It's a confusing world out there for laptop buyers.
I did a lot of research last year, bought a Sony Vaio vgn-fz180E 15" with Intel Centrino core 2 duo T7300 CPU, as did two other SVCS members. It has a blu-ray burner, HDMI 1080p (1920x1200) and 1280x800 LCD screen, 32 bit Vista Home Premium. <one user has had problems with the Nvidia 8400M graphics processor, so I am now regretting not purchasing an extra year of warranty for $80.>
You can find a decoder chart for the intel cpus at:
http://www.intel.com/products/processor_number/chart/core2duo.htm
http://www.intel.com/products/processor_number/index.htm?iid=pn_det_c2d+tab_learn
and for AMD at:
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_12651_15667,00.html
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ComputingSolutions/0,,30_288_15660,00.html
http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/ProductInformation/0,,30_118_12651_15667%5E15674,00.html
http://products.amd.com/en-us/NotebookCPUResult.aspx
Comments
- For longer battery life:
- the 45nm architecture should run cooler than 65nm.
- the larger the L2 cache the less the hard drive has to run.
- the slower the frontside bus, the less power consumed, with minimal performance difference
- Virtualization is only important if you want to run a virtual windows XP on a Vista platform
- 64 bit Vista is much better and faster than 32bit Vista, which can only handle 3GB of RAM (vs 4TB)
MicroCenter has several models with a fallback program to Windows XP from Vista, but 64 bit XP has a problem with driver availability.
"Intel trusted execution technology" for safer computing, formerly code named LaGrande Technology, is a versatile set of hardware extensions to Intel® processors and chipsets that enhance the digital office platform with security capabilities such as measured launch and protected execution.
Intel Trusted Execution Technology provides hardware-based mechanisms that help protect against software-based attacks and protects the confidentiality and integrity of data stored or created on the client PC. It does this by enabling an environment where applications can run within their own space, protected from all other software on the system.
These capabilities provide the protection mechanisms, rooted in hardware, that are necessary to provide trust in the application's execution environment. In turn, this can help to protect vital data and processes from being compromised by malicious software running on the platform.
There are a few quad-core laptops, but they will have heat problems, therefore shorter battery life.
I have a mini ITX chassis with a core2 duo cpu, and cannot put a quad core into the box (the DG45 board bios will not accept it) due to heat management problems in a box that has twice as much volume as a laptop.
Lower priced laptops may have older, slower and hotter Pentium CPUs, or Celeron CPUs, .
Centrino mainly means that the CPU and the wireless chip are both from Intel, so there shouldn't be a price premium over core 2 duo with another brand of wireless network chip.
AMD Turion 64 X2 CPUs have a better memory architecture than Intel core 2 duo (remedied with new Intel i7 Nehalem desktop processors, not available in laptops), while Sempron are the lower price and performance AMD laptop CPUs.
The Intel Atom CPU in the new mini notebooks can barely run windows XP, forget it for Vista.
Check out the screen reflection wearing a white shirt. Some of the fancy displays are like black mirrors that reflect your shirt back into your face, making it harder to read the screen in a bright room.
