Laptops and processor speeds

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.

.

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

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

Originally Posted by 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.

.

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

Originally Posted by 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.

.

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 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 ?

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

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 If I need extra hard disk capacity I can always plug in a USB drive.

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...

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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.

Originally Posted by Jelster

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
Just ignore any advice the shelf monkeys try to give you

Originally Posted by Mr Toad

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

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.