Help with purchasing 1

[MagicalDean]

Basically, I don't really know where to get myself a laptop. I want something along the lines of the best processor that can be put in a laptop, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive and a good graphics card, which I'm sure is about what everyone wants. Can anyone suggest where I can get them, specifically for the UK!

Plus, whats the difference between Pentium M and Pentium...because the M's seem to have a lower speed but I've heard they're better...Please explain!

Any help is greatly apprechiated

 

[GaryKearley]

Dean,

With laptops, since you are going to be pretty much stuck with what you initially buy, as they are almost impossible to upgrade, except maybe the RAM and Hard drive, you really need to buy the best specified one you can for your money availible.

I don't know whether you actually want recommendations for makes, but as a good guide, for business use, the likes of HP/Compaq, Dell and Toshiba are the market leaders.

getting a machine of the spec you have outlined will cost in the region of 1.5 to 2K

The difference between the Pentium M and Pentium is that the M stands for "mobile" - this CPU uses less power and produces less heat, both ideal for laptop use, the drawback is that they are generally of a lower speed than the normal Pentium's.

The "Centrino" models are quite a good idea too, if you want built in wireless networking included.

so really Dean, you have to get your budget and then look at the bigger players out there for models which fit that budget.

have a look at these manufacturers to start with:
Dell UK
HP UK
Toshiba UK

Gary

[COLOR=#FF0000 ]Blame DPlank, everyone else does...[/color]

 

[Nelviticus]

Although the Pentium M chips have lower clock speeds than the non-M versions they're not necessarily slower - a 1.6GHz Pentium M is quicker than a 1.6GHz Pentium IV, for instance. So you can't compare them that way.

Comparing the clock speeds is only meaningful when you're comparing otherwise-identical processors. For instance, a 1.6GHz Pentium M is faster than a 1.4GHz Pentium M, but there's no way of telling whether it's faster or slower than a 1.6GHz Athlon XP or 1.6GHz Pentium IV other than by benchmarking (i.e. testing) it - or better still, letting somebody else benchmark it then looking up their results on the internet.

Tom's Hardware have some very extensive CPU comparison charts if you want detailed info on the speeds of all the different types of CPU out there.

If you want to do serious number-crunching work - such as re-encoding video files - go for a non-M Pentium. Otherwise I'd go for an M because as Gary says they're much more power-efficient; this means that they won't drain your battery as quickly, won't burn your knees as badly when you have the laptop on your lap and won't need to be cooled so much, so the laptop will sound less like a hair dryer. They're still blazingly fast though.

A final word about the law of diminishing returns: top-of-the range stuff carries a hefty price premium, particularly graphics power and CPU power. For instance if you buy the fastest processor it can cost up to double that of a model that's only slightly slower.

Regards

Nelviticus