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Hucknall Ram

By Hucknall Ram
in The Jim Smith Room

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Hucknall Ram

Hucknall Ram

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I am in the market for a new laptop, my computer knowledge is small, I understand RAM, speeds and hard drives etc, but I don't which are goods processors or not. I am on ebuyer.com having a look and am confussed.com because I know the processor is one of the important items in a "good" or "bad" laptop or computer. Can anyone tell me if the following any good or not.

AMD Athlon

AMD Sempron

AMD Turion

Intel Celeron

Intel Core 2 Duo

Intel Core i3

Intel Core i5

Intel Pentium

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BigAl

BigAl

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I am in the market for a new laptop, my computer knowledge is small, I understand RAM, speeds and hard drives etc, but I don't which are goods processors or not. I am on ebuyer.com having a look and am confussed.com because I know the processor is one of the important items in a "good" or "bad" laptop or computer. Can anyone tell me if the following any good or not.

AMD Athlon

AMD Sempron

AMD Turion

Intel Celeron

Intel Core 2 Duo

Intel Core i3

Intel Core i5

Intel Pentium

Depends what you want the laptop for, if it is gaming the general rule of thumb is the more expensive it is the better, but for normal everyday use Intel core duo or better is what you need. Depends on your pocket though, the better the processor the more expensive it becomes.

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Hartley Hare

Hartley Hare

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Have you considered other practical issues too, Hucknall Ram? Screen size, for example? The bigger the screen the easier to see, but the more bulky to use. If it's going to sit on a desk all the time then fine, but if it's sat on your lap for a while then a 17 inch screen lappy can be quite tiresome.

As far as your question is concerned, traditionally AMD processors tend to use more power and generate more heat than Intel's, so if battery life is a concern I'd edge more towards an Intel. The "Core i" series are the latest from Intel. The i3's are less powerful than the i5's, but are of course cheaper and are more than fine for everyday computing and applications like FM.

As other posters have already said it depends on what you want to use it for, but also how much you can pay. It's always a bit of a compromise with a laptop because of the limited upgrades available once you've bought it.

This one looks quite a decent allr-ounder, Intel core i3 processor, 3gb RAM, 320Gb hard drive, LED backlit display, HD graphics output. Hard drive and memory can be upgraded easily enough, but I doubt you'd need to for the foreseeable future. £460 inc delivery from Laptops Direct.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Fujitsu_LIFEBOOK_AH530_Core_i3_Laptop_VFY_AH530MRBA2GB/version.asp

Or maybe this Samsung on Ebuyer, £470 inc free delivery, similar spec to the one above - but I'd be surprised if you'd allow yourself to buy a red laptop.....!

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/199998

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Hartley Hare

Hartley Hare

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Just another thought:- keep an eye on the Dixons website, they have "refurbished" laptops on there from time to time, selection available depends on what they have in of course, but I've bought 2 from there, all accessories came with it, no marks whatsoever on the casing or screen, everything in perfect order and between £150 - £200 cheaper than new. I got one for my lad from there last year as a reward for his exam results, same model was just over £500 brand new elsewhere, cost me £360. Dedicated graphics card (so he can play his games on it), 3gb RAM, only a 250gb hard drive but plenty for him for now, bluetooth, fingerprint reader, came with Vista installed but with a voucher to upgrade to Windows 7 for free (which of course we did). We were both more than happy :)

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Hucknall Ram

Hucknall Ram

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That's a real help, thank you everyone,

Not sure I could get away with a red one, the in laws are forest fans and will never hear the end if it. lol.

Alot of the ones I've been looking at are about 350 - 400 quid, but with the celeron processor. hard drive not a issue, I have 500gb external hard drive

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Martyn

Martyn

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As far as your question is concerned, traditionally AMD processors tend to use more power and generate more heat than Intel's, so if battery life is a concern I'd edge more towards an Intel.

That's a very very outdated statement (from about 10 yrs ago!), Intel currently have a clear performance advantage at the top end, but AMD still have the edge in price/performance comparisons. In any case, you're probably right in recommending an Intel for mobile processors at the mobile AMD have been a bit slack there recently.

The short answer is - unless you're intending to do some serious FPS gaming, any new machine you buy will probably have all the processing power you need, you're going to be restricted by the crappy graphic chip in it anyway! :-)

I someone else suggested, I'd look more at screen size and the price you're willing to pay than the processor. If you want something more hardcore it will cost £££ or you'd be better off getting a desktop.

Martyn.

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Hartley Hare

Hartley Hare

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That's a very very outdated statement (from about 10 yrs ago!)

Hmm, don't think so.

e.g. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/intel-vs-amd-processor-comparison2010.html

Generalising, of course, but as a guide I think it still holds true. There is a reason why Intel are the market leader, and it's not just because of their old tie-ins with other manufacturers. Yes, AMD has a fan base and I use them myself, but I would advise not to for a laptop. Just my opinion, of course.

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Crack

Crack

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FM depends a lot on CPU and memory (RAM).

The Core i3 is likely to be a lot faster than the Celeron if you can stretch to it; Celerons are traditionally versions of the other CPUs with bits turned off or tuned down.

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GboroRam

GboroRam

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I've gone for a HP G61 from Tesco. Its a HP, so quality is good; its an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1Ghz with 3 gig RAM; Its Tesco, so you can use your clubcard points; if you time it right you can sometimes get double or triple points (if you've got a voucher for extra points if you spend over £x). £350, less the £110 in Tesco vouchers I'd saved up.

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Hartley Hare

Hartley Hare

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I'm a software developer, have been for 20 years. People understand that to be a job working with computers. People automatically think you can solve all their computer problems. Since I'm not the sort of person to turn my back on a cry for help, I decided I might as well educate myself so that I could help. I used to build desktop PC's as a sideline (I'm self-employed) but these days they're so cheap to buy off the shelf there's no real point anymore.

I had someone else ask me last night what laptop they should buy, just by co-incidence. Like buses - nothing for ages then 2 come along at once :)

Always makes me smile when I think of the processors used in the equipment on-board the Apollo moon missions over 40 years ago - and we all complain today that we need to upgrade because we can't play the latest games....;)

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Perky1106

Perky1106

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I'm a software developer, have been for 20 years. People understand that to be a job working with computers. People automatically think you can solve all their computer problems. Since I'm not the sort of person to turn my back on a cry for help, I decided I might as well educate myself so that I could help. I used to build desktop PC's as a sideline (I'm self-employed) but these days they're so cheap to buy off the shelf there's no real point anymore.

I had someone else ask me last night what laptop they should buy, just by co-incidence. Like buses - nothing for ages then 2 come along at once :)

Always makes me smile when I think of the processors used in the equipment on-board the Apollo moon missions over 40 years ago - and we all complain today that we need to upgrade because we can't play the latest games....;)

You'd be surprised. I know a lot of people who have built their PCs from scratch to save money.

Though when you can order a £400 laptop off the net in a matter of seconds then it's generally easier.

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Hartley Hare

Hartley Hare

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Hey Joe,

"Where you goin' with that gun in your hand?" (Sorry, couldn't resist!)

I know plenty of folks to that have done that, though not so much recently. Once upoon a time there were significant savings to be made from buying your own components and assembling them to your own spec. Unless you want something quite specific, there's just no margin in it any more. Not when you can often buy a PC from Tesco's, or even Aldi, that'll do pretty much whatever 80% of the population would want to do with it, off the shelf for well under £500 including monitor.

Still, I supervised my teenage daughter to build her own PC a couple of years ago, you've got to pass it on to the next generation, eh!

I think once you've built your own, you're probably more inclined to upgrade it bit by bit as and when you feel it necessary rather than go out and get a complete new unit. At least, that's the impression I get. So it can feel like it's more cost effective as you're spreading the cost of replacement.

Lappy's of course, are a slightly different kettle of fish as they are less flexible in terms of upgrade, and also less easy to build from scratch for the casual home assembler. You can get "bare bones" laptop kits, but they're essentially the case, screen and motherboard, you get to choose your own CPU, RAM, HDD, DVD, GPU, etc and assemble at your leisure. But again they're not cost effective.

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