Laptop advice:which one?

Harpy

ok so im in america and buying a laptop cause my one is dying after 4 and half years of good service..
I was looking at this one:

* AMD Athlon™ II Dual-Core P340 Processor (2.2GHz)
* 3GB installed memory
* 320GB hard drive
* LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVDñR/RW with Double Layer Support
* 15.6" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768)
* Textured HP Imprint finish with the prism design in charcoal
* HP Webcam with integrated microphone
* Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n WLAN
* 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader
* 101-key compatible with full-size keyboard with One touch launch keys and Action keys
* 6-Cell 47WHr Lithium-Ion Battery
* Dimensions 14.72"(W)x 9.70"(D)x 1.25"(min H)/1.44"(max H) (5.5lbs)
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* 1 year warranty

which would cost me $350


or this one:

* AMD Turion™ II Dual-Core Mobile P540 Processor (2.4GHz)
* 4GB installed memory
* 500GB hard drive
* 15.6" diagonal High-Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768)
* Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n WLAN
* SuperMulti 8X DVDñR/RW with Double Layer Support
* HP Imprint finish with the link design in champagne
* HP TrueVision Webcam with integrated digital microphone
* 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader
* 101-key compatible with island-style full-size keyboard
* 6-Cell 55WHr Lithium-Ion Battery
* Dimensions 14.88" (L) x 9.65" (D) x 1.21" (min H) -1.37" (max H) (5.46lbs)
* Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* 1 year warranty


The second one would cost me $479.



Now i know the second one is better but im just wondering is it much better is the 1st laptop a good laptop and would it get through things like streaming online, browsing, downloading a few films every once in a while..
The guy in the shop was like it'll start to slow after a months whereas the second more expensive one won't..
I was just wondering is this the case if i take care of it.

What do ye think? i don't know if its worth spending the extra 120? also another thing i'm factoring in is i'm in america getting it but ill be home at christmas so im leaning more towards the cheap one cause if it breaks i can't really bring it back to the shop seen as ill be in Ireland..


Whats yer views on the two computers any good?
And is there a big difference between the two.

Thanks

woolymammoth

the differences are slight. Sort of!

Obviously, the more expensive one has more. more RAM, more hard disk space, and most importantly, more L2 cache on the processor. Specifically, it has ~2MB, compared to the P340s 1MB. This can be a real bottleneck for CPUs on speed, so naturally, the P540 will be much quicker because it can put through more data, and it does it at a faster speed too (2.4GHz compared to 2.2GHZ i think).

neither are likely to break, unless you drop it! You can safely ignore the sales bullsh*t about it slowing down. as you install apps/games/other crap, the faster one will appear to slow down too. this can be fixed with the proper tools and maintenance, etc.

try looking for comparable laptops for sale in ireland to compare prices. Should help you decide whether to buy or not.