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Thread ID: 63892	2005-11-25 21:27:00	Questions about Laptop Pre-Purchase.	MasturJeff (7803)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
407579	2005-11-25 21:27:00	Purpose: For school and mobility. Not really hardcore gaming, but I'll play every once in a while. I edit videos and music sometimes as well, and I'll likely be watching alot of movies and dvds. Needs: As much battery life as possible. Multi-tasking I want to be able to run a virus scan in the background while doing alot of other stuff at the same time without my laptop freezing or it's efficiency slowing down. So far this custom HP Pavilion notebook (dv4000 series) I'm looking at has these specs: 2.0 GHz Pentium M 128MB ATI MOBILITY(TM) RADEON(R) X700 LightScribe Combo w/Double Layer Burner. 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB) Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG & Bluetooth(TM) 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery 6.8 Pounds Centrino Technology Questions: 1)There's a more expensive custom Laptop that uses Pentium HT(Hyper THreading) Technology. Which is better (Pentium M or Pentium HT) for 1.Battery Power and 2.Handling Multiple Processes and Opening Processes faster [The Intel.com website doesn't really help me compare the two, they just have a stupid chart with checkmarks] 2)Is there a significant difference between a 2.0GHz Pentium M and a 2.13 Pentium M processor? It's $150 to upgrade from 2.0 to 2.13, and I'd be willing to do it if it was really worth it. 3)What about 1.0GB RAM and 2.0GB RAM? What's the difference, and why should I spend $169 to upgrade from 1.0GB RAM to 2.0GB RAM? Is there really much of a noticeable difference? 4)My current crappy desktop is AMD Athlon 1.86 GHz, and it takes about 35-40 seconds to load Photoshop. How long would it take with some of the processors I mentioned in Questions 1 and 2? Notes: The Laptop with the Hyperthreading processor weighs 9.8 pounds and is 17" screen, the laptop with the Pentium M processor weighs 6.8 pounds and has a 15" screen.	MasturJeff (7803)
407580	2005-11-25 22:34:00	Purpose: For school and mobility. Not really hardcore gaming, but I'll play every once in a while. I edit videos and music sometimes as well, and I'll likely be watching alot of movies and dvds. Needs: As much battery life as possible. Multi-tasking I want to be able to run a virus scan in the background while doing alot of other stuff at the same time without my laptop freezing or it's efficiency slowing down. So far this custom HP Pavilion notebook (dv4000 series) I'm looking at has these specs: 2.0 GHz Pentium M 128MB ATI MOBILITY(TM) RADEON(R) X700 LightScribe Combo w/Double Layer Burner. 2.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024MB) Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200BG & Bluetooth(TM) 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery 6.8 Pounds Centrino Technology Questions: 1)There's a more expensive custom Laptop that uses Pentium HT(Hyper THreading) Technology. Which is better (Pentium M or Pentium HT) for 1.Battery Power and 2.Handling Multiple Processes and Opening Processes faster [The Intel.com website doesn't really help me compare the two, they just have a stupid chart with checkmarks] 2)Is there a significant difference between a 2.0GHz Pentium M and a 2.13 Pentium M processor? It's $150 to upgrade from 2.0 to 2.13, and I'd be willing to do it if it was really worth it. 3)What about 1.0GB RAM and 2.0GB RAM? What's the difference, and why should I spend $169 to upgrade from 1.0GB RAM to 2.0GB RAM? Is there really much of a noticeable difference? 4)My current crappy desktop is AMD Athlon 1.86 GHz, and it takes about 35-40 seconds to load Photoshop. How long would it take with some of the processors I mentioned in Questions 1 and 2? Notes: The Laptop with the Hyperthreading processor weighs 9.8 pounds and is 17" screen, the laptop with the Pentium M processor weighs 6.8 pounds and has a 15" screen.	MasturJeff (7803)
407581	2005-11-25 23:39:00	HT says it's like having two processors- unfortunatly, I haven't seen much difference through the test machines at work But I (Me, Myself, I) wouldn't really waste time with Intel Chips- If you're looking for a balance between power and battery, check this out links are at the bottom of this- These ASUS and acer notebooks really pack a punch. Where the ASUS offers value for money, the Acer Ferrari is a power beast and gives at least 3.5hrs of battery- turning down the brightness and CPU speed take you up to 4.5 hrs, as long as you shut the screen when it's not in use. I have had excellent experiences with Asus ansd Acer. They provide top-notch support, a fair software package that should fit your needs. Now for your next question. No, not unless you need as much power as possible for Photoshop. My laptop, and Asus A6U (And turion based,) manages to run Photoshop quite well while running Norton Anti-Virus 2006 in the background You should also consider widescreen- 16:9 gives more space for pallettes and keeps things out of the way so you aren't cluttered while you are working If you will be using Photoshop, then, yes, Do go to 2.0GB of ram Photoshop fires up in about 15-20secs on My A6U. But if you are going into photo editing, need power and battery life, combined with stability, Go Mac. I recently bought a Powermac G5 and wish I had an ibook as I hear rumours of a 4hr battery life when going out to a data projector. G4 power is amazing for it's speed. If money is no barrier, Grab a powerbook and Photoshop Academic for Mac P.S.- Make sure that you at least get the Radeon X700 Mobility for the best graphics performance	maverickoc (7240)
407582	2005-11-26 00:38:00	Can you give me an example of when I'll need 2.0 GB ram? Like what instances would I most likely be using it the most?	MasturJeff (7803)
407583	2005-11-26 03:53:00	This is the main reason I got 2 gig's in my powermac Adobe Photoshop CS2 uses complex memory management procedures . On computers with 1 GB of RAM or more, you can optimize Photoshop to take advantage of the quantity of RAM in your system and manage memory more efficiently . When Photoshop processes image data, it divides the image into sections called tiles . By default, the maximum size of each tile is 132 KB of RAM . You can activate the Bigger Tiles plug-in to increase the tile size . If you assign 261 MB to 1 GB of RAM to the Memory & Image Cache preference in Photoshop, the tile size increases to 260 KB . Likewise, if you assign more than 1 GB RAM, the tile size increases to 1 MB . Activating the plug-in reduces the overall amount of time Photoshop takes to process an image, especially on computers with more than 1 GB of RAM . After you activate the Bigger Tiles plug-in, Photoshop takes longer to draw each tile and may appear to draw images on screen slower, especially large images or when applying some filters . However, the total time Photoshop needs to display the entire image is less because it has fewer tiles to display It may sound tricky, but once you've used it, you'll never go back	maverickoc (7240)
407584	2005-11-26 04:01:00	I also forgot to mention that my Powermac supports 64 bit processing- the power to use more RAM than the usual 4GB so if you do go mac, go G5 If you don't, hang around for the 64bit edition of XP Pro, released end of this year, and hopefully end of this year will also show a 64bit photoshop preview And AMD's Athlon X2 should be arriving soon- this will be the answers to your dreams. It has two athlon 64 FX-53 cores inside, and it's nice to know while you have one processing on photoshop, theres always a spear core there to do anything else...	maverickoc (7240)
407585	2005-11-26 05:44:00	What's the best current AMD processor available? Do they have one that is excellent with battery life, and at the asme time great with speed and multitasking?	MasturJeff (7803)
407586	2005-11-26 06:16:00	Hey, I know I'm new here, but I have been fairly interested in what is coming next year in terms of Intel's offerings . . . Dual core is not far away and will be perfect for multitasking . My advice is to hold off untill next year, when the Dual Core "Yonah" Pentium M replaces the current single core offerings from Intel . I admit, it won't be 64bit, but it shouldn't be a big deal right? It is fully built-up as a dual core processor (I think) and the L2 cache is shared between the two cores . Don't even considor a Pentium 4 processor in a laptop, as they are no where near as efficient as a Pentium M and battery life is short, along with minimal (if any) performance gains . A Pentium M is faster than a Pentium 4 (mobile) . A Pentium M is faster clock-for-clock than a Pentium 4, so I estimate a 2Ghz Pentium M is around the 3 . 2-3 . 4Ghz Pentium 4 at least . I don't know much about Turions, they are coming out as dual core next year also, but later than the Intels . I believe Intel has better battery life compared to Turion, but am not sure and don't take my word for it . Google Yonah, it should come out on the 1st of January - maybe some lag here though, but well in time for school . Even though the dual core will use more power, it will shut down a core when it is not needed, especially under battery power . The L2 cache becomes fully accesable by the single core . Battery life should be similar, if not better than current Pentium Ms . Don't get AMD Athlon X2s, I'm guessing the heat of two gaming FX-53 cores would be a problem for a laptop, and battery life would be very short . I don't think this is even a laptop option . As a student, I'd further more recommend the Pentium M over the Pentium 4 because of the weight and size . I've got an HP nx8220, 15 . 4" and around 2 . 6kg, very nice . Further-more, the current Penium M doesn't perform well in multimedia applications, but the Yonah will, with full support for SSE2 and SSE3 = better performance . This was the only disadvantage of the current Pentium M . At this time, I think 1GB Ram is enough, but the more the better . I think this article may be interesting: . anandtech . com/cpuchipsets/showdoc . aspx?i=2382&p=1" target="_blank">www . anandtech . com Although it compares a Pentium M on a desktop, you could use the article to give you an indication of what a laptop with similar specs will deliver . Integrated graphics save power, but if you're going to play games that are graphic-intensive, go for a discrete graphics card . There are new cards coming out from ATi next year, eg X1600 Mobility . Just be aware you can't upgrade graphics cards once you have bought a laptop . My 8-cell battery lasts about 3 . 5-4hrs, wireless on . Gaming can last up to 2hrs eg Sims2 . I've also got a travel battery (which I think is business laptop specific, don't know) that doubles life . I'm guessing the 12 cell battery will increase battery life also . If you plan on using it without AC power for more than 4hours, buy an extra battery . A 12 cell battery weighs more than a 6 cell battery if weight is of major concern . So yeah, my advice is to wait untill next year for Intel Yonah (or Turion X2-but be aware of battery life and power saving technologies) . Good luck	Marmion (9274)
407587	2005-11-26 06:31:00	Hey, I know I'm new here, but I have been fairly interested in what is coming next year in terms of Intel's offerings . . . Dual core is not far away and will be perfect for multitasking . My advice is to hold off untill next year, when the Dual Core "Yonah" Pentium M replaces the current single core offerings from Intel . I admit, it won't be 64bit, but it shouldn't be a big deal right? It is fully built-up as a dual core processor (I think) and the L2 cache is shared between the two cores . Don't even considor a Pentium 4 processor in a laptop, as they are no where near as efficient as a Pentium M and battery life is short, along with minimal (if any) performance gains . A Pentium M is faster than a Pentium 4 (mobile) . A Pentium M is faster clock-for-clock than a Pentium 4, so I estimate a 2Ghz Pentium M is around the 3 . 2-3 . 4Ghz Pentium 4 at least . I don't know much about Turions, they are coming out as dual core next year also, but later than the Intels . I believe Intel has better battery life compared to Turion, but am not sure and don't take my word for it . Google Yonah, it should come out on the 1st of January - maybe some lag here though, but well in time for school . Even though the dual core will use more power, it will shut down a core when it is not needed, especially under battery power . The L2 cache becomes fully accesable by the single core . Battery life should be similar, if not better than current Pentium Ms . Don't get AMD Athlon X2s, I'm guessing the heat of two gaming FX-53 cores would be a problem for a laptop, and battery life would be very short . I don't think this is even a laptop option . As a student, I'd further more recommend the Pentium M over the Pentium 4 because of the weight and size . I've got an HP nx8220, 15 . 4" and around 2 . 6kg, very nice . Further-more, the current Penium M doesn't perform well in multimedia applications, but the Yonah will, with full support for SSE2 and SSE3 = better performance . This was the only disadvantage of the current Pentium M . At this time, I think 1GB Ram is enough, but the more the better . I think this article may be interesting: . anandtech . com/cpuchipsets/showdoc . aspx?i=2382&p=1" target="_blank">www . anandtech . com Although it compares a Pentium M on a desktop, you could use the article to give you an indication of what a laptop with similar specs will deliver . Integrated graphics save power, but if you're going to play games that are graphic-intensive, go for a discrete graphics card . There are new cards coming out from ATi next year, eg X1600 Mobility . Just be aware you can't upgrade graphics cards once you have bought a laptop . My 8-cell battery lasts about 3 . 5-4hrs, wireless on . Gaming can last up to 2hrs eg Sims2 . I've also got a travel battery (which I think is business laptop specific, don't know) that doubles life . I'm guessing the 12 cell battery will increase battery life also . If you plan on using it without AC power for more than 4hours, buy an extra battery . A 12 cell battery weighs more than a 6 cell battery if weight is of major concern . So yeah, my advice is to wait untill next year for Intel Yonah (or Turion X2-but be aware of battery life and power saving technologies) . Good luck Geez, I need to get a laptop ASAP . . . how far away are these new processors you're referring to?	MasturJeff (7803)
407588	2005-11-26 07:06:00	Geez, why do people love intel so much? Oldest is always the best, they say. but check this out. This has interested me heaps, and I did a google search for a comparison: www.thestudentroom.co.uk maybe I was wrong with you- but in the future I know AMD will take over- So youre options are: Turion- Power for photoshop Centrino- Battery but less power Thanks for bringing this up- had fun researchin- :-) Maverick	maverickoc (7240)
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