Laptops and processor speeds

[Jelster]

I'm in the market for a decent laptop but I'm getting confused with their processor speeds. My home PC is a P4 3.2 GHz unit. Why are laptops all 1.4 & 1.6 Ghz ?? Are they actually equivilent to higher speed desktops ??

I'm looking for a general laptop with 1024Mb of RAM and decent video, must be wireless, and have a reasonable sized HDD.

.

[the_runt69]

As with most things the higher the speed the hotter the processer and laptops dontneed the current drain you get on a PC or wont last long on a battery. If you want it to run mobile(ie not connected to the mains) get a good centrino based 1.6 unless you want to run games on it.

H

[Gnan]

you can buy a desktop replacement laptop that will be bulky and heavy (and have a crap battery life) that contains desktop standard components. you will be able to play games, etc on these at similar speeds to a desktop

if you don't want games, then get a Centrino laptop - they use Intel Pentium M processors which are designed specifically for portable applications (i.e mobile office stuff) -battery life is a lot longer and they can be very light - downside is they're not nearly as fast as the above.

i have an acer centrino pentium m 1.8 which has 1 GB of RAM and 80GB of disk space, i use it for software development (visual studio 2005) which is resource intensive, and it copes very nicely i paid 600 for it at comet and it's been brilliant.

edit: don't believe the hype they are not as fast as desktops :D

[Samurai]

I'm in the market for a decent laptop but I'm getting confused with their processor speeds. My home PC is a P4 3.2 GHz unit. Why are laptops all 1.4 & 1.6 Ghz ?? Are they actually equivilent to higher speed desktops ??

I'm looking for a general laptop with 1024Mb of RAM and decent video, must be wireless, and have a reasonable sized HDD.

.

This is what i use, think it covers what you want: (toshiba Qosmio F20)

This multi-functional entertainment centre from Toshiba combines a range of outstanding features such as TV, PC, digital recording and audio playback in one compact laptop. Watch DVD’s or digital television with the TruBrite 15.4 WXGA TFT display and receiver or listen to music with the state-of-the-art Harman Kardon speakers and virtual surround sound with SRS TruSurround XT technology.
Intel Pentium-M 750 Processor 1.86GHz
512MB DDR SDRAM (2GB Maximum)- Low cost double memory offer – call for details!
60GB Hard Drive
DVD Super Multi Dual Layer Drive - To read DVDs and CDs and write CDs, DVD+, DVD-, DVD RAM and large Dual Layer DVD
15.4" WXGA Widescreen TruBrite TFT Display
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go6600 128MB dedicated graphics
Integrated LAN and 56k v.90 data fax modem
Integrated wireless 802.11b/g - Call for advice on Wireless networking
Integrated 5-in-1 card reader – reads Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card, XD Picture Card
Microsoft Windows XP Media Centre Edition Pre Loaded
Includes WinDVD and Sonic RecordNow
FREE Microsoft Works
4-pin Firewire (IEEE 1394) Port
2.53-hour Maximum Battery Life
Weight from 3.3kg

http://upload4.postimage.org/96160/3828.jpg (http://upload4.postimage.org/96160/photo_hosting.html)

[amarko5]

I'm in the market for a decent laptop but I'm getting confused with their processor speeds. My home PC is a P4 3.2 GHz unit. Why are laptops all 1.4 & 1.6 Ghz ?? Are they actually equivilent to higher speed desktops ??

I'm looking for a general laptop with 1024Mb of RAM and decent video, must be wireless, and have a reasonable sized HDD.

.

Steve there are so many variations available :( really depends on what you intend to do and how often you need the battery power (i.e. no mains available) i have a Compaq presario 1525 which is quite capable :lol: although its 2 years old now and cant Write DVD's

horses for courses mate, your intended use would be a help to those pointing you in the correct direction, and maybe your upper limit cost wise ?

[Mr Toad]

My father's got a Quosimo - it's huge, heavy & does everything - not really what I'd describe as a laptop, more a portable mainframe :D

You need to describe what you want it for Steve - do you want a small ultra portable, or something for playing games ?

I've got an old Sony Vaio from work (5+ years old, 650 Mhz P3, with 512 Ram & 12GB HD, now updated with XP & Office2003). For surfing the web, reading/sending emails, playing DVDs and a bit of spreadsheet/wordprocessing it's fine. OK it's very slow to start up, but once it's going it's OK - how fast can you type anyway !.
I used it to store my digital photos on when on holiday last month so I had a bit of extra security. I have a USB wireless stick that cost approx £15, so as far as I'm concerned it's something to use when on the road, until I can get back to the real one at home :D If I need extra hard disk capacity I can always plug in a USB drive.

[Jelster]

OK, taking into consideration what has been said, I want a lap top for general MS office apps, a bit of digital image stuff, maybe storing some music and also to run MS Autoroute.

It must be quick on the Internet (I hate slow machines and it wouldn't get any use if I found it lagging) over my 54Mbs wireless link indoors.

The Mrs needs to spend time updating her MS Office skills and 1 computer is not enough, so I thought that a laptop would provide a better solution as it could be taken on holiday etc so I could download pics from the camera etc.

So, I guess I need a 1.4 - 1.8 Centrino then... OK, need to do some research...

.

[Demonz]

I can rate the Toshiba Laptops - get a Portege though as they are smaller, weigh less and the bats last longer. They have all the goodies - plus 3 year warranty. I brought mine from laptops direct which worked out the cheapest i could find (2 months ago). Its my 3rd Toshiba over the last 6 years though so I am biased.

Their support is superb - any hardware issues/failures and they have collected and returned in just over a week. I'm a little hard on mine as i use it all the time so on the last I had the cooling fan replaced as it was worn from the dust gettin in and a hard drive replaced. I brought the new one as the warranty ran out on the old one and I needed it for business.

[Mr Toad]

So, I guess I need a 1.4 - 1.8 Centrino then... OK, need to do some research...
.

Off to your local PC World for a "test drive" then :lol:
Just ignore any advice the shelf monkeys try to give you :roll:

[Grinch]

So, I guess I need a 1.4 - 1.8 Centrino then... OK, need to do some research...
.

Off to your local PC World for a "test drive" then :lol:
Just ignore any advice the shelf monkeys try to give you :roll:

yep...

The slowest thing in most off the shelf laptop is the hard drive, as most standard installed ones only run at 4200 rpm. (just ask them in PC world and see them look at bit blank, I got them to check everyone once and they where all 4200) Compared to the standard desktop 7600 ATA, and 10,000 SATA drives. So look at getting this sorted if you want to do your digital imaging and mp3 play back. You can always add more memory later, though you'll be rather stuck with the proc and video so look at getting the best you can at the time. You can also upgrade the hard disk later if you want.
You can get get 5200, 7200 ATA and SATA laptop drives but they are a bit pricier. The best ones out there are I would say Western Digital. They also have 2-3 year warranty's, compared to companies like Maxtor which are only 1 year.
Oh and I worked for a conpany building hard drives... so I know the tolerences on these things and they are rather 'tight', so warranty's important.

[northwind]

I've got a Dell 486 DX2-66 with 8mb of RAM somewhere if you like... Funnily enough, it runs Word just as well as my (also very old) P800. Not implying that MS makes bloatware at all, ohhhh no.

On teh downside, the battery life is only about 30 minutes, and I think we may have locked the BIOS password protection through grim stupidity.

[sharriso74]

Just ordered this little beauty from Dell

Base:
Precision M65 Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2600 (2.16GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667Mhz FSB) 54321 [210-15674] 1


Microsoft Operating System:
Genuine Windows® XP Professional (Service Pack 2) WITH Media using NTFS 54086 [619-10778][620-10527] 11


Standard Warranty:
3Y NBD (Next Business Day On-site ) 55290 [680-15318] 29


Shipping Documents:
Shipping Accessories with Power Cord 54328 [340-13381] 21


Memory:
2.0GB, 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM Memory (2 x 1024MB) 54344 [370-12248] 3


Hard Drive:
80GB (7,200 rpm) Hard Drive 56733 [400-12416] 8


LCD:
15.4" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) DellSharp Wide Aspect Ratio TFT display 54324 [230-10031] 760


CD/DVD Drives:
8X DVD+/-RW Drive + Software Decode Solution 58673 [429-12195] 16


Primary Battery:
9 Cell 85WHr LI-ION Primary Battery 54374 [451-10322] 112


Power Supply:
European - 90W AC Adapter 54345 [450-11156] 41


Keyboard:
Dual Pointing Internal Keyboard 54553 [583-11204] 4


Modem:
56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter 54390 [530-11544] 14


Wireless Local Area Networking:
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps) Dual Core 54402 [555-10718] 19

[northwind]

That's quite mighty for a laptop... I suspect it's left a whole in your wallet the size of, well, a laptop though ;)

[Rob S (Yella)]

Hello steve, remember me

I use 2 laptops on a regular basis.

One is a 1.6 mhz/512 meg advent that works fine for office tasks and photos/movies. In fact it works better than my 2.6 P4 desktop with 1 gig of ram.

Then there is a 3.7 mhz athlon based Acer (the beast) with a powerfull video card, This runs games fantastic (better than my desktop with a 9800pro card) but for normal use there is no real difference between the beast and the 1.6 laptop. In fact the beast is worse to use as the fans are noisy, it weighs a ton, the battery dies quicker than a seal pup the culling season. The other disdvantage is the heat, using the beast is like having a brevil sandwich toaster on your lap.

So unless you are going to play a lot of games then something under 2 mhz should be fine as long as you get at least 512mb it should cope with photo editing and stuff.

[chazzyb]

Watch out, as a lot of the cheaper 15" displays are now widescreen. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not. Prolly great for watching DVD's, but maybe a pain for 'page' orientated stuff like WP and the internet.

[Anonymous]

i got a 1.5Ghz processor and its SLOW AS HELL!

Dont get a 1.5 or below. My mates got a 2.66Ghz and thats more like it.

[Jelster]

If it's like a normal PC, processor power isn't everything... A decent amount of high speed RAM is very effective too, or am I wrong ??

.

[Anonymous]

I beleive its the same as with PC's in that sense. My laptop is a Toshiba, cant remember the make, was £550 from dixons in town. The RAM is alright, its got a reasonable chunk of that, the only thing i can attribute the slowness to is the processor.

Having said that, the times when its REALLY slow, is mainly when its booting up. Once its connected (Wifi) it runs alright.

[mysteryjimbo]

i got a 1.5Ghz processor and its SLOW AS HELL!

Dont get a 1.5 or below. My mates got a 2.66Ghz and thats more like it.

Gotta disagree with you wholeheartedly there. My works laptop has a 1.5 centrino and runs extremely well. I tend to have at least 10 windows open whilst at work and it works a treat.

The problem with laptops tends to be lack of memory so you need AT LEAST 512Mb to get best performance.

[Spaz]

Well I really splashed out on a Dell Inspiron 1300 from their reconditioned site outlet... Its a celeron 1.5 with 512mb RAM 60gb HD, wireless & 15.4 display+ DVD writer.
solid & reliable so far.

It works fine for video editing my DV stuff & so far is performing very well, comes with full guarantee and some naff software (but then I work in IT !)

Sounds like it would be all you need...

All for 350 quid all in

Seemed cheap to me

see this link;
http://outlet.dell.com/Emea_Dfo/EuDispatcher?target=InventoryPage&action=sort&sortColumn=price_constraint&lob=INSP&sessionID=Grkp1vLy!656868467!622569480!11437273379 61#inventoryTable

Heres one I spotted just now for sale;
SYSTEM SPECIFICATION
Inspiron 1300 (System Identifier. FXDD80GT)
Inspiron 1300 Celeron M Processor 370 (1.50 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache, 400 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

System Price £296.98
Dell recommends Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional


Operating System: Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
Memory: 512MB, DDR2, 533MHz (2x256) ULD
Hard Disk Drive: 40GB (5400rpm) IDE Hard Drive
NoteBook Screen: 14.1 inch WXGA (1280x800) LCD Panel
Modem: Internal 56K Modem
DVD Drive: 8X DVD+/-RW
Software: Microsoft® Works® 7.0
BT, AOL, Tiscali ISP Combination
English - Adobe Reader 6.0
MISC: Global - Dell Wireless 1370 802.11b/g Mini PCI Card
60W AC Adapter
UK/Ire - Internal Keyboard
4 Cell 35Whr Primary Battery
Photo Shop Photo Album (5.22) - trial version




A

[chazzyb]

A lot of laptops are very slow when logging in. I put this down the amount of crap "accessories" that get loaded as standard and fill up the system tray. The other thing to check is the 'power' profile. The 'laptop' profile will often run the CPU at half speed or less to save power and heat generation.

[mysteryjimbo]

A lot of laptops are very slow when logging in. I put this down the amount of crap "accessories" that get loaded as standard and fill up the system tray. The other thing to check is the 'power' profile. The 'laptop' profile will often run the CPU at half speed or less to save power and heat generation.

Thats down to the hard drive bottle neck. Laptop hard drives are a lot slower than desktops and faster motors generate more heat and use more power so they are avoided. Thats why there is need for more RAM to minimise disk accessing and page file use.

[Anonymous]

i got a 1.5Ghz processor and its SLOW AS HELL!

Dont get a 1.5 or below. My mates got a 2.66Ghz and thats more like it.

Gotta disagree with you wholeheartedly there. My works laptop has a 1.5 centrino and runs extremely well. I tend to have at least 10 windows open whilst at work and it works a treat.

The problem with laptops tends to be lack of memory so you need AT LEAST 512Mb to get best performance.

Just spent 30 mins on net trying to find the specs for my laptop and here they are:

Intel Celeron M 360 Processor 1.40GHz
400MHz FSB
1 MB Cache
256 MB RAM
60 GB Hard Drive
Double Layer DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
15" TFT Display
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
64 MB ATi Radeon Xpress 200M graphics
1 year FREE warranty


What do i need to upgrade in order to get better performance from it? Can i even upgrade for that matter.. is it like with PC's where you can just add and remove parts to suit?

[mysteryjimbo]

A 256 or 512Mb SODIMM of RAM is what you need. You'll be surprised.

You may need to track down instructions to install it. On mine I have to take a screw out of the underside and unclip the keyboard to fit it.

[northwind]

Well I really splashed out on a Dell Inspiron 1300 from their reconditioned site outlet... Its a celeron 1.5 with 512mb RAM 60gb HD, wireless & 15.4 display+ DVD writer.
solid & reliable so far.


Yup, you get some great deals in there. I just missed a P3.2 with 2gb of ram and a 6600GT, base unit only, for £250. Unhappy :( But at the time their new deals were also fantastic so it was no great loss (arrives on monday... I'm on holiday all week... Time for some seriously wasted time :))

[Filipe M.]

i got a 1.5Ghz processor and its SLOW AS HELL!

Dont get a 1.5 or below. My mates got a 2.66Ghz and thats more like it.

Gotta disagree with you wholeheartedly there. My works laptop has a 1.5 centrino and runs extremely well. I tend to have at least 10 windows open whilst at work and it works a treat.

The problem with laptops tends to be lack of memory so you need AT LEAST 512Mb to get best performance.

Just spent 30 mins on net trying to find the specs for my laptop and here they are:

Intel Celeron M 360 Processor 1.40GHz
400MHz FSB
1 MB Cache
256 MB RAM
60 GB Hard Drive
Double Layer DVD ReWriter MultiDrive
15" TFT Display
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
64 MB ATi Radeon Xpress 200M graphics
1 year FREE warranty


What do i need to upgrade in order to get better performance from it? Can i even upgrade for that matter.. is it like with PC's where you can just add and remove parts to suit?

That's your problem highligted there... dunno if there's anything you can do about it, though :?

[Filipe M.]

ops, jimbo's right, I was only thinking about the processor when I said that. Whack another 512 MB in there (see if it can take it beforehand, some laptops will max out at 512 MB) and it'll surely make a difference.

[Grinch]

Oh and if you can, only use one memory module, if not ensure the largest module is first.