1 or 2 notches, and hibernate instead of suspend. Thats with general stuff like web, office, programming. With everything cranked I'm getting around 5 hours. Thats my guesstimate, haven't actually timed it. My old Vaio 16" 1280x1024 laptop with a desktop P4 2.8 ghz gets about 2-3 hours on two big batteries. That said I prefer using the Vaio.