Simple Questions

[cmartin23561]

Im looking for an affordable laptop that will be capable of running complex graphical designing software. Im not real big in computers so dont know what the best processor would be for a notebook running those programs. I really dont even know what the differences are between the different processors out there. Could someone tell me which CPU processor would give me the best perfomance in a laptop?

Ive looked at notebooks containing the following processors:

Mobile AMD Athlon
Pentium M
Pentium 4

And

What is the difference between a AMD Athlon 1.8 Ghz and a Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz
processor??

[Friedchicken100]

AMD focuses more on architecture rather than raw speed. The last ratio I know of is a 1.5 GHZ Athlon is comparable to a 2.0 GHZ Pentium 4. Be aware that there are two types of Athlons, XP and 64. And a Pentium M is basically a P4 designed specifically for mobility.

[duckhunter-deux]

I'd go with a Pentium M. I have a P4 in my laptop and it works great for intense graphics work, but it heats up easily and sucks the battery life dry. Hell, it's idling at 56 celcius right now. From what I've read, Pentium M's work just as well as P4's, but they run cooler meaning more battery life and a more stable system. Generally speaking I think a P4 or Pentium M will do better than an AMD solution for your situation.

As a side note, w00t my 300th post

[Kuasimodem]

Check out the Athlon64 powered laptops. I like using mine for 3D renedering, photo editing, and LAN parties.

The programs I use are Terragen, Paintshop Pro 7, and Microsoft Photodraw 2000.

At the last LAN, I was serving BF Vietnam, Call of Duty United Offensive, etc to 15 other computers while playing, with no lag or stuttering for anyone.

Athlon64 3000+, 512MB PC2700, 60GB HD, ATI Radeon 9600 Mobility.

[cmartin23561]

Hey, so which would perform better a Pentium M 715 1.6 Ghz or a Pentium 4 3.0 Ghz??

[Jokerswild]

From my ex., go with a Pentium M. My pentium 4 laptop SUCKS the battery life out of it as mentioned earlier. If you were looking to use the laptop for a presentation or demo and not have it plugged in, it wouldn't last very long at all. I've heard that Pentium M and 4 run pretty equal spec wise so i would def. go with Mobile

[ArcticFox]

From what I've seen, either a mobile Athlon64 or a Pentium-M, either would do just dandy. If I was you, I'd go with the A64 since it probably has a bit more power under the keyboard (pardon the pun), but for everything else the P-M is a dainty power-sipper.

[rhetoricsdead]

http://www.alienware.com

Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional Edition

Processors & Chipset
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading Technology - (2.8GHz - 3.6GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB Cache, Socket 775)

Intel 915P + ICH6 chipset

Memory
Starting at 256MB PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz.
upgradeable up to 4 GB of PC2-4200 with 4 SO-DIMM slots.

Drive Bays
Externally accessible and easily removable:
Dual bays for Optical Drives
Dual Bays for Primary and Secondary Hard-Drives

I/O Ports
Externally accessible:
Parallel: One parallel port
Serial: One serial port
Video: One DVI connector
TV-out: One S-Video out connector
TV-In: Video-IN Ports (TV-Tuner required, not included)
Keyboard: One PS2 connection
Mouse: One PS2 connection
IEEE 1394: Two mini IEEE 1934a (4-pin) ports
USB: 4 Hi-speed USB 2.0 ports
Headphone: 1 headphone jack
Audio: 5.1 channel out (SPDIF) / Line-in, Microphone in
Network: Integrated Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45
Modem: Integrated 56K V.92 modem RJ-11
Infrared: Infrared port for Data transfer

Internally accessible:
Primary IDE Channel
Secondary IDE
Dual SATA 150 connectors

Slots
One PCMCIA Single-slot ACPI Card Bus (Type II)
7-in-1 Memory Card Reader (SD/MS/MMC)

Case and Chassis
Exclusive Alienware Design and Color
Dimensions (H x W x D): 2.1" x 15.6" x 11.7"

LCD Panel
17" WideSXGA+ 1680x1050 LCD Display
17" WideXGA+ 1400x900 LCD Display


Power
Primary Battery: 12 Cells, 6600 mAH

[duckhunter-deux]

cmartin, I'd go with the Pentium M. rhetoricsdead, what's the base price of that Alienware? I don't think it would be considered "affordable".